Take Control of Who You Are - 4 Easy Steps to Take Care of Yourself

Guest post: Thanks Marie. In light of recent events it's good to consider. Particularly, we as leaders need to take care of ourselves and be mindful of those on our team. Marie's theme suggests a practical approaches to emotional intelligence. Also following Marie's post, check out the post, "Leaders Have Feelings Too."

Take Control of Who You Are - 4 Easy Steps to Take Care of Yourself

Can you believe that mental illnesses are more common than heart disease, diabetes and even cancer? According to the World Health Organization – it’s true. We live in a stressful day and age, and while some people clearly recognize how stress affects their everyday lives, others are not fully aware of the influence stress has on them.

Yes, stress can be good for you in certain situations – it can help you focus and perform better under pressure. But once stress becomes overpowering, it can seriously damage your relationships, mood and overall health. Most of our mental and physical problems come from our inability to cope with our emotions. We have a tendency to bury our fears, smother our insecurities in comfort food or sweep our feelings “under the rug”.

Taking control of your emotions is a slow process, and if you want to be in charge of your life, you have to take it step by step.

Step 1: Learn to say “No” more

People spend enormous amounts of money on psychologists. Psychologists spend enormous amounts of energy constructing and administering psychological tests, trying to help people understand themselves. And the cycle never ends. However, if you want to test your psychological well-being or the health of your relationship, just monitor the internal response you have when you have to say “no” to someone. Also, keep in mind that “No!” is a complete sentence.

Step 2: Learn to Deal with Your Anxieties

So, when you have to say “no” to a close person, what is your initial response to their reaction? Do you pressure yourself to try to find an excuse? Do you rush to find a good reason to justify your “no”? If you look at the dictionary, you’ll see that the word justify literally means to “show or prove to be right”. Now, just think about it – why does this person have such an authority over you to see if your reasoning is right or wrong. If that person cares about you, he/she is not supposed to judge you.

Step 3: Relax Your Mind

Fear is a primal emotion, but unless you’re facing a genuine threat – it’s usually a negative one. If you suffer from chronic anxiety, even the smallest things can trigger it. You need something to help you with your racing thoughts and if you want to quiet your overactive mind, meditation might be the solution for you. Anxious people tend to shy away from meditation because they can’t sit still or focus enough to clear their mind and meditate. So you have to be patient, and remember, the main goal is to learn how to manage your energy and become more productive in the long run.

Step 4: Go Easy On Your Body

In some cases, people use alcohol in order to “unwind” and “self-medicate”, but in reality, addictive substances such as drugs or alcohol only enhance anxieties and aggravate problems. Furthermore, your diet probably needs to change – fast foods, snacks and sodas need to be replaced by red meats, vegetables and water. Vitamins and minerals are essential to your body; luckily there are health food store at almost every corner. Of course, you could always go online and look up the organic vitamin supplements such as the Fusion Health Multi Vitamin formula in order to stay healthy.

Before you start taking any steps, you have to learn to accept your emotions. The key is to stop wasting your energy on avoiding your emotions and start fully experiencing your feelings. Step back and think about where are your thoughts and behaviors coming from. Let your guard down and try to understand why something hurts and what do you want to do about it. Only when you start taking certain risks you will be able to grow.

Contact Marie: marie.nieves@highstylife.com

Follow up post: Leaders Have Feeling Too!