Most of the advice we hear about managing stress is more on the long term. Even though it’s practical, what actually does matter is how you can manage yourself when you are overwhelmed with stress in a moment’s notice.
If you are someone who is an executive or an Entrepreneur you are more than aware that you can be exposed to high level stress at your desk, in a meeting or even while commuting.
The question always asked to me when I am doing an intervention with my clients is “How to regain control Satish”.
I have noticed most of the people are stressed even before they reach out to work. Even though Low pay, unreasonable workload and hectic commute to and fro from work are the main reasons the other aspect, which is gaining more prominent off late is relationship with coworkers and superiors.
I always tell this to my own clients, if these are not regulated immediately it is very easy for this aspect to spiral out of control and derail the career. It is extremely critical how you manage to navigate yourself through these extreme high stressful situations on a daily basis.
One wrong move can be costly. Below is some of the way I help my own clients to work in this specific area, which is always a ticking time bomb and can blow in one’s face sooner than later.
Learn to recognize the stress signage:
We always get to know when we are stressed by learning to pick the Physiological signs of stress. Some of them will tighten the facial muscles, begin to breathe shallow, or even begin to feel hot under the collar.
Once one begin to experience any of these signs, the body begins to prepare for a flight or fight mode.
If you learn to recognize these very signs before it begins to spiral out of control, you will be able to navigate yourself better.
Change Your Perception Of Stress:
One of the main reasons according to me why people are stressed at work is due to unreasonable demands on them and not valued enough at the workplace.
This triggers the reaction more at the emotional rather than the physical level.
One of the things I do teach my clients is to “Shift their thinking about the cause which is triggering the stress” When you look at the situation differently, then there is an opportunity to refocus the nervous energy into something more constructive, like heighten the attention or apply oneself more in the task.
Remember the energy expanded is the same. How you use it will eventually help you train your own brain going forward.
Change Your Internal Dialogue:
Yes each one of us have a voice inside our own head, which either guides or at times misguide us. When we are exposed to stress it is very easy to align our internal dialogue with the external conditions.
This is certain to push you towards the danger zone sooner than later.
One of the most effective technique I do teach my own clients is to override this voice and make an attempt to talk to oneself logically and positively.
You can talk yourself out of this by saying something like “you have handled bigger projects before and managed things more efficiently. You have a great track record and believe that you can walk through this.
Keep the words positive and inspiring. You will be surprised how your body reacts, by changing some of the words in your internal dialogue.
Regulate Your Breathing:
People are surprised when I say that most of them do not breathe properly. In fact I do hear couple of chuckle in the interventions. Most do shallow and irregular breathing which is known to trigger the stress hormone & cloud your vision with negative thoughts.
One of the easiest thing each one of you can do is to practice deep breathing couple of times in a day. This is exactly what is called Pranayama in Yoga.
Condition your mind to feel energized while breathing in and all the stress leaving the body while breathing out. This way in 5 minutes you can create your own ritual to destress in any situation or place.
Modulate Your Emotions:
When was the last time you remember interacting with a stressed out coworker or manager? I will guarantee you that you too would have felt the same. The reason is simple “Stress is highly contagious”
We tend to modulate out emotions at the subconscious level by our immediate surrounding. In this case it can be a coworker or an unreasonable boss. When you work closely with someone who is always tensed up it does begin to rub on to you.Sounds familiar – Well Read on
The only thing you can control in this environment is your own reaction and body language. You have to control your tone and modulate your voice to be gentler.
If you are conscious about this and with some practice you will be able to lead anyone to be calmer and lead then gently in the direction you do want.This one technique has proved to be a game changer, for most of my own clients over the years in dealing with unreasonable & narcissist boss.
If you’ve tried everything that you possibly can but find yourself still being overwhelmed, then go here right now
Yes I Want To Overcome Any Stressful Situation
Working with a professional coach who can listen to your frustrations non-judgmentally and support you will help you get results faster.
Besides working with clients 1 on 1, I also engage with corporate teams through my Group Coaching Sessions.
Through these sessions, your team will learn to make powerful changes to their current engagement and improve performance. In my personal Intervention, I will teach them how to…
- Develop a die-hard attitude for achieving their personal and professional goals
- Create a powerful Road-map in their lives which ultimately results in success
- Double, triple or even quintuple their productivity by teaching them to overcome stress effectively.
Are you an executive who’s looking to increase your team’s overall productivity? Then mail me on enquiry@satishrao.in to bring in the much needed change within your team.
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