Reducing Stress in Life

When it comes to business or a job, stress can sometimes motivate you to do better than if you weren't under pressure. Taken to the extremes however, it can paralyze your decision-making and be very unhealthy over long periods of time. In these cases, unhealthy stress definitely needs to be reduced.

Over the past couple of years, I've learned a lot about handling stress that I think could be helpful to a lot of people. Everyone is going to have personal things that help them, but these are just a few that stand out in my mind:

1) Develop a positive attitude about life in general.

This doesn't happen overnight but is something you have to put effort into on a daily basis until it becomes habit. Ways you can do this include reading books, hanging around other people who have good attitudes, and avoiding people and situations that drag your mood down. Doing this won't make you become exempt from having challenging situations coming into your life, but if you gain maturity in this you'll know how to handle things better.

2) Have a place you can go for at least 15 minutes quiet time during your day.

This could be at work or your home, depending on which is less hectic. Sometimes when a lot of things are going on, you just need a place to rest and clear your head for a moment. If you can, it helps to do this more than once, especially on busy days. Though it seems to take away time where you could be doing something, you'll find you're more efficient and organized when you get focused. Some days I just come home from work and take a short 15 minute nap so I can shift from what I was working on earlier in the day to something totally different.

3) Laugh on a daily basis.

There is some truth to the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." Ever notice when you get done laughing with a group of friends or after a funny movie that you usually feel really good for a long time afterward? Your body physically reacts to laughter, and it's a great way to reduce stress.

4) If you have the money, splurge on a back massage or trip to the spa.

I honestly grew up near the poverty level, so my mom never got the opportunity to do stuff like this. About a year ago however I was invited to go to a spa with a group of friends. It's not something I can afford to do a whole lot right now, but I was surprised that the cost to go to one wasn't as much as I thought it would be. I don't think I've ever been so relaxed, and it was worth it.

An alternative that's little less draining on the budget is to take a warm bath with relaxing music playing. In either case, be prepared to likely fall asleep.

5) Exercise.

Exercise is really good for getting the tension from stress out of your system. I like to exercises in general, but as far as stress relief it seems to be the most helpful when you're frustrated about something.

6) Work toward doing things that you really like as far as your career.

I think jobs are the top stress producers for a lot of people, especially for people who are in a career for the wrong reasons. I've found over time that if I enjoy what I'm doing, any challenges are worth overcoming. Work doesn't have to be such a terrible thing, but people can let it take over their lives and overpower other parts of their lives.

We've had to be extremely careful about that in our situation, but for the past few years my husband and I have been working on businesses together in addition to our jobs. In that way, it's not been a whole lot different than spending time together in any other activity. We're just making money at the same time, and we have fun.

7) Keep your priorities in check.

I think this idea encompasses all of the previous ones. Life is very rarely free of any stress, so you have to set priorities on what matters to you most. In this way, you can get through a lot of obstacles that would have bothered you a lot more otherwise. I think this cuts down on the stress that a lot of us tend to generate from our own thinking that's not necessarily as bad as it appears to us.

I hope you've found these tips helpful. Good luck and best wishes to you!

How to Not Let Negative Influences Harm Your Life

For new entrepreneurs, realizing how outside influences (both positive and negative) impact a person's life and success is a very important lesson. One of the hardest things to deal with is when someone close to you does not share your excitement and enthusiasm about your business dreams and goals. Another is just keeping your mood up when daily life grinds at you. Here are some tips dealing with not letting outside influences hurt your chances for success:

1) With negative people, find out what their motivation is for their negativity.

This is extremely important. There are some people who are just concerned for your well-being. They don't want you to do something they believe is too risky, even though it is a controlled risk from your point-of-view. When it comes down to it, these people just care and need some reassurance and comfort that you're going to be fine. These can sometimes be good people to listen to because they may catch possible problems for you before they even occur, making you a better business owner.

There are other people who are uncomfortable with other people around them succeeding. I was told by one of my business mentors that this is sometimes called the "crabs in a bucket" concept-when crabs are captured, they're placed in a wide-open bucket because the ones on the bottom don't let the ones on top escape.

2) Read books that keep you going and give you hope.

There are thousands of them out there. Sometimes when you're the only entrepreneurial thinker in your family, you need this to keep from feeling like you're alone in what you're trying to accomplish. Books are also a type of mentorship-the author can't be with you one-on-one physically, but a lot of them put their heart into their work to the point you feel like they're right there with you.

3) Watch less TV.

This is funny coming from someone who went to school to go into broadcasting as a career. I'm not saying live in a cave and not know anything that's going on. I'm also not saying you can't watch television at all-I'd be a hypocrite because there several shows my husband and I enjoy watching. The thing is however is that the average person watches anywhere between 20-30 hours of television a week. If you're in that category, you need to realize that overall TV is still a negative influence. Some people may disagree with that, but from personal experience watching less TV has increase our success and our daily mood.

There are shows out there that help people as well as well-written fictional shows, but there are also shows that give you no benefit and people only watch them because it's something to do. If the average person cut their TV viewing by half and spent that 10-15 hours building something that would help them financially, within less than a decade they would probalby have enough money to do the fun things they were watching other people on TV do!

4) Realize that resistance to negative influences develops over time, not overnight.

You have to practice at it for it to work. Just like any other aspect of business, you may make some mistakes. The best thing to do is learn from them and move on. A great side-effect is that you become a positive influence in the lives of other people. Personally I think there's a great need for that in our culture, and it just feels good to be there for other people when you know how important it is to be that way.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Best wishes to you in business and in life.

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How to Get Through a Financial Crunch

Growing up, my dad was in the manufacturing field and had to go through several layoffs. The situation always put our family in a tight financial crunch, but I learned from the experience. Through being really prepared and treating any job I had as not a guaranteed thing, I've learned a lot about financial stability. If you're beginning to feel uncomfortable with the state of your finances, that's actually a good thing. It's put you into a position of searching out better solutions as opposed to having a surprise hit you. Here are some tips that I think are helpful:

1) Have Multiple Sources of Income

Most people have only one or two sources of income. I now have eight sources of income at age 24, and that's not counting my husband's job and his side projects. I borrowed the idea from investing. In the investing field, it's usually a smart idea to spread yourself across different companies, called diversifying. It's the same thing as the saying of "never put all your eggs in one basket." We've been trained though to think the 40-hour job is enough...not only does that put all your eggs in one basket, but you've given someone else your basket!

All of this didn't happen overnight. I started at age 19. I also read a lot of books like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "48 Days to the Work You Love," and "The Total Money Makeover." I took the time to learn because I didn't ever want to be put in the position where I had no money. As you get into looking into this, residual income sources are best because they're not linked to your time. That's where you're making money over time and not overnight.

2) Quit Running Your Life on Credit and Pay Off Your Existing Debt

I was never the type of person to go out and put a lot of money on my credit card at once in some kind of shopping spree. It was alway situations where I was unprepared. This is why I like Dave Ramsey's financial plan so much because he shows you how to prepare so you don't reach for the credit cards in minor emergency situations.

3) Keep a Good Attitude

I don't watch the news very much because I get tired of hearing how I'm supposed to be financially failing right now. What you read, watch on TV, and the people you hang around have a big factor on your success in life. I avoid really negative people whenever possible and instead get around people who have dreams and are moving forward in life regardless to the overall situation. In short, you can't let statistics and circumstances run your life if you want things to change.

I hope you've found these ideas helpful. Best wishes to you!

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