Your Health strategies

Anyone that has ever experienced money stress knows that worry and anxiety can quickly overrun your life if it isn't dealt with quickly and effectively.

When finances become strained it puts tremendous strain on your health, happiness relationship and peace of mind. In fact, it’s one of the biggest reasons that couples get divorced today.

Here are some handy tips to keep your cash flow high, keep your life in balance and enjoy long-term stress relief from financial pressure.

Spend Less Money Than You Make.

If you make $1000 per week then learn to live off $700 (70%) and save the rest. When you have saved enough then invest your savings in something that will help you build long term wealth (i.e. property).

Get Out of Debt

Do everything you can to not get into consumer debt. If you can’t afford to pay cash for something you want, then save up for it until you can buy it outright.  You’d be amazed how little money you can get by with if you stay out of debt.

Stick to a Budget

Do up a budget so that you know exactly how much money you need each week to get by on and then stick to it like glue. If you must treat yourself to items that you really don’t need then make sure you pay cash for them. Otherwise forget about it until you can afford to buy it. This includes treats and luxury items.

See a Financial Adviser

If you don’t have a financial plan for the future then you’re doing yourself and your family a great disservice. Wealth rarely happens overnight. Without a plan your finances are left to the fate of the Gods and your spending habits. Who knows where that will get you.

Increase Your Financial Knowledge

It’s like anything in life if you want to improve you have to learn new skills and then practise them. While it’s good to seek professional advice about finances it’s even better to learn how to do it yourself. There’s a ton of books available written by people who have already mastered financial success. The more you learn the less anyone can cheat you from your hard earned cash.

Live a Life of Prosperity Thinking

You either think in terms of lack or prosperity. Whichever you give the greater focus to is what you will attract into your life. Catch your limited or negative thoughts about money and then replace them with thoughts of abundance.

Here’s an affirmation that helped me through some tough financial times and took me from earning $20 per hour to $200 per hour in just 6 months; “I love money, money loves me and I am a money magnet!”

Final Thoughts on Money and Stress Relief

One of the most valuable commodities you have is time. Some people have plenty of time and little or no money to enjoy their life with while others have tons of money and little or no time. The real secret to living a relaxed lifetsyle is to have the balance of plenty of time and plenty of money.

To Your Great Life and Health…

Some days are so stressful that it feels like nothing else can go wrong.  You get a flat tire, you have a disagreement with your boss, you break a heal and to top it off you feel like crap.  It’s almost like this day has been created just to piss you off.

Of course these days pass and it’s important to remember to use different relaxation techniques to overcome the affects of your stressful day. 

Maintaining composure under Stress

Although it’s easy to lose composure and drop the ball when you’re under pressure, it’s important to hold it back.  If you lose it, the results can cause even more stress in the long run.  You may say something you regret or do something you’ll want to take back later.  Remember to stop and take a few breaths before you react when under times of pressure.  After all … a person under stress doesn’t always make the best decision.

Why Consistency is the Key

A stressful day isn’t an excuse to go to town with your credit card, eat whatever your heart desires, or ignore your usual routines.  These disciplines are important to maintain and should especially be followed when you’ve had a challenging day.  How would you feel if you had a bad day and you ignored you usual routine.  It may feel good at the time but in a few days you may experience even more stress and feel like a failure … unable to complete the tasks you’d set out.  Consistency means to complete your routine no matter the cost.  It’s important to be consistent, at all times.

Stress and Failure

Although consistency is the key, it doesn’t always turn out the best.  We all experience times of weakness and have felt the sting of failure.  When faced with failure you can do one of 2 things:

1.      You can spend days thinking of contemplating your failure or how you handled your stressful situation allowing it to compound on your current stress and depression or,

2.      You can get up, brush yourself off, reset your goals and keep going.

The past is exactly that … the past.  Sure we have to pay for previous decisions, but it’s up to us how we handle our future.

Unless your name is Bruce Willis there’s a pretty good chance you won’t be called out to save the world.  But you and Bruce do have something in common.  You both know what it’s like to experience overwhelming stress and you both need to have a good stress relief escape plan to deal with it.

You see, stress (especially chronic stress) can be so draining on your life and lifestyle.  If left unattended it can slowly affect your mind, body and eventually your spirit.  With this in mind it is important to understand and acknowledge when you’re under stress, and as mentioned earlier have a really good stress relief plan.

Listen to your body’s Stress

The first step is to pay attention to your body and its messages.  Here are some of the tell tale signs of stress:

—> You find yourself getting angry easily and acting short at others,

—> You feel tension building up around your shoulders and temple,

—> It’s becoming hard to sleep at night or you need drugs or medication to sleep

—> You’re grinding your teeth when you’re sleeping

—> You constantly feel tired

—> You’ve had a cold or flu for ages and can’t seem to shake it.

All of these may be signs you’re stressed and need relaxation techniques to experience relief.

Have a Game Plan for Stress Relief

Let’s face it, we all experience stress in our lives, but the key is to manage it before it builds up too much and causes damage. Here are some of the natural stress relief techniques you can include in your stress relief plan:

—> Avoid negative stress – If you know that you’re going to place yourself in a stressful situation in the first place you can just say ‘No’.  Many people do this in their work environment by over committing themselves.

—> Relaxation breathing techniques – This is a good way of eliminating your stress instantly.  Check out this technique here.

—> Stress relief CD / Meditation CD – A Relaxation / Meditation CD will guide you through a set process for relaxation.  This should be used regularly for maximum benefits.

—> Regular Exercise – This is great at dealing with stress (especially for men).  If you haven’t exercised for a while it’s important to start with low intensity and build up over time.  For maximum benefits you should also change your diet to eat heaps of healthy food.

—> Visualization techniques for relaxation – If you find it difficult to sleep at night then visualization techniques could be just the thing.  You may learn how to do this or be lead through a process by using a stress relief program or meditation CD.

—> Stress relief program – A good stress relief program will include a process for meditation, stress relief techniques and a journal to record your thoughts and progress.

—> Other stress management skills – This includes spending time with friends, time saving solutions, taking a hot bath, reading a book and watching a movie/ your favorite show.

Set aside time for stress relief today … you never know when you might have to go out and save the world after all

No matter how you look at it Men and Women are different.  Sure their different in certain obvious ways but they are also different in how they handle stress and anxiety.  This is to do with psychological and hormonal differences in men and women and makes sense to approach their stress relaxation techniques from different angles. For instance man’s natural response when under stress leans towards fight or flight, where women’s natural response is to nurture or befriend.

With this in mind here are two separate bags of tricks for men and women to find natural stress relief and relaxation techniques to suit them specifically.

Relaxation Techniques for Women

—> Pamper yourself – When your feeling stressed take a long hot bath, go for a walk, go shopping with a good friend or read a book.  Do anything that is about you and no-body else. 

—> Say no – Women tend to put on the superwomen cape and try to do too much for too many people forgetting about themselves.  When you’re feeling really stressed it’s important to consider yourself and how the stress is affecting your own wellbeing.

—> Make sure you have an effective support system – Surround yourself with friends and family that help you to balance yourself.  Look for someone who can be your ‘Rock’ in times of stress or anxiety that can help you to relax and feel balanced.

—> Find a friend who can keep a secret – Find a friend you can confide in and trust to talk things through.  It’s important this person respects your privacy.

—> Talk about it – Tell people your story and let them know why you are so stressed.  Women love to get things out into the open.

Relaxation Techniques for Men

—> Exercise – Men can release stress and anxiety by doing something physical like running, going to the gym, playing some tennis or any sport that gets the blood pumping and releases tension and adrenaline.

—> Spend time alone – Men like to ‘go it alone’ sometimes to have some time by themselves.  This can be an activity like hiking, fishing or other solo activities.

—> Go out with the boys – Go out and play some sport, or any team activity that lets a guy escape their stress and is a good way to unwind.  Men will also use this as a method of companionship.

—> Find a good support system – Even though relationships are very important to women doesn’t mean men shouldn’t have friends they can confide in.  It is important to have someone there that they can trust.

A Relaxation Technique for Men and Women

A good relaxation program can prove to be a useful Natural Stress Relief technique for both men and women.  Relaxation Programs give you structured methods to release built up stress and anxiety to experience true stress relief.  An effective relaxation program should contain stress management techniques, guided meditations and a way of recording your thoughts.