Avoidance of Stress
When it comes to stress, avoidance is the best strategy, isn’t it? Not really.
It is almost impossible to avoid stress – it’s a natural part of life. Especially in our VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). Obviously, we don’t want any more stress than is necessary but in order to avoid it, one or more of the following are probably true:
- You aren’t properly engaging with life – that comfort zone might be a bit to comfortable. Comfort zones can turn into a prison if we aren’t careful which is a completely different kind of stress so not helpful for avoidance purposes.
- You are not achieving your full potential. Almost impossible if you don’t stretch yourself and you can’t stretch yourself enough inside of your comfort zone to truly grow.
- You are in denial – the idea that what you don’t acknowledge doesn’t exist. But, just because you don’t acknowledge it, doesn’t mean it is not affecting you. In fact, the likelihood is that it will hit you quite hard when you are least expecting it and often when it is least convenient.
Cure for Stress
The consequences of too much negative stress can be huge – affecting your career, relationships, your mental health and your physical health too. If you are in denial too long, or keep pushing through, ignoring all the signs, you are in danger of experience burnout or breakdown. This means an average of 12 months off work, maybe unpaid depending on your situation, with intense therapeutic interventions to get you back on track. For a business, the cost to performance, productivity, profit, staff morale and customer satisfaction are huge. So cure is possible, but the cost is great and it is an unpleasant, long and winding road with lots of false starts, relapses, frustrations, etc.
Preventing Stress
So, unless you want to live small, become intimately acquainted with the walls of your comfort zone, or you like the roller coaster that a breakdown or burnout offers, prevention is really the only strategy worth anything if you want to achieve your potential without suffering the consequences.
You need to be aware of the signs. What lets you know that you are under stress? Consider the potential cause/s. What can you do about it? Click here to find out.
When it comes to stress, you can’t trust to luck. If you can’t see the wood for the trees (a classic sign of stress), then call 0345 130 0854 to find out how we can help you. Or you can get in touch here. You’ll be glad you did.