By Paola Bassanese
What is stressing you? What are you worried about? What is keeping you awake at night?
How about giving yourself a HOLIDAY from worry? The problems you have been worrying about will still be there but your mental attitude will be different.
Once you are equipped with the certainty that, whatever happens, you can cope with any situation, you will see an improvement in your stress levels due to worry.
Why not give it a go? Try spending a total of 30 days not worrying about “stuff”: you only need to focus one day at a time and just remind yourself it’s only for one day. The following day repeat the exercise but this time you may want to stop worrying about another aspect in your life.
For example: today I have decided not to worry about my mortgage. I have always been able to pay it and I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to pay it this month. I have a regular stream of clients who book appointments with me so I know I will be covering my overheads. Up until yesterday, I would lie awake at night wondering if I would be able to pay my mortgage and mentally packing my bags because I was being thrown out of my flat!
That’s what happens when you do spend time worrying, you let it fester in your mind and feed it with mental energy. In cognitive behavioural therapy, the key to reduce stress is to change your point of view, take in a wider perspective or simply change the subject. In your mind, literally move on to another topic and just think about that for as long as it takes until you have stopped obsessing about what you had worried about earlier.
I would love to hear about your experiences, feel free to leave comments and reply on twitter using the hashtag #energyadontworry.
Thank you Barry.