How to Reduce or Eliminate Stress in 10 Minutes a Day

Today I am sharing a very well-written article ~ enjoy!

How to Reduce or Eliminate Stress in 10 Minutes a Day
By Kathy Wilson

Experts agree stress is one of the leading epidemics in our society today. Stress causes or contributes to heart disease, cancer, stroke, depression, anxiety disorders, and premature death. It steals from our happiness, and wastes our time unnecessarily.

If you could start to change the amount of stress in your life in just 10 minutes a day, wouldn't you want to know how?

Many of our most successful and motivating mentors such as Dr. Norman Vincent Peale have suggested the power of journaling to take apart your problems, and help you deal with them step by step. It is a simple, yet extremely effective method for dealing with any kind of stress or anxiety, and just takes a few minutes a day.

It is important in your journaling to ask yourself the tough questions, such as "Why do I really fear this?" and "How would I cope in the worst case scenario?" Asking yourself these types of questions can uncover your true fears, and then allow you to journal your way to an effective solution.

I have had so many people tell me how they were skeptical when they first tried journaling, but were amazed after just one session how relieved they felt, and how easily a solution and acceptance to their problem had come after writing it all down.

Step One: Write down what you fear. This could be as simple as "I am afraid to go on my job interview".

Step Two: Try to discover what is really causing this fear. This is the hardest step, but the one which will reveal the most. For the above example, this step might read…"I fear that I am not good enough for the position, and that I will make a fool of myself."

Step Three: Look your worst case scenario right in the mouth. So what would you do if you weren't right for the job? Would it really be the end of the world? Once you face the worst, the only place to go is up!

Step Four: Write down ways you could lessen your fear, and deal with whatever the outcome may be. You could prepare for your interview by practicing with a loved one. You could check out a book on interviews and try some different approaches. You could realize that your best is always good enough, and if you aren't right for this job, that means there is a better opportunity waiting!

Step Five: Here's where the payoff comes…you read over your journal page, and nine times out of ten, you will see in black and white how much you blew the fear out of proportion. Now write yourself a positive affirmation reflecting what you've learned…"I will do my best, and know that is always good enough, and I will learn from the experience either way!"

That's it! Five quick steps to relieving stress and anxiety in just a few minutes! This process works for any level of fear, and the more you use it, the better you will get at taking apart your problems and seeing them for what they really are!

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Kathy Wilson is the editor of StressLessJournal.com and author of "The Stress Less Journal: A Self Guided Path from Stress to Comfort." You can visit her website for more stress relieving tips and resources and to sign up for her free online newsletter at http://www.StressLessJournal.com.


P.S. Your question of the day is:
What specifically did you learn from reading this article that you can apply in your life beginning today?