Stress. It’s hard to avoid in tough times. How you manage that stress, though, is up to you. Get a handle on it instead of letting it control your thinking.
Tip 3: It’s Your Stress, Baby! Stress impedes our brain’s growth and slows the recovery of our immune system (6 minutes stress = 6 hours recovery from it, Leonard Ingram – Anger Institute of Chicago). Own your stress to keep your Whole Brain® working for you.
Own stress by:
- Recognizing that it is part of life and we have to learn to manage it…and stop complaining about it.
- Acknowledging and naming how we change under stress.
- Helping each other by sharing that information so we can empathize and be supportive. If you’ve completed the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®), you can use your profile data to support this process.
- Finding ways to leverage the energy our and others’ stress creates in positive ways.
- Choosing to react differently! Sometimes, not always, it is a choice. Watch for triggers, and seek out people and places that calm you.
- Family life can be stressful. Check out Susie Weller’s work on Whole Brain® Parenting for useful tips.
- Fear is often part of our stress. Use Susie’s 5 F’s to better approach fear (Face, Feel, Focus, Frame, Forgive).