If you’re feeling stressed, chances are your lifestyle is to blame. A recent study revealed that almost a third of French people live with moderate to high levels of stress, which has repercussions on our health. From weight gain to anxiety, stress can manifest in many different ways. But what can we do against stress?
Dr. Louis Kenneth Zweig offers some tips that he says can help reduce stress levels and improve overall health. He calls it the “4As” method: Avoid, Modify, Adapt and Accept. Let’s take a closer look at each of these tips and see how we can put them into practice in our own lives.
Let’s discuss these 4As in detail:
Avoid stress.
Avoiding stress does not mean that you should avoid any stressful situation that comes your way, as it is important to address certain stressful situations. But at the same time, you can eliminate a number of stresses from your life by avoiding them. Remember these little points:
- Learn to say “no”: whether in your personal or professional life, you have to know your limits and respect them. Saying yes to missions that require more than your ability can cause you to panic. You will do nothing but ruin all your hard work.
- Stay away from people who stress you out: We all have a friend who is a little too much to handle. You know this type of friend: he is always dramatizing, talking about himself, and he takes all your energy away from you. Well, maybe it’s time to let them go. Indeed, according to new research, being around people who stress you out can have a negative impact on your health.
- The study found that people who were constantly exposed to stressors had higher levels of inflammation in their bodies. Over time, this inflammation can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease or stroke. So if you have a friend who constantly stresses you out, it might be time to distance yourself, for your own health.
Change the situation in your favor.
If you can’t avoid a particularly stressful situation, or if avoiding it isn’t good, try changing it. These ways can help you:
- Be open to your feelings instead of repressing them: Don’t keep what’s bothering you to yourself. Talking can only help. Expressing your feelings will allow you to release your stress.
- Be ready to compromise: If you expect something from someone, be ready to reciprocate. Never forget to step forward if someone is willing to do the same to you. Small compromises on either side will allow you to live in a happy environment.
- Create a balanced schedule: You need to balance your time and attention between work, personal life, and social activities.
Adapt the situation.
The third A is “adapt”. If you can’t change or modify the stressors. In such stressful situations, you have to adapt and act according to the needs of the moment. Here are the points that will help you:
- Be optimistic. Adopting an attitude of seeing the positive side of any situation helps you reframe problems. For example, instead of complaining about traffic jams, take advantage of this moment to listen to your favorite playlist or give motivational speeches to start the day off right.
- Look at the big picture: In life, it often helps to take a step back and see the bigger picture. This allows us to assess a situation with more clarity and develop strategies that better meet our needs. It also allows us to react more quickly in times of uncertainty or distress by being able to see the best course of action to take. By expanding our field of vision, we are able to refine problems into workable solutions that change and better fit our lives. So the next time life throws something at you, try to look beyond what is presented directly in front of you – there may be more to it than meets the eye.
Accept the situation.
We all encounter certain stressful situations that are simply unavoidable. For example, you cannot avoid sickness and death, a natural calamity, or a national recession. In such conditions, the best way to deal with it is to accept the situation and act accordingly. Accepting such situations will not be easy for you, but you will be better able to find appropriate solutions and live with them. Keep these points in mind when you find yourself in a stressful situation:
- Never try to control something that is out of control: there are many things in this universe that simply cannot tolerate your interference or control over them.
- Always Learn to Forgive: Most people have been in a stressful situation where they were wronged and had to learn to forgive. It’s not always easy, but it’s important to remember that forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting or excusing what happened. It’s a way to move on and release the negative emotions associated with the situation. Learning to forgive can be difficult, but it will be worth it in the end.
