Manage Yourself First To Better Manage Others and Your Business

Has life ever given you conditions you couldn’t control?

Did you hit the alarm button?

Or did you control your actions?

August 2018 was a difficult time for Tesla motors. The company was still reeling from the bombshell of a disputed twitter announcement by its CEO Elon Musk to take the publicly-traded company private. Damage reduction was still underway.

In an interview with the New York Times (16. August 2018) organized to address the erupted furor in the financial market, Elon Musk opened up emotionally and acknowledged, that “this past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career. It was excruciating.”

Asked about the consequences of his extreme work ethic of nearly 120 working hours per week and not taking any long leave since 2001, he admitted that it had a toll on his physical and emotional well-being.

This example clearly demonstrates the consequences of high levels of stress on the human body.

And yes, executives are humans.

HOW CAN EXECUTIVES AND ENTREPRENEURS COMBAT STRESS ON TIME?

There are all sorts of ways to get your stress under control. Perhaps the best way for you to work on getting your stress down is by coming up with a plan that is INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED to you and your schedule.

To find the best proven practices I reached out to successful executives, entrepreneurs and founders from different industries and countries in my LinkedIn network.

Thanks to their openness to share their best practices I was able to find 10 PROVEN STRESS RESILIENCE HABITS in the following order.

1. Exercise. The release of endorphins to your brain acts as a buffer against stress, and is almost like a natural antidepressant. Whether you go for a daily run or take a trip to the gym, the physical activity is good for both your brain and body.

• Prof. Dr. Kennedy recommends high intensity interval training (20 min) and stretching.

• Choose a form of exercise that you enjoy. Remember that there are plenty of options for exercising alone or with others.

2. Mindfulness and Meditation. When your stress level starts to rise, you may dissociate from your environment and start living more inside your head. Stress has a way of making us fret about the future and focus on the negative. This cycle only magnifies the stress.

• It’s important to bring yourself back to the present moment. Focusing on your environment is one of the best ways to snap back to reality.

• Take your pen and describe what you can see and feel. If possible, describe them aloud. For example, “I’m looking at my pen. I am seeing the silver color and the reflection of the light on it. It feels cool and smooth in my hand.”

• By the time you’re done, you’ll be back in the present moment and out of your head. Your stress level will be lower, too!

• Meditation involves setting aside at least five or ten minutes each day to spend in a quiet space, free of distractions. Research shows that with practice someone gets more experienced to slow down the activity in certain areas of the brain and to regulate the stress response.

• Paying attention to your body’s natural breathing patterns is an important part of these practices. Breathe rhythmically, easily and through your heart to alleviate your stress.

• Walks in nature or looking at the ocean are very simple ways to practice mindfulness and connect to the world around you.

3. Nutrition: Avoid crabs and sugar when you are stressed. As high cortisol levels inhibits the take up of sugar, your “treats” will show up on your waist line.

• Nervous cells in the brain are made of fat and protein. Mum’s omega 3s actually work best for them combined with lots of quality protein. Drinking lots of water keeps your body hydrated.

4. Planning Management: Make a list of the most important things to get done. Completing important tasks each day makes life easier and less stressful. Most of us wake up each day and spend our mornings trying to figure out what do first. Whether it’s Monday or Saturday morning, know what needs to be done before your feet hit the floor.

• Before retiring for the evening, make a list of the things that need to be done the following day. Prioritize them and create a plan for getting them done.

• By making your list at night, you free up your mind to focus on other things. Your brain is free to work on solutions while you sleep. You can get started immediately and avoid procrastinating.

5. Social Connections: Having meaningful and trustful relationships with your partner, family or friends activates the hormone oxytocin which helps in reducing stress and promotes bonding. It also provides a social network to bounce back and lift off your social mask.

6. Regular Breaks: The Pomodoro Technique as a time management method works best here. This technique uses a time breaker to break down the work into intervals. For some it can be 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break, or 52 minutes followed by an 18 minute break. Apps like 'brain focus' can assist with the timing.

• Dr. Andre Vermeulen recommends brain gym exercises to engage both hemispheres of the brain for better mental performance.

7. Pray: Many individuals find benefit in prayer. It can provide a transcendental connection to a higher source beyond earthly conflicts. People often experience themselves as part of a higher plan and not set on earth by chance. This gives hold in turbulent times.

8. Have passion: Know the why of your work. Passion involves living on your highest values instead on achieving goals. They are like a compass giving you throughout your life.

• To explore your passion ask yourself: “What do I do my whole life with ease?” “What is the common dominator of all these experiences?” “What is your effect on other people?’ “What do others ask you for?” “What choices do you make and what do you express with that?”

• For your values ask yourself: “What is important to me when I am acting more in line with my passion?”

9. Sleep: Though sleep is one of the most important stress triggers it was mentioned second last. The whole brain system restarts during sleep for memory consolidation. During sleep glia cells are cleansing the brain from toxic plagues and the release of growth hormone is beneficial for muscle recovery and for energizing the body.

• The get the full benefit from sleep a minimum amount of 7-hours is necessary. A lack of sleep cannot be recovered during day time because certain hormones are only active during night.

10. Self Awareness/Emotional Control: Though self awareness is necessary to change your habit of action and combat stress right from your mind, it was mentioned last. Monitor your emotions and thoughts. Most challenges are easier to prevent than they are to solve.

• If you’re able to notice when your emotions and thoughts start to go awry, it’s much easier to bring yourself back to a more positive condition. So when you first start to feel stressed, acknowledge and express it like: "I am feeling tensed in my chest." "I sense my head is numb." Then you can deal with it.

• It takes time to develop this habit, but it’s critical. You might want to set a timer to remind yourself to review how you’re feeling and thoughts as each hour passes.

• If your patterns of thoughts and feelings have become a strong habit, you may consider a transformation of your entire neurological makeup with Rapid Transformational Therapy. I learnt this method from the world-renowned therapist Marisa Peer to bring FAST change that's SUSTAINABLE and EFFECTIVE for people to manage the stress, anxiety, burnout and other byproducts that come with a demanding job.

“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” - Steve Maraboli

The most important part of stress management is establishing a routine. Setting aside a specific portion of your day, even if you have to schedule breaks in your work day, ensures that you’re giving yourself the time you need to de-stress.

It’s clear that stress is a part of life that must be managed effectively to maximize success, health, and happiness.

These 10 habits will serve you well. With a little effort, you might even come up with some additional habits that will be even more effective for your personal situation.

What will help you the most? Think about it.

A huge part of being successful depends on how you handle stress. Most successful people learn positive ways to manage their stress.

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Come up with your individual plan. Chose at least 3 habits you want to follow. And, if you like to be GUIDED INTO A TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESS and experience the power of hypnosis, consider signing up for my free audio session titled "Transform Your Inner Tension Into Power".