This article will start a series of 5 posts on this site about Making the Most of Your Second Fifty Years. As a career consultant I have taught this course to thousands of individuals. I have included the entire program, including a power point, planning guide and explanation of each of the power point slides in the Workshops section of my website – https://lnkd.in/gygJ37b
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Let’s start our discussion about EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES by talking about information Paul Bendheim, MD – The Brain Training Revolution – shares about how individuals can lessen the stress that is a major de-motivator and killer of individuals of all ages.
-There is stress that enhances memory and other body functions. Two examples are the enjoyable stress of modest physical exercise and healthy emotions.
-Memory deficits and a brain that ages before its time are results of chronic stress. Stress proneness is a personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to suffer psychological distress in response to unpleasant or negative emotional events in life. Dr. Robert Wilson at the Rush Center & Institute for Healthy Aging found in a study of eight hundred 75-year-olds that those who had high stress proneness had twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s than those with low stress proneness or hardiness personalities.
Managing Stress in Your Life: A Quick-Start Guide
1. Listen to your body. Frequent nervous-stomach sensations, recurrent tension headaches, muscle tension and soreness and chronic fatigue can all be physical manifestations or symptoms of stress.
2. Recognize if you are in a stressful situation or that your life has too much chronic stress. Admit you feel stressed beyond your comfort zone.
3. Finally, and this is usually the most difficult step, adjust your attitude.
Pillars of Stress Management
1. Keep at it. Believe in your chosen stress management technique and be disciplined.
2. Pay attention and stay focused. Focus intently on what you are doing, and this will help reduce your feeling of stress.
3. Repeat it; practice makes perfect. Most successful stress relief techniques are repetitious. The so-called zone of mental calmness and focus can be achieved by repeating either mental or physical activity.
4. Many stress-reduction techniques combine a positive mental effort with a physical component. Deep, slow breathing combined with a mental focus on the repetitive cycle of deep inhaling and slow exhaling is a stress-busting technique used around the world.
Have a great day. Peter