9 Ways To Reduce Your Stress
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Let’s be REAL…stress is a part of our everyday lives. Often times it’s our natural response to anything and everything. But stress not only holds us back mentally, but it also holds us back physically as well.
Stress can disturb our sleep. Stress can trigger heightened appetite and emotional eating. Stress can even trigger weight gain due to raising our cortisol levels. And chronic small, underlying stress can build into causing serious health issues long-term. So, if we want to be the healthiest, happiest versions of ourselves, we need to learn how to take control of our stress!
That’s why I’m going to equip you with 9 ways to help you start carrying the stress more efficiently that can lead to overall reducing it.
Let me give you a quick recap…
Realize stress doesn’t accomplish anything
Take action!
Accept what’s out of your control
Write everything down
Fear First
Envision the worse-case scenario
Ask for help
Remember everything will be okay.
This too shall pass
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let's go.
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast. I'm really excited about today's episode. I feel like it's going to be a super practical one. And I love these because these are staple episodes that I feel like we can go back to time and time again when maybe we lose sight or lose track. Today we're talking about nine ways to reduce your stress.
We have to be real. Stress is a part of our everyday lives. Oftentimes, it can honestly become our natural response to any and everything. But stress can really hold us back in so many ways, mentally, it can hold us back physically, it can disturb our sleep. It can trigger heightened appetite and emotional eating. It can trigger weight gain due to raising our cortisol levels, chronic stress, underlying stress, which can build into causing serious health issues long-term. So if we truly want to be our healthiest and happiest versions of ourself, we need to learn how to take control of our stress.
Lou Holtz said it best. "It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way that you carry it." So that's why in today's episode, I want to equip you with nine ways to help you start carrying the stress more effectively that can lead to overall reducing it. But before I do, I have to share this super sweet review. It comes from Youngtessa18. She says, Helping me think positively. I haven't been here for long. I just barely started listening in, but listening to you has made me think about a lot of things a lot more clearly. I've been struggling for a little bit not liking how I look. And at the end of the day, I want to believe that I am beautiful and my body is as well. Listening to you has made me think about all the negative thoughts I've been putting on myself and I know it's not okay. Thank you for your podcasts."
Thank you so much. I love reviews like this. I love just hearing your aha moments. I love hearing how this podcast is helping you. So, if you haven't already rated and read the podcast, it really does help us out. If you can scooch over to Apple Podcasts, scroll all the way down, click that rate and review. It takes less than 20 seconds. And it helps me so much spread the message of Embrace Your Real. We want to continue reaching millions of women across the world, but I can't do it alone. I need your help. So thank you, thank you, thank you. All right. Let's dive into the nine ways to reduce your stress.
Number one, you have to realize that stress doesn't accomplish anything. The first thing that we have to acknowledge is that stress doesn't do anything productive for us. And in most cases, it can actually paralyze us from accomplishing anything. All stress does is waste energy that could be used towards the thing that we're actually stressing about. I actually heard a quote that put it so perfectly. They said, "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but you don't go anywhere." Isn't that the truth? How many times have you stressed about something and then you're realizing you're just circling in your thoughts and you're actually becoming more paralyzed in whatever it is that you're stressing about leading you to not action at all? But at the end of the day, you get so tired and you're so worn out, but you don't feel productive because you're not doing anything. Just remember that stress truly doesn't accomplish anything.
Number two, take action. Most stress about something and allow that stress to consume them without ever taking action. For example, they may be stressed about a presentation that they have coming up, but they're doing nothing to prepare themselves more. They're just stressing out more. Or maybe the idea of tax is stressing them out. Hey, tax season is coming up. But they aren't sitting down to actually do their taxes. Or the idea of the house being a disaster is stressful, or the appointment, or whatever it is that's stressing you out, but you aren't actually taking time to do the thing that can get you closer to overcoming what you're actually stressing about.
Whatever you're stressing about, when you do something towards it even if it's small, the more action that you take towards the thing that is stressing you out, the less stress you're actually going to begin to feel. So think about what is stressing you out right now and then ask yourself, "What is one thing that I can do towards that thing that's stressing me out today?" It doesn't have to be tackling the whole thing, but taking those small steps. Eventually you'll see this isn't something that you need to be stressing out as much as you were overthinking it.
Number three, you have to accept what is out of your control. Sometimes we can't take action towards the thing that's stressing us out because that thing is outside of our control. In this case, you have to accept it. Going back to what I said in number one, stress wastes energy. And if you're stressing about something that you have zero control over, all you're doing is wasting your precious energy.
I know it's easier said than done, but here is a simple exercise that can help you. Set a timer for five minutes, sit somewhere comfortable, close your eyes and start taking some deep breaths. On the inhale, say to yourself, "I accept what I cannot control." And on the exhale, "I release what I cannot control." Say it again. "I accept what I cannot control" and on the exhale, "I release what I cannot control." So saying that over and over again on your inhale and on your exhale.
I know it sounds like a silly thing to do, but once you do it, you'll open your eyes to feel so much more peace. Even if you do this exercise while driving, unloading the dishwasher, or in any moment, you will start to see that stress melt away and the feeling that is overwhelming you will start to slowly, slowly lessen its grip over you. I heard this quote that related so much to that. It said, "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." Isn't that the truth? So again, instead of stressing about all the unknowns, take ownership of what you can control and release what you cannot.
Number four, write everything down. This is for all of my list takers, all of my note takers. I am one of those things. If your stress is triggered by having so much to do, writing it all down can be so beneficial. Sometimes what's stressing us out the most is being unorganized with what we need to get done. We have all these things jumbling around in our heads and we're worried about forgetting each one so we keep circling through every single one of them. That's why I encourage you to write it down. Write down everything that you need to do. You don't need to keep it in your head because when you're keeping it in your head, all you're doing is stressing yourself out more because you're telling yourself, "I have to keep reminding myself of this, or I'm going to forget it."
One simple thing that you can do at night especially if you're stressed about the next morning is just jotting down. I, sometimes even send myself a text message of all the things so that in the morning, when I do turn on my phone, that text message will pop up and I can see it. Or you can set a reminder on your phone for the tomorrow's to do list. Things like that will help you so much to release it out of your head especially before you go to sleep. And also, have it be somewhere accessible where you can see it and be reminded of it in the next morning. So for me, if I set a reminder on my phone, I know I typically start to see my phone after my morning routine. So after I'm journaling, reading my Bible, praying, meditating, all those things, and then I will turn on my phone so I know it's about 8:00 AM when I do that. So set the reminder for whenever you know you're going to see your phone in the morning, or even a text message like I said.
Remember this, when you write things down, oftentimes it's not as much as you think. Because when it's stuck in our head and when we keep circling through, that's when it can become so overwhelming and that's when you can be paralyzed in all these things that you think you need to do. But if you just have a list and if you just listed out everything that needs to get done, it's not going to be as overwhelming as you think.
Number five, fear first. I was actually listening to Ed Mylett. If you haven't listened to his podcast or any of his social media, he's an incredible entrepreneur. He has a lot of wisdom. He interviews a lot of amazing people. But the other day, he said something that really stuck with me. He said that he always starts his day with fear first. Whatever he dreads doing the first thing is what he does every day. Because once he gets that done, then he has momentum for the rest of the day. And I thought that this was so wise and something we could really all take to our lives.
So after you create a list of everything that you need to do, I want you to pick one thing that maybe you're dreading doing that's causing the most stress. And if you can, that thing, try to accomplish that starting your day. The reason that this mentality works is because number one, you'll just get it over with, and two, nothing in your way will stop you from accomplishing it. Because what happens typically is we'll write down a list and then the hardest thing or the thing that's stressing us out the most will oftentimes bump to the bottom and then we'll say, "Oh, we'll do it tonight" or, "I'll do it after X" or whatever. And then some "emergency" comes up or something that sounds more exciting than getting it done. And then we'll continue to push it off, push it off, push it off, and it will never get accomplished. So I want to encourage you to start, like Ed Mylett said, start with fear first.
Number six, envision the worst case scenario. Now, some of the things that we're stressing about aren't things that we need to get done, but maybe it's a decision we need to make or an outcome we're unsure of or how we're going to do something. In this case, the best thing that you can do is envision the worst case scenario. And I know that this kind of sounds like dark. And I oftentimes tell Josh this like, "I'd rather just envision the worst case scenario because I want to make sure that I'm prepared in that". Like, if everything goes wrong, what is going to happen? When we're able to envision it, we can come to terms with it and we can prepare ourselves for it. So if this happens, we feel more ready. We feel like we can handle it. We feel like we will already have a solution and we're not caught off guard. The more that we can come to terms with the worst case scenario, the less stress will actually control us if that thing starts happening because we've already prepared ourselves with a solution for navigating through this situation.
Oftentimes when we envision this, we realize also that the worst case scenario is not as serious as we think. So again, it's almost just like facing it in your mind, becoming more prepared. And then once you do that, you realize that it doesn't have as much of a grip in your mind and in your heart as you thought. So envisioning those worst case scenarios, preparing yourself, allowing yourself to have a solution so that you can navigate through that situation.
Number seven, ask for help. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You don't have to take on everything in life by yourself. But I think that this is really important. And I think that oftentimes we can look up people on social media, especially business owners or people that just have a lot going on in their lives, maybe they have a lot of kids and they just have so many things going on. Oftentimes, you don't see them behind the scenes. Many of those people that have so many things going on in their lives, they have kids, they have businesses, they have dreams that they're working towards, they have help. They have help behind the scenes that maybe you don't know about. And so maybe, if you want to get the thing done, or if you just feel overwhelmed with everything going on in your life, put your ego aside, put your pride aside and ask for help.
Most of the time, that's what we really need. Most of the time, whatever stressful situation we find ourselves, we can easily get ourselves help if we just ask for it. This doesn't mean that you're weak. And in most cases, it takes a lot of strength to be okay with asking for help. So please, please, please, if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you feel like you just can't do all of the things and show up as your best self and put yourself first so that you can give the best of yourself to those that you love, ask for help. This could be a nanny that comes one to two hours a week. It could be a person cleaning your house if you have the means to do it. There's so many different things that you can ask for helping, but it first starts with you putting your pride and ego aside.
Number eight, remember everything will be okay. You have to remember that a 100% of the bad days that you have had in your life, you've made it through. You're listening to this podcast. So what makes you think you're not going to make it through again? Everything always finds a way of working out. Yes, sometimes disappointment comes. Sometimes failure comes. Sometimes the unexpected things come. But I'll tell you, if you look at it with eyes of opportunity, if you look at it with eyes of hope, every thing that's going on right now is going to happen for you if you choose to have that mentality about it. Everything that you've gone through, the hard days, the hard situations, you have made it through 100% of the time, so what makes you think that you're not going to make it out this time?
Number nine, this too shall pass. Remember what you're feeling and remember what you're experiencing right now is fleeting. You're not going to feel like this forever. Whatever is causing you stress, one day, it's not going to be there forever. You have the choice to choose differently. You have the choice to not let the thing consume your thoughts. You have the choice to not let it drain your energy. This too shall pass and you too will feel "normal" again. So find comfort in knowing that it will pass and you have the opportunity to assist in that.
So there you have it. Those are the nine ways to reduce your stress. Let me give you a quick recap. Number one, realize stress doesn't accomplish anything. Number two, take action. Number three, accept what is out of your control. Number four, write everything down. Number five, start fear first. Thanks Ed Mylett. Number six, envision the worst case scenario. Number seven, ask for help. Number eight, remember everything will be okay. And number nine, this too shall pass.
I want you to bookmark this episode because I know that this episode has a lot in it. Maybe you are in a season of your life where you're not stressed and things are going great right now, I know that there's going to be a day or there's going to be a season in your life that you might find this more helpful so please bookmark this. I want you to come back to this episode. It is a staple episode that is going to give you just substance and going to give you guidance through your situation.
If you have somebody in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can post it up on your story. I would love to hear your aha moments or what came from this episode. I appreciate you guys spreading the word more than you know. That's the one thing that really lights me up is when I see you guys sharing this message with other women, because I believe that the more that we can learn, the more that we can empower ourselves. And the more that we can add to our tool belt every day, the more we're going to be able to navigate through this life and live more optimally in our best self. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
If you love this episode, I know you'll also love Episode 74, Five Steps to Stop Letting People Stress You Out. I will go ahead and link that in the show notes, but be sure to tune in to Episode 74. Thank you again for tuning in. I love you so much and I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, @juliealedbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode.
Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.