One shortcut to reframe stress
There are no disagreements that we are living through challenging times. Challenges can increase stress levels and make us re-establish priorities in our lives. Usually, when we talk about stress, we only think about the negative side of stress. But what about the positive side of stress? Is there a positive side to feeling stressed?
Stress research suggests that we can change our stress perception and use it to create positive changes in building healthy habits. Avoiding stressful changes all the time can lead to a negative impact on your physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Facing challenges with a welcoming mindset can greatly benefit anyone who wants to build more resilience in their life.
Your mindset matters
No matter what challenges you face today, if you can reframe negative stress into a positive, you are more like to cope and thrive from the event. Reframing stress will create a mindset shift towards more effective problems solving and personal growth.
Accept life challenges
Everyone faces challenges and difficulties; they feel overwhelming. Difficult times are not a curse or something that mostly happens to you. It is natural to feel like avoiding problems. It is not a deficit in you; we all do it as an instinct to protect ourselves from suffering.
We all have to accept that challenges can be painful in many ways. We can’t avoid them. But If you can see a challenge as a growth opportunity, it will allow you to move from fear to a positive growth opportunity. Anyone can face a challenge if they can believe in creating a positive shift in mindset to enable it.
What can I learn from all this?
A recent survey done with 2,000 participants in 2020 in the United Kingdom found that during the Covid pandemic, people have found many opportunities to grow, improve their healthy habits, and create nurturing rituals that they didn’t have before the current epidemic.
Some of the results of the survey conclude the following.
7 in 10 people found new habits that increase their happiness
64% claim that they are working out more
65% mentioned eating healthier
29% are spending more time connecting with nature
31% have embraced home decluttering
19% are practicing mindfulness tools and meditation to stay calm
What about you?
Looking at your mindset in our current global and national challenges, what is your attitude? Looking at how you feel about the difficulties we are facing, how will you describe your mindset? Have you found new healthy habits and opportunities to grow? Are you too focused on what is wrong, unpleasant, and fearful?
Using a mental shortcut
Today I want to share a new way with you to find a way to shift from negative stress to positive. One simple mindful tool that you can use to create an opportunity to grow from a challenge is to use a question to open up the mind to look at new perspectives.
The question is a mental shortcut that brings negative thinking into an open mind of new opportunities. I have always found it useful in my life and for my clients to ask questions to disrupt the thinking from focusing on worries and fears.
How can I find growth in this challenge?
You can learn from any difficulty by changing into a new inclination. Reframing what is you as something you need to afraid of and instead open up to an opportunity to be more resilient is how you build positivity. This is a growth mindset that goes beyond staying superficially positive. This positivity is proven to make people thrive and create sustainable happiness that will remain with you throughout your lifetime.
One quote
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
Joshua J. Marine
One question for you
What situation have you been avoiding that will benefit from a positive mind-shift?