Live Well: Personalized Stress Relief for Young Professionals

By Melanie Noble

Younger generations experience more stress than older generations, making stress reduction more important than ever. Live Well: Personalized Stress Relief for Young Professionals helps young, busy, stressed-out people manage stress and live a better quality of life.

Because each of us is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to stress, various techniques are covered, from physical to cognitive to spiritual, with a focus on quick stress relievers. Short actionable worksheets guide you to apply the solutions and shape new habits that stick.

What are you waiting for? Act now to reduce stress and feel better.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304965578

Book preview

Live Well: Personalized Stress Relief for Young Professionals

Melanie Noble

Notice:

The information contained herein is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject addressed. It is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional medical, financial or psychological advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the reader's discretion. The author specifically disclaims any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained herein. Consult appropriate professionals regarding your specific situation.

Contents

Part 1 - Understanding Stress: Easing into your Life

Do you really understand stress? What it is? How it affects your life? This chapter focuses on defining stress and how it may impact your life.

Part 2 - Clarifying your Stressors and How Each Impacts You

Do you know what stresses you or just know you're stressed? Identify your sources of stress and how stress impacts you.

Part 3 - Personalizing your Stress-Free Toolkit To Relieve Stress

Are you ready to relieve your stress, to create your own toolkit to address what stresses you? Get ready to take action by selecting appropriate, personalized tools and techniques from the stress toolkit to manage your stress.

Part 4 - Committing to Personal Stress Management

Can you shift your over commitment to others to make taking care of yourself a priority? In this section, you will create and execute your personal stress management plan.

Part 5 – Supporting your Stress Relief

Can you give yourself the support you need and let go of unhealthy, energy-draining habits? Ongoing stress relief is yours with resources like 24/7 access to my website

www.melanienoble.com/stressrelief.html with helpful tips, worksheets, and more.

Oceans

I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths against a great thing.

And nothing happens!

Nothing....Silence....Waves....

--Nothing happens. Or has everything happened,

and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

--Juan Ramon Jimenez

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Stressed out over too much work, too many commitments? Is everything--work, family, even fun--moving faster than you want to? You are not alone. We all know that stress can be unhealthy. You probably know what causes your stress. But, you still don't slow down. Taking time to care for yourself may be harder than what causes the stress in the first place.

I know from experience. I have been a stressed-out, people-pleasing perfectionist and tried many methods and techniques for stress relief. Through trial, error, and patience I have found what works for me and what doesn't. Real change takes awareness and willingness to change what's not working. It is an ongoing journey that begins with the first step: I want to relieve stress. There is no one solution, no silver bullet. I want to share what I've learned for myself in hope that it will inspire you to take the first step to relieving your stress and living a more peaceful life, the life you truly want and deserve. Each life is a journey well worth exploring. Are you ready to explore how to relieve your stress and create a plan just for you?

Only now recovering from a hard-hitting recession, we all can relate to stress related to the economy. Jobs are less plentiful and less secure. Searching for a job creates perpetual anxiety and stress. Today's market is in flux such that many months may pass without a positive response.

I know all too well how stress can restrict the flow of life, how striving to achieve and accomplish can wear us out. Working hard to do well in school while trying to make ends meet is challenge enough without the added stress of anticipating many years of paying back student loans--all this while searching for the right job.

When we do find a job, we must adapt to an often fast-paced environment and changing expectations. I used to push myself and focus solely on advancement without much attention to staying centered and aware of how I felt inside. Striving at our own expense may work for a while but eventually, as I learned the hard way, the pace will catch up with you.  I began to feel tired, tense and anxious--the unhealthy effects of stress--and realized I did not want to live that way. If I wasn't even 30 years old yet, how would I feel after working at this pace for a decade or more? I wanted to feel relaxed and confident about my work, to look forward to its potential--the learning, the new experiences--with enough of me leftover to enjoy my personal life. I knew it was time for change.

While pushing close to our edge can work for short periods of time, such as when we need to meet a potentially life-changing deadline or run a marathon, but no one can keep such a pace indefinitely. Our bodies and minds must rest and renew to survive.

Americans work non-stop. In our 24/7 world, we seldom take breaks. We skip lunch and operate on autopilot. We now work longer hours than ever before. We feel pressure to cram as much as possible into every day. Slowly but surely our neck and shoulders begin to ache all the time. Our motivation wanes. We feel exhausted, and wonder why we feel the way we do. If we ignore these symptoms, we will inevitably burn out. From there we may have harmed our health, our confidence, our career and possibly stressed out those who love us as well. Unfortunately, 31% of people with high stress never discuss stress management with their health care provider (American Psychological Association, 2012).

My story goes something like this: As a human factors engineer, I worked in the technology industry, focused on customer experience development from 9am to 6pm without a break. Staring at a computer screen most of the day while feeling pushed by constant deadlines was normal. I checked my email while running from one meeting to the next trying to get more done. This all became too much for me. Things moved way too fast and I lost the energy that I once had. I ate lunch at my desk because I believed that I had so many things to accomplish.  Achievement and its acknowledgment drove me. I thought I had to perform in order to be good enough, that this is what it took to do a good job, to make it in my career. I didn't even know what it meant to just be present. And I certainly didn't know how to say no.

At my breaking point, feeling exhausted and unfulfilled, I realized I needed help. I went to see my doctor about my fatigue. She ran some tests and gave me a clean bill of health. Next I began work with a life coach. A life coach is someone who addresses a client's specific personal motivations, business challenges, or life transitions by examining the current situation and clarifying difficulties and potential outcomes to develop a course of action to change, redirect, or resolve a given situation.

After we had been working together awhile, my coach asked me whether I ever sat still, just for a moment, and noticed what was happening in my body and around me. I was shocked to realize that I never did that at all. I'd never made time to check in with myself, to simply be, even for a moment. It hadn't even crossed my mind. When asked if I felt I knew what I needed, I realized that my over-doing had kept me from tuning in to myself. And did I love myself? Not really.

These awareness’s got my attention. From that day on, I made a point of slowing down each day, even if only for a moment, to check in with myself, to see how my body was feeling. Whenever I did this, I felt the tension in my shoulders, which I held up by my ears.  I learned to be aware of this and when I noticed it to consciously relax my shoulders by taking a deep breath. Moments later, my shoulders would drop and the tension would pass. With this baby step I began to explore and experience what it meant to stop doing and simply be present with myself. I became curious about simply being. Each day I experienced a little more being and a little less doing. And to my surprise, nothing fell apart. Slowly but surely, I became a more present human being. And I liked it.

Even by reading only this