Understanding and learning how you can take control of your body’s genetically programmed "fight or flight" stress response can be a powerful tool that can help you achieve stress/rest balance and peak performance in all areas of life. The butterflies that gather on the starting line may never go away, but they can be leveraged to your advantage when you have the confident, fearless mindset of a champion, instead of feeling automatically anxious or stressed when called upon to perform. Here are six tips which can change your attitude or behavior patterns to moderate the undesirable stress responses that occur in your daily life and fully leverage the positive benefits of learning and growing from the stimuli you will face while pursuing your goals.
1. Release Your Attachment To The Outcome – When Bill Stapleton, Lance Armstrong's longtime agent, was asked which of his client's qualities set him apart from the competition, he offered an intriguing quote: "Lance hates losing, but is not afraid of it." I believe that this is the ideal competitive mindset for a performer in any area. When you are not afraid to lose (and not afraid to win, either), you overcome the self-imposed obstacles of pressure, tension and anxiety that hinder peak performance.
2. Understand that Time is Relative - Lifting a simplified insight from Einstein's general theory of relativity, it's apparent that time is relative to the eyes of the observer. The only true relevance an hour has to you is what you perceive it to be. We can all know how "time flies when you're having fun." When the timeline of the world does not unfold just as you want it to, you can battle it (spiking stress levels) or accept it and remain calm and patient.
3. Lose The Watch - For an entire day, govern your activities by your internal clock and don't concern yourself with time in any way. Releasing your obsession with time probably will make it easier for you to enjoy and appreciate the process of what you are doing, instead of fixating on the outcome.
4. Act Like a Baby - Babies get frustrated, resentful and angry at the slightest provocation. Yet their stress level is far lower than adults because of their incredible ability to release negative emotions quickly and permanently. When it comes to emotions, do as new age author Dan Millman recommends, "Let it flow and let it go."
5. Accept Others As They Are, and Draw Your Boundaries - Save yourself stress by recognizing that you can't change others. At the same time, you must carefully draw that fine boundary line so that you are not victimized by the mistreatment and negative energy heaped upon you by others.
6. Establish Consistent Sleeping Patterns - Ideally, you go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up naturally, feeling refreshed, without an alarm clock. Your deepest and most restorative "slow wave" sleep occurs during the first few hours. If you fight through these waves of sleepiness that commence around your normal bedtime, you cannot make them up on the other end by sleeping in.
6 Attitude and Behavior Tips to Reduce Stress
Nov 18, 2009 | By
