The fast pace of life and the never ending pressure to meet deadlines is the leading cause of stress related conditions. The workplace has also become an increasingly high-pressure environment with employers demanding more from their workers; work-life balance is becoming harder to achieve.
The rising costs of living do not make things any easier, along with layoffs occurring more frequently and other turmoil’s. Faced with so much pressure, you have to find ways of coping with the strain.
Fortunately, you do not need to spend a lot of money on therapy, although talking to someone – be it therapist or coach – is beneficial to gaining new perspectives and ways to deal. However, you can simply learn how to use visualization to deal with the intense pressure.
Visualization refers to the process of creating images in your mind and seeing them so clearly to the point they seem real. Visualization is the most powerful sense we have. It is possible for you to learn visualization techniques and change your life within a short time. Think of a movie, with you being the director of the scenes to being calm and performing with any pressure you may be feeling.
If you have made a decision to visualize your way to less pressure, there are a few steps you can take towards achieving that goal. The first step involves deciding exactly what you want to achieve. In this case, let’s assume that your goal is to visualize yourself experiencing less pressure as you go about your work-day. Once you set your goal, take a moment to write that goal down, as writing makes the goal real and more actionable.
Having written your goal for seeing yourself having less pressure in life, you need to start seeing yourself enjoying your job and everything else you do without any stress. See yourself being ‘the flow’ with job tasks, feeling confident and relaxed and enjoying the process. At the beginning, it may be hard to even generate the emotions that make you feel free and relaxed. With practice, you will be able to feel that you are above the pressure and that it no longer gets to you.
Every time you want to get in the visualization mood, you will need to learn to free your mind of the many thoughts that keep you feeling like you are under pressure – mindfulness is the key. To relax your mind, it is helpful to t to sit in your favorite spot in the park or do an activity that relaxes you, such as listening to soft music. Focus on your breath or a spot on the wall, just allowing the thoughts to be (and not feeling compelled to do anything about them). Over time, you will find that it will gradually become easier for you to relax and be able to visualize yourself breezing through life without being affected by pressure.
An important part of the visualization process is to repeat some words over and over in your mind until you believe them, i.e. affirmations. You can repeat something like ”I am in control of my life and I will always be relaxed no matter how tough it gets,” or “I love my job and the work I do. In the beginning you will not believe the words but you will soon learn that the things your inner voice keeps repeating soon become a reality.
Pressures of work and life will always present themselves but it’s how you view them that will make the differences. Use the power of your mind to get calmer and deal with whatever is thrown your way.
If you’re wanting to learn how to deal with stress in your life or for your team, reach out to learn more and to get started feeling stress-less.