Sometimes life comes at us so fast and hard that we feel like we are in a fight, a fight for our lives. When it seems that nothing is going our way, when everyone is picking on us, when nothing is going right – that is when we become the most stressed out. We start using words like – never, all the time, everyone, nothing – words that are negative about ourselves and our situation that make it sound like the answer is simply not there.
Stop and think for a moment about how you would respond to this if your best friend was feeling like this and they said mean, horrible things about themselves, that they had started believing about themselves. What would you say or do? Wouldn’t you tell them “No, stop talking like that. You have a lot going good for you.” Wouldn’t you list for them the good things about them and what you like about them?
Long before you feel bad about yourself or when you hear yourself using negative language about yourself – that is the time to take your own advice and think about what is good in your life. One of the exercises Tony Robbins suggests in his program is asking ourselves the following questions every morning and keeping a journal of the answers:
- What am I most happy about today?
- What am I most excited about today?
- What am I most proud of?
- What am I most grateful for?
These questions are designed for you to start your day off with a positive outlook. Now things will not change for you that first day, but if you continue this practice, you will soon see that you start looking at life, your life, as not filled with problems – but rather opportunities. If you cannot think of any answers to the questions ask yourself, If I was happy, excited, proud or grateful – what would it be about, and then write that down.
Finally, Smile, Laugh and do things that bring you enjoyment. You cannot be angry if you smile. You may not feel like smiling – but try it anyway. Smiling has a positive affect on our outlook and how we feel. Just smiling, finding the lighter side of issues and being positive with yourself will reduce the stress you are feeling, while you work on how to meet the challenges you are facing in your life.
Great article; I think it’s very important to send a positive message out to those who are feeling stressed or otherwise down. Also, that is an amazing video… it really underscores the theme you established quite well.
I also think this is a great article! Students, parents, or anyone feeling consumed by having too many things to do (or suffering from low self-esteem for not doing those things) can benefit from the article’s suggestions. Between work, school, exercising, and every other errand required to run a household and maintain family/friend relationships, there is a lot to do and hardly enough time – it becomes easy to be down on yourself. Along with prioritizing, these are great methods to encourage motivation and optimism!