Too Blessed To Be Stressed: The 4 A’s that Reduce Stress
Sleep and Eat. Those are my go-tos when it comes to dealing with stress. I get lazy and hungry….but then I actually have to deal with the source of my stress. And sleeping and eating won’t do the trick.
About 75% of adults say they have experienced health impacts due to stress in the prior month according to the American Psychological Association study a couple of years ago.* The physical issues they experienced because of stress included headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and sadness/depression.
So undoubtedly, stress is a fairly common thing to experience on a regular, ongoing basis.
And with that information, we know it’s not possible to avoid stress, but we can certainly improve on managing it. There’s 2 categories for managing stress that I want to share with you and each one has 2 options each.
Here’s the summary: you can either change the situation or change your reaction to it. As I mentioned before, there are 2 options under each category- all together they are referred to as the 4 A’s.
Avoid the Stressor
Many of our stressors can be avoided once we implement a few boundaries, and hold tight to them. I know we’ve all heard the saying “NO is a complete sentence”. We can reduce a lot of stress by simply saying “no” with bonus points for not offering a reason. Giving an explanation could give the person a way to engage you in conversation and eventually cross your boundary. By having less on your plate to deal with, you inherently have fewer things to stress about.
To add to this, also consider avoiding people who stress you out and limit conversations you have about topics that get you riled up. There are seemingly minor things that you can implement that help you avoid things that you know will trigger your stress.
Alter the Stressor
But of course we know we cannot avoid everything- so in those cases, we should consider how we can alter our stressor. For example, perhaps being more vocal about your thoughts and feelings towards a person that brings you stress- maybe it’ll help bridge a disconnect and resolve your stress. Or, here’s another example: maybe tweaking your schedule will help you change what you can control about your issue.
Adapt to the Stressor
On the side of changing your reaction to a stressor, it is entirely possible to embrace a different perspective about the situation and find the positive aspects. Adapting to your stressor helps minimize it’s negative effects. For example, does a work project need to be perfect, or can it just be above average?
One trick I’ve heard before is the 5x5 rule where if something would not affect you in 5 years, then only give it 5 minutes of your attention. It’s a great way to put things in perspective about what matters and what doesn’t.
Accept the Stressor
And the last strategy is to accept your stressor. After all, you can’t change everything. But what’s key here is, you can still control your reaction, even though you couldn’t control the situation. And you can pull life lessons from everything you experience. And if the root of the issue brings you anger and resentment, learn to let go in due time. I recently wrote about self soothing versus self care that you may find helpful.
Hope these help you cope with the stress this world brings. April is Stress Awareness Month. Be kind to yourself. And don’t sleep and eat too much!