Stress and AnxietySome amount of stress and anxiety is a normal part of life. For example, often best sport performances occur when pre-performance anxiety is neither too low or too high. The same is true for a variety of situations such taking a test or presenting to a group of people. But too much stress or anxiety impact on your health and overall potential! For example, no matter how well you know your work, test anxiety can really reduce your grades. Likewise I have seen eloquent people rendered speechless by public speaking anxiety. These are both examples of performance anxiety - in which the evaluation by others can cause anxiety. In short, too much stress and anxiety can stop you from performing to your potential. We can all find times in our lives in which nerves got the best of us. Perhaps you had a deadline at work or you had to give a presentation to your colleagues or sit an exam. Whatever the reason, the perceived stress was too high and resulted in a poorer performance. Can you recall when athletes on TV have choked under the stress of competition. The key to managing stress and anxiety is changing the way that you react to stress. The key here is your perception of the stress. It is not the actual event that causes you stress, but what your thoughts are telling you. Huh....are you saying that it is your thoughts that largely determine your stress levels. YES....think back to the times when nerves got the best of you. What were you thinking when you were in that stressful situation?....Perhaps you had thoughts of failure and self doubt? Was there a fear that others would evaluate you negatively? A few ways to beat stress and anxiety1. Develop you optimism and adopt a positive thinking style.One way to combat stress is to develop your optimism and promote your positive thinking. Negative thoughts can fuel your feelings of stress or anxiety. Research shows that if you can master your negative thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts you can build a resilience against stress and anxiety. Here are a number of ways that you can develop your optimism and a positive thinking style to combat stress. 2. Counter the stress response Alternatively, you can counter the stress response by activating the relaxation response. This can be done through a number of breathing exercises, various types of meditation techniques and muscle relaxation. Fake it until you make it. Even the body language that you use can change the way that you think. For example, a study has shown that people who smile more actually feel happier - so when all else isn't working then force a smile onto your face. There are a number of other ways to cope with stress effectively and these include:
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