How to Make Stress Work for You

At any time, financial conditions can become a source of stress and can significantly complicate both your personal and family life .  

Although stress is a commonly used term, a useful definition of stress for this article is that it is an uncomfortable experience especially when it is overwhelmingly based on personal events and circumstances. This experience is not lost on the self-employed.

Worry Can Take It's Toll on Your Well-bring
Worry over job loss, mounting bills, and family responsibilities can take its toll on your personal well-being. In that the number one thing that couples argue about, even in good economic times, is money, financial stress can take its toll on marriage and other committed relationships. 

Psychosomatic illnesses can result in insomnia, high blood pressure, migraines, stomach disorders, loss of appetite, a reduced desire to engage in fun activities, and irritableness. Even anxiety, depression, and panic cannot be ruled out. Other family members will begin to wonder about the changes in your behavior and the deterioration in your relationship with them.

Know the Sources of Stress
An American Psychological Association survey conducted in 2008 found that eight in ten people identified money (81%) and the economy (80%) as a significant source of stress in their lives. Other sources of stress include housing costs (62%), and job stability (56%). Two years after this study, the situation worsened. Government programs were not and will never be the solution. 

The terrible Obama economy, the only administration that didn't realize at least a 3% growth in our economy, added $10 trillion to our national debt. This was more debt than all the other previous Presidents combined. He essentially borrowed from our future and piled debt on our children and grandchildren.

You Must Survive and Grow
Now that the Obama era is over and with our economic conditions has significantly improved, you as a self-employed person have a great opportunity to survive and grow. And beyond that, be the expert that your stressed out clients look to for help. You have to manage stress in your life by learning all you can about what causes stress in your life, and what works for you in dealing with it. And, then you must make stress work for you rather than against you. 

A wider view of stress is that the uncomfortable experience, correctly identified, should be welcomed and accepted. Use stress to invigorate your creativity and resourcefulness -- to wake up the creativity inside you thus allowing you to invent ways to circumvent or overcome challenging events and circumstances and to help you in your work with your clients.


How do you manage stress in your life? Leave your comments below.

9 Best Ways You Can Deal with Stress Once and For AlI

Untreated stress can lead to a host of problems, including physical illness such as ulcers, heart disease,and high blood pressure. 

People exposed to stress over long periods are also prone to develop depression, feelings of hopelessness and inferiority, loss of sexual interest, memory problems — the list is virtually endless.

Each of us, at some time, encounters a period of high stress as a result of some change in our lives. Whether caused by a job change, a loss of someone close, a new relationship or even a financial setback, the stress can feel overwhelming. 

To cope with the changes that confront us and to adapt in a positive manner, it is helpful to: Secure adequate information (get to know as much about a situation as possible so as not to misjudge); 

Maintain a positive self-image (don't demean or blame yourself); Maintain autonomy (in other words, stand on your own two feet—it's up to you to make the final   choice).

Here are the 9 best ways ever to deal with stress once and for all and thereby decrease your risk of developing other complaints.

1. Identify and address the problem producing the stress. Often those who are under stress first attempt to relieve the stress by attacking the symptoms: taking medication, getting more sleep or changing eating habits. Although sometimes helpful in the short term, these methods can actually prolong the stress by leaving the underlying cause untreated. Instead, take time to identify the stressful situation, which may be some aspect of your job, your relationships with others or another similar

2. Circumstance. Once you have determined the source of your stress, you can take control and address the problem. For instance, if your work situation is causing you stress you may decide to discuss possible solutions with your boss. By taking charge, you reduce the feelings of helplessness and being "out of control" and take an important step in relieving the source of your stress.

3. Learn to relax. What if you've identified what you believe is the source of your stress and yet decide that it's impossible to change? Then you can take steps to reduce the effects such situations have on you by learning to relax. One of the easiest ways to learn to relax is to deliberately try to make yourself tense and then relax specific body areas slowly, one by one.

5. Exercise. Not only does exercise make you feel better by doing something positive for you, but recent studies indicate that such activity can help your body release its own natural opiates, called endorphins.

6. Devote time to hobbies and outside Interests. Immersing yourself in hobbies and other outside interests can often reduce the intensity of the stress by taking your mind off the stressful situation. Worrying only increases your stressful feelings.

7. Talk to someone. Talking about your problems often helps to put things into perspective. In this way, you may realize solutions you never thought of or at least gain a better understanding of whatever is bothering you. Often simply airing your feelings to someone else brings immediate relief.

8. Laugh. Amazingly enough, a good belly laugh can sometimes relieve tension and indicate that you've come to terms with the problems that are causing the stress. If you can laugh at the situation, you are that much closer to being ready to do something about it.

9. Concentrate on having fun. A survey conducted by Dr. Martin Snyder at the United States International University indicates that engaging in pleasurable activities may actually reduce symptoms of stress. 

The survey suggests that in order to combat the effects of stressful living, one should participate in more social events and, simply, have more fun. Exposed to the same degree of stress, those people who enjoy themselves more report fewer symptoms associated with stress than do those without pleasurable activities. 

So if you can't beat the stressful situation, at least alleviate its effect on you by going out and having a good time.


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