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| Learn
how to master Work-Self-Health and stress as your New Year's Resolution |
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| Take
the opportunity and customize your own Work-Self-Health program that will vitalize
you, and help you live your personal, private and professional life more healthily,
purposefully and productively. |
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Stress
is a major cause of inefficiency, miscommunication,
poor motivation, low performance
and ill health. |
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Consider
these alarming facts:
32% of men and 25% of women will develop a critical illness
after the age of 40; 54% of all deaths of people under the age of 65 are directly
linked to unhealthy lifestyle; 60% of employees' absences are due to psychological
problems such as stress; 40% of worker turnover is due to job stress. Also anti-depressant
prescriptions have increased by 700% in the last decade.
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| You
need stress in your life! |
| Yet
stress is the response to the challenges and opportunities life throws at us.
Life would be dull without some stress. However, too much stress can seriously
affect your physical performance, mental capacity, behavioral action and well-being.
Recurrent physical and psychological stress can diminish self-esteem, damage
relationships and create a spiral of self-blame and self-doubt. It is important
that you find your optimal level of stress and learn to manage it effectively.
Each of us experiences different levels of stress. What is relaxing to one person may be stressful
to another. One person may find "taking it easy" at the beach relaxing
while another may find it boring. The key to stress reduction is identifying what your 'Stressors' are and to find your own strategies to deal with them. |
| The
best way to cope with unhealthy stress is to identify and recognize when your
stress levels are increasing. While we often think of stress as the result of
external events, the events themselves are not necessarily stressful. It is the
way in which each individual perceives, interprets and reacts to an event, a change
or a challenge that produces stress. People vary significantly in the type of
events they
find as stressful and the way that they |
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| respond to them. Public speaking
is a great example. Some people see it as routine but for the majority it is a
source of fear. For some this fear is so great that it rivals the fear of death! |
| Stress
Signals | | Stress
"signals" fall into four categories: thoughts, feelings, behaviors
and physical symptoms. When you are under stress you may experience:
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| Feelings | | Thoughts | | Behavioral
| | Physical symptoms |
| Anxiety, irritability, fear, moodiness, embarrassment |
| Self-criticism,
difficulty concentrating or making decisions, forgetfulness or mental disorganization,
preoccupation with the future, repetitive thoughts, fear of failure | | Stuttering
or other speech difficulties, crying, acting impulsively, nervous laughter,
"snapping" at friends, grinding teeth or jaw clenching, increased smoking,
alcohol or other drug use, being prone to more accidents, increased or decreased
appetite | |
Tight muscles, cold or sweaty hands,
headaches, back or neck problems, sleep disturbances, stomach distress, more colds
and infections, fatigue, rapid breathing or pounding heart, trembling, dry mouth
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| What
is stress, and why are people confused about it? |
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In recent years several definitions of human stress have been proposed. These definitions
differ and are sometimes the cause of some confusion.
One
way you can avoid this confusion is to always remember that "stress"
is just a word! It is merely a term people use to specify problems in our lives. |  |
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When
we are feeling angry, frustrated, worried or depressed, we often say we are "stressed."
When we have too many pressures, responsibilities, or work-related demands, we
also use the very same term. We also use the word "stress" to refer
to a wide range of physical problems and symptoms that occur within our bodies.
Thus, whenever we say we are suffering from "stress". What we really
mean is we are having problems or conflicts that are emotional, physical, financial etc
and these can be painful or troubling to us.
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By
the same token, when people say "I don't have any stress," they have
merely forgotten that "stress" is just a word. If you ask instead if
they ever have problems in their lives, most people would admit that they frequently
do.
Stress is not just a single
item. To identify a 'stressor' it is best to have a holistic integrated approach,
looking at the big picture rather than just the symptoms of a problem.
Vivamea's
profound understanding is that people operate on physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual levels that are intimately integrated and affect how they feel, behave,
think and perform. We therefore address each individual differently working on
specific measurements of their Work-Self-Health parameters.
Competence
in Work-Self-Health issues is essential for HR management and people development.
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The
Vivamea Programs use this approach and teach you how to
pinpoint your 'hidden' causes of stress. It helps you better understand
the covert causes of Work-Self-Health rage, frustration, worry, guilt and other
negative emotions. It also helps you to proactively reduce your stress at work,
in your lifestyle and in your body. You learn to better cope with the pressures of
daily life and to deal more successfully with everyday problems. |  |
| You will find many tips about 'managing stress' in our 'Tips and Tools' guide written
by professional Work-Self-Health coaches. |
The
only true motivation to master stress is through "The Personal Experience of
Learning."
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Learning
how to master and enjoy a proactive Work-Self-Health style is an excellent motive for using our programs. Unfortunately too many people quit because of ill-discipline
and bad habits. With our Self-Inventory Programs with on-line coaching we will
keep you committed and motivated to learn and to implement changes. You will reap the rewards of new skills and competencies. |  |
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