Tag: reducing stress

Go Outside

I have a book
(a project)
due
(to be finalized)
soon.

I went outside
for five minutes
and watched the bees buzz
and listened to the birds sing.

The Amazon Rainforest is in
its death throes.
The Great Barrier Reef
has been bleached
beyond recovery.
The AMOC is slowing.

Your neighborhood
won’t be immune
to climate change.

Go outside
for at least five minutes.

Look at a tree.
Touch grass.
Feel the sun
on your face.

It will calm
your stressed a$$ down,
allow you to think
more clearly.

And years from now,
when your surroundings
are less…hospitable
to nature,
you will look back
at those five minutes
and be grateful.

Having Help Saying No

Doers do.
Sometimes we do
too much.

A loved one
recently took on too much.
He was considering
taking on yet another task
(to help someone else).

He ran this possibility
by me.
I said no.
I told him
he already had too many tasks
to complete.

He told the person
he couldn’t take on the task,
citing that he was told
he couldn’t do that.

He didn’t say
WHO told him
he couldn’t do that.
And he didn’t say
why he was told no.

The blame was deflected
to the unknown person.
His relationship
with the favor asker
was undamaged.

Sometimes we need help
saying no.
Enlist that help.

Be Extra Kind Today

Valentine’s Day
is rough
for quite a few people.

It is a reminder
for single people
that they don’t have anyone
romantically.

Widowed people
are reminded of their losses.

It is a high pressure time
for many couples.
Will their romantic loved ones
remember the day?
Etc.

Be extra kind
to people today.

Perhaps put a dish
of wrapped chocolate
on the counter
for customers.

Or bring in
donuts
for coworkers.

Or give employees
an extra 10 minute break
during the day.

Be extra kind today.

Have Some Fun With Your Business

A business building buddy
inserts a strip of paper
with a very bad child-friendly joke
into every shipment
of her products.

She grins every time
she does this.
It gives her joy.

It also gives
some of her customers joy.
But that isn’t the primary purpose.
The primary purpose
is it makes my friend happy.

And happy business builders
continue to build businesses.

Add some joy
to your work day.
That happiness
might be the burst of energy
you need.

Stay Healthy – Emotionally And Physically

Yesterday,
I advised all of us
to take a one minute break
and enjoy the world around us.

I didn’t say this
merely to increase
our happiness levels.

Though that WAS
my main reason
for giving
that advice.

I advised to take a break
because that will help
to keep us healthy
– emotionally and physically.

And very few of us
have the excess time
to be sick right now.

Being sick
is sh*t for business building.

Take a f*cking break.

Look At The Lights

The holiday season
is a busy time
for almost all business builders.

This might be
our best time for sales.

Partners might be taking
time off
over the holidays.

WE might be taking
some time off.

We have a lot of sh*t to do.

But take a minute.
That’s all that’s needed
– one minute.

And admire a display of holiday lights.
Or savor a bite of holiday baking.
Or watch someone open a gift.
Or hug someone you love.

Give that minute of happiness
to yourself.

And THEN you can
get back to work.

Look For The Similarities

Change is very hard
on everyone.
Not many people deal
with it well.

One of the tactics
I find helpful
is
to look for the parts
that stay the same.

Everything might feel
like it is changing.
But it isn’t.

There are pockets of similar.
We merely have to look
for them.

For example,
our household got its first
new-to-us electric vehicle
this month.

The car we bought
is very different
from the cars we’ve been driving.

There is a lot of change.

But plugging it in every night
reminds me
of how we’d plug in our cars
with block heaters
every night during the winters
when we lived in a cold, snowy place.

That similarity is comforting.
We know how to do that.
It isn’t a ‘change’ for us.

During times of extreme change,
look for the similarities.

Reduce Stress

The average adult
is extremely stressed.

According to the 2023
Stress In America report,
24% of adults
rated their stress
as extremely high
(compared to 19%
in 2019).

Stress levels are lower
for older people.

Only 9% of those aged 65+
feel extremely stressed.

In contrast,
34% of those aged 18 to 24
feel extremely stressed.

What does this mean
for business builders?

Our employees are likely
to be under a LOT of stress.

Our customers are also
likely looking for ways
to lower their stress levels.

If we can reduce stress
with our products, our services,
our management style,
we are more likely
to earn loyalty
from the people around us.

For Their Health

A buddy in the the travel business
told me
they are seeing an increase
in bookings for vacations
for ‘mental health reasons.’

The world is a mess.
People are under
a lot of stress due to that.

They are searching
for ways
to decrease that stress.

Does your product/service
decrease stress?

Does it offer an escape?
Does it take some of the workload
off people?
Does it make their lives easier?

Stress that
in your marketing material.

Encourage prospects
to buy your products/services
‘for their mental health.’

There’s a growing need
for that.

Go Outside If You Can

If the weather
and air quality allows it,
go outside
for a few minutes.

Find a patch of green.
Look at a plant.
And the sky.
And the ground.

Focus.
Pay attention.
Notice details
like the veins on a leaf
or the shape of the clouds
or the moistness of the soil
under your shoes.

Forget everything else
for a moment.
And absorb your surroundings.

Once you’re relaxed,
go back inside
and get back to work.

You NEED this break.
You don’t think you do
right now
but you need it.

Take it for yourself
and for the business
you’re building.