My coping strategies for stress

We all go through stress in different aspects of our lives; at work, school and even our personal lives that is considered normal. However, managing stress effectively leads to developing a positive
attitude towards life which improves personal development, relationship with others and enhances well being.

Stress affects me so much to be honest but I noticed that whenever I try to find ways around it, it helps me  make better decisions therefore, I will be sharing some of my coping strategies.

1.  Understand what causes the stress:

I ask myself questions like what stress am I going through, what caused it and how do I need to overcome it? Asking these questions helps me become resilient.

2.      Resilience:

This is the ability to recover from difficulties. This means you acknowledge the fact that there is a problem but you won’t allow the problem overcome you, rather you will decide to seek solutions. According to psychologytoday.com, ‘Resilience is that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever'. Psychologists have identified some of the factors that make someone resilient, among them a positive attitude, optimism, the ability to regulate emotions, and the ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback. Even after misfortune, resilient people are blessed with such an outlook that they are able to change course and soldier on.’ Some ways I have been resilient are:

          - Knowing my strengths and weaknesses, don’t wait for the situation to fix itself, 

          - Treating myself right by practicing mindfulness, reading, learning something new, celebrating little achievements etc

3.       Letting go of negativity:

The world now is full of so much negativity and hate. Negative thinking is usually as a result of what someone has said about you or the fear of what someone will say about you. However, I have been able to handle this by dissociating myself from negative people, changing negative thoughts to positive and associating with people who motivate and inspire me.

4.      Talk to someone about it:

For example, an entrepreneur was stressed out about the paperwork she had to do for two small businesses she runs each evening after returning from work. Her weekends were tied up with the chaos of house repairs, lawn mowing, etc. She was desperate to have some time to herself to do what was important to her – like relaxing, reading or simply watching television.

After a lot of soul-searching, she decided to stop working so hard and give herself the break she needed. However, she was feeling really guilty that the paperwork was piling up. So she talked to a friend about it and was advised to simply find a bookkeeper to help her with the paperwork. This would provide the free time she much needed and also tidy her accounts for the accountant at year-end. This is exactly what she did. After that, her feeling of stress greatly diminished. When need be, I discuss with certain people who I know can provide adequate solutions.

5. Exercise: I do simple exercises like skipping, taking a walk and so on.

6. Listen to music and watch comedies: I love listening to worship songs when I am so stressed and I feel I cant do anything about it or I watch things that will make me laugh either on YouTube or Netflix.

7. Sleep: I don't know if you have ever heard the 'sleep when baby sleeps' talk? No, it isn't that easy. that is the time I get to eat properly, do some work in the house or blog but sometimes I just leave everything and sleep..... sleep and forget about every other thing till I hear the cry of the baby. 

8. Write a letter to myself:

So cheesy but I do it anyway. I love writing about how I feel in that moment and sending it to my future self using THIS after a while I get the email and laugh because I might have just overcome the stress. It makes me feel better :)

9. Get to work:

The period I was an organization coach in Nigeria, I got stressed about my business, getting my clients and so on. I started doing more research on how to collaborate with other coaches, studying more, taking challenging tasks and meeting different organizations. Getting started and not giving up paid off

10. Rely totally on God 

This is the most important because with God, all things are possible. Steps 1 - 9 are what I try to do while totally depending on God to give me the strength to handle stress but I always acknowledge that I cant do it without God.

Now this doesn't mean stress wont come once in a while because the future is unpredictable but the ability to handle it when it comes makes you strong.