Self growth + stress

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Ok so we can all get stressed out, right? 

I hate to put a box around anyone, but my observations of myself and other bloggers tells me one big thing: we bloggers put a lot on our metaphorical plates. And sometimes (just sometimes) all that stuff we try to fit into one tiny day [or week or month] can lead to a little thing called stress.

There are a ton of ways you can reduce and manage your stress. Exercising, praying, sleeping and being in nature are a few ways. Today I'm going to focus on personal growth and how it reduces stress. I read a quote somewhere that said "Stress is related to how out-of-control you feel." I think stress can come from a lot of places, but there's something to this quote. Feeling in control helps you manage the inevitable stress you'll encounter on any given day. There's just something about the empowerment that comes with owning up to your thoughts, actions and beliefs that can really help you manage your stress.

Here's a list of things involving personal growth. What you're supposed to do is pick five then rank them in order of what you want to work.

solve problems instead of being the victim
give up blaming, complaining and criticizing

accept responsibility for creating my own experiences
stop behaviors that have a negative consequence
have the courage to make decisions

learn to define a problem and to develop an outcome on which I can take an action
be self-disciplined (keep promises that I make to myself)

keep people out of my business and stop attempting to change others
drop unrealistic expectations

build respect and trust for a person that I have neither

forgive

grieve over my losses

These are my five: drop unrealistic expectations, be self-disciplined, learn to define a problem and to develop an actionable outcome, stop behaviors that have a negative consequence and have the courage to make decisions.

One of my worst habits is putting unreasonably high and unrealistic expectations on myself. As a matter of fact, I used to think I never did or accomplished enough in a day, no matter how super-humanly the 26 out of 30 things on my to-do list were done. So that's the biggest thing I've been working on. I've been working on that [plus the other four things] for about three months now, and I'm proud to say things have gotten much better!

Its a great idea to put your list somewhere that you'll see it daily. That way you can be reminded of how well you're doing in a couple of months!

Thanks for taking a peek at my first post in this inspirational series. Expect some more great content dealing with expectations, receiving criticism, relaxation, perfectionism, setting goals and soo much more. Can't wait to share all of this with you!!