I’m sure you’ve been there...circumstances in your day keep mounting, and you feel as if nothing is going your way. One thing after another keeps happening, and you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Others don’t know the pressure you’re under, and it seems that they don’t care at all about what you have to do, or how you have to do it. Someone wmay say something that they think is totally fine, but it rubs you the wrong way. Another person give you news that you don’t want to hear, causing you the get frustrated or sink in discouragement. And yet another voice lets you know that you’ve failed at the task that you were just working on...
Wow. That is a LOT to deal with! Unfortunately, we all have had (and will have) days like this, where it seems that we just can’t get a break. At work, in school, with friends, while driving, or when we’re at home, we feel like the next thing that comes will crack our self-control, causing us to blow up, and possibly saying or doing something we regret. Is there any hope of avoiding the stress that will come our way? Maybe not.
You can let stress work FOR you, not against you!
But - there is something you can do to help you through the tough situation; turn the stress around! If you can’t change the circumstances, you CAN change your mindset to navigate through the circumstances!
1. Do you believe that you can positively change someone’s life? What’s your daily plan to influcence those around you? If you fail to plan with this, they you’re planning to fail, so what can you do to ensure you’re helping others, not hurting others?
2. What are your methods for staying calm? Do you start those things when the stressful situation starts? Are those choices easy for you? hard for you? Why or why not?
3. Do you think you choose your positive attitude? What about your negative attitude? Which attitude will help you stay calm when stress in your life keeps climbing?
Believe it or not, you can actually let stress work FOR you, not against you! Using this mindset, you’ll be armed for any stressful situation that comes your way. Just how diamonds are formed (out of rock) and cut with intense pressure on and around them, the situation you are in, or will be in, inevitably will cause stress...yet that stress can help cut the diamond out of the rough!
Challenge: Starting today, plan on stressful situations coming to you. It does no good to believe everything will always be easy for you, or go your way. The pressure you ace will change you...either for better or for worse. Make sure it’s for the better! If you want to grow as a leader, resolve now BEFORE the stressful situation comes to choose the right attitude. When you are proactive with this, not reactive, stress will begin to lose it’s power in your life, and you’ll be in a better position to positively impact others around you!
