Don’t Just Live with Stress. Slay it!

Today’s generations are experiencing higher levels of stress than ever seen before. Precipitated by information on the internet, Wars and a Pandemic, it has forced unprecedented changes in the way we think and work.  
 
Add to that the stresses of a daily corporate job and family committments. It goes without saying that employees need to be equipped with specific tools to cope with these pressures.
 
When understood, stress has an upside. It has the ability to motivate us to act, for example,  in a fight or flight situation. Do I stay and push back on my boss or do I walk away?
 
Having Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) tools will help you identify the root cause of this stress and how to use it positively as a marker that something is amiss. For instance, an incidence of physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue and insomnia are warning signs that deeper health issues are on the horizon.
 
Start by using NLP tools to reduce stress with these three simple yet effective techniques.
 
Reframing
Changing the way you view stress is important. If seen as an indicator then it becomes useful.  This is known as reframing in NLP.
 
Learn to take a step back and examine the real cause;

• a specific situation or person that triggers it
• does it happen at a certain time of day
• is it connected to something outside the work place

 
By doing this, your heightened awareness will give you a more  calibrated response to the situation, contrary to a blind reaction which is most often seen.
 
Anchoring
The primary function of our unconscious mind is to keep us safe. Many negative associations are created at a young age. For example, linking a person, object or situation to pain, triggers stress.  A parent you didn’t get along with or the thought of school which you never did well at. These are often transposed to work.
 
Learning how to break this link to pain is the first step that leads to a tremendous reduction in stress. It isn’t automatic anymore. In fact again, it is calibrated.
 
An NLP technique called anchoring would form links of satisfaction, joy or gratitude to different aspects of work.
 
Beliefs
Most people are driven by beliefs that they are unaware of. Beliefs that again, are formed when young. Negative beliefs that limit a person’s capabilities and cause stress could sound like this:
 

• I can’t handle stress
• All companies take advantage of their employees
• I must please my colleagues all the time otherwise they won’t like me

 
You may be labouring with such beliefs that hamper your performance and affect your well being.
 
It isn’t enough to reflect on beliefs you hold about your job.   Learning how to delete unhelpful beliefs to install positive, effective ones instead is another technique that employees need to learn to reduce stress.
 
Doing so is making a choice of never having to struggle against limiting beliefs, ever again.
 
In conclusion, stress is impossible to eliminate altogether.  We need good stress in our lives to keep us on our toes. Equipping yourself with a useful mindset to deal with stress is a more empowering way and one that would keep you in good health too.
 
You do not need to have a special gift or talent  to learn NLP tools. It is a learned skill just like many other work skills already in your toolbox.