Podcast Episode #41
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Extraordinary Life Podcast from the creator of the Extraordinary Life Tribe, Crystal Obregon, the self-development podcast propelling you forward toward your goals. Using science backed high performance habits. Reach the next level in your physical and mental health. See new heights in your relationships.
[00:00:18] Gain clarity on your purpose and live your extraordinary life. Welcome your host writer, speaker and coach Crystal Obregon. Hi there. This is Crystal of Crystal Obregon Coaching with Episode Number 41 of the Extraordinary Life Podcast. This week, I would like to share five strategies for coping with stress so that you can succeed with stress rather than experience distress.
[00:00:53] Life consistently presents us with challenges and changes, and at times this can [00:01:00] lead to feeling stressed out. And planning how to manage and cope in various life situations and finding out which coping skills work best for you is the key. Lately, I found myself focusing too much on issues that were creating stress in my life.
[00:01:20] And I don't know about you, but once I'm allowing one thing to stress me out, I seem to bring other things onto my list of things to stress about. For example, my son broke his arm almost a year ago and he's been healed for ages, but because I must have filled the paperwork at the hospital in with this middle name, which is the name he uses instead of this first name, we've been having trouble getting everything or some of it covered by our insurance.
[00:01:55] I'm sure you can imagine that the calls first with the hospital and then [00:02:00] with insurance can take hours of time and then have to repeat it over and over again, because nobody knows what you're talking about back and forth is really stressful. And then lately, for some reason, when I would wake up in the middle of the night because of my perimenopausal symptoms, it would be the first thing that I would think of.
[00:02:26] And then when I was done thinking of that, I would start thinking my daughter, a freshman in college, across the country. And she's having issues with her food because she needs to be gluten-free for health reasons. And it's really hard to get proper food on her dorms meal plan. Not that they don't have any gluten-free foods.
[00:02:52] As you know, you can't eat the exact same things all the time and Durham, food's not that great to begin with. [00:03:00] So I really had to go back to the coping mechanisms that work for me because all these problems do you have solutions, but stressing out about them really doesn't accomplish anything. So I'm going to share a few of the strategies that I use to cope with stress in the show notes.
[00:03:21] I've also included a link to download a PDF guide with even more tips so that you can explore it. What works for you? The first strategy is to understand more about. Better the devil, you know, than the one you don't and this involves recognizing your own personal sources of stress and how stress personally affects you.
[00:03:49] For example, if I'm super stressed out or upset, then I lose my appetite. Whereas other people might have increased [00:04:00] appetite. Or some people might have trouble sleeping like me. I never have trouble falling asleep, just staying asleep, whereas other people might want to sleep all the time. So understanding what's really happening for you is important.
[00:04:18] And then if you know that you'll be going through a particularly stressful period of time, then you can plan for it. So this could be a big work project. Could be planning for a big event, like a wedding or a birthday party, you know, what brings out the stress for you and you can plan for it. So planning a party for one person can be energizing while for another, it could be completely draining.
[00:04:47] So just knowing more about that and what really is the source of stress. The second strategy really is to problem [00:05:00] solve, figure out what the problem is, be as specific as you can, and then really break it down to achievable components. So if it's a work project, then start with the big project. I definitely do this to reduce overwhelm as well.
[00:05:19] And then I break it down to five major moves that I need to do to get the project done. And this can work for a party or other things in your life too. And then from those five, I break those down into even more achievable steps, just doing that so that you see where you need to go, can be super helpful and then set goals on how to deal with each step of that process.
[00:05:48] Make sure you include how to begin your plan of action, because starting is often the hardest part. The third strategy is to develop a new [00:06:00] behavior. If you are generally taking on too much, or you have problems saying, no, you might learn to be assertive, seeing a therapist for one-on-one help to work you through.
[00:06:12] That is also a possibility. Basically learning how to manage your time more effectively, a delegate whenever possible. And definitely had to do that when the kids were in elementary school, I said yes, to way too much, because I wanted to be helpful. Somebody has to do it, realize it doesn't always have to be.
[00:06:39] Also on the other side of it avoid procrastination because when you're not doing it, you'll spend even more energy worrying about it in my case, because I'm already very busy during my work hours. I had a heart to heart with my husband to ask for his help, how to conversation, to [00:07:00] plan on how to get it worked out, which was super hard.
[00:07:04] And then in dealing with my daughter's situation, I really had to empower her to find out who she needed to communicate with, to fix the problem and really breaking it down and teaching her how to not get overwhelmed by something like that. You don't have to be the only one dealing with things is what I'm trying to say.
[00:07:26] So the forest is. It goes along with that one is making sure you develop a support network. So deliberately develop good supportive relationships. This is part of what I just described. I asked for help because I needed it. Also try to accept help when it's offered, be prepared to do the same thing when you're asked, or if you notice someone needs help.
[00:07:53] And that's definitely a big part of. The extraordinary life tribe too, is having that supportive [00:08:00] network. They're not necessarily going to do things for you, but they will help you in any of those, with their experience of working through problems. So that they're less stressful. Number five is simply to make time to relax and enjoy yourself.
[00:08:20] How many of us know we should do more of this, but actually don't make the time. First of all, set aside time each day to relax and build it into your routine, wherever it needs to be. If you work outside the home and have a family and you need to just take 15 minutes before you walk in the door, then do that.
[00:08:43] I know that I like to get up early to have that relaxing time. But that wouldn't have worked with my, when my kids were really little, like they could hear me get up in a hot second early mornings where at the time at that point, [00:09:00] Develop hobbies and leisure activities that help you switch off. So whether it's playing tennis after work or going for a walk or a ride, figure out what you really enjoy, that helps you to lower your stress level and switch off and do something else even better.
[00:09:23] Or in addition, plan a staycation or a weekend away once a month, a long weekend, at least every three months, plan it out with enough advanced notice so that you can make sure that it happens. And also you can look forward to something fun when you start to feel stressed. If the, if they're, if they're not planned, they often won't happen.
[00:09:50] Getting out of your regular environment can really freshen up your attitude and lower your stress and help you see things from a different perspective. [00:10:00] These five strategies are simple enough, but if you don't plan how to manage and cope in various life situations before you're in them, you may find yourself experiencing distress instead of successfully moving through it.
[00:10:20] If you'd like even more tips, go to the link in the show notes to download my free PDF guide Release: 24 Techniques to Beat Stress. You can also go back to episode 10 of the podcast for the tools that I use personally, to make me feel good. That link will also be in the show notes. That's it for now? I'm wishing you a less stressful.
[00:10:49] Next week, I'll be sharing some strategies to use when you're coping with a more acute form of emotional distress. In the [00:11:00] meantime, have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in here next week. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to the extraordinary life podcast with writer and coach Crystal Obregon.
[00:11:13] We'd love to connect with you outside of the podcast, too, to find more helpful insights, show notes and more about. Go to crystal obregon.com. That's O B R E G O N, where you will also find info for the Design Your Decade workshop. This workshop will help you to stop drifting and start creating.
[00:11:31] Until next time, be extraordinary.
