We often feel overwhelmed with our busy lifestyles and life's problems often lead to feeling anxious and negative about situations, so how can we cut through the mental chaos to solve our problems without professional help? Here are simple tips to get you through a few common stressful situations.
Our minds are equipped with all the tools needed to solve our problems. Therefore when we feel like we are about to throw a tantrum or have a break down over the status of a relationship, shape of our thighs or a miserable job, we should try to ask ourselves a question in the moment. By doing this we are allowing our brains to jump into productive mode, challenging ourselves to think about ways of solving a problem instead of sinking into a state of negativity and depression. A question automatically gets us to think, and moves us from a position of feeling incapable to one of feeling capable and empowered.
For example, instead of “I can't do this, I feel too overwhelmed”, rather ask yourself “what small step can I take today?” You will start to notice that when your brain deviates to helpless thinking you can step in and find yourself a line that you can use to get yourself through it. By adopting this course of action, tasks might seem more manageable.
One day in the future we might find ourselves feeling distressed that we were never able to follow our dreams. How can we stop this kind of negative thinking? Ask yourself how can you get started and what made me think of that? If you can find the reason as to what is holding you back, then maybe you can work on it. Reasons will vary. Perhaps your dream was unrealistic and you had children instead, or you gave up when it got too hard. Try to put the emphasis on trying rather than achieving excellence. This way you could actually start doing something rather than just thinking about it.
Sometimes we may feel bad over something we did or said unintentionally and it gets our stomach in a knot. You shouldn't ignore the reason for feeling bad, rather face the problem and understand what happened. Then you can focus on getting over the issue so you can feel better. This may mean apologising, telling the truth etc.
Many people have anxiety over what others think of them. We can become stressed when high expectations are not met and we are trying to please everyone. To avoid this mindset you need to determine what
you want to do, what you want out of life and how you can achieve it. If you go through life living according everyone else, you will have many regrets later in life. Do whatever makes you happy.
Don't ever feel like you have to go along with something in a pressurising situation. Ask yourself how your body feels about the situation because though your brain may be rationalising the situation your body may tell you otherwise. If you feel tense, tired or afraid then you know that whatever you are doing is not right for you.
This way of thinking allows us to take control over our lives and make our own decision as to what we want and are capable of.