Excerpt: De-Stress Now! Your Personal Program for Reducing Stress

by Ziggy Smith (author’s “muggle” name)

The millennium cusp has been an incredible time for humanity. During the last fifty years, the planet Earth has been involved in one of the fastest periods of change ever experienced. Where once we were reliant on mechanical processes for productivity and wealth, now we’re reliant on information and technology for the very same outcomes. The computer and access to global information in the blink of an eye means we can buy, sell, produce, swap, discuss, view, steal and create almost anything, with anyone, anywhere in the world. While that’s given us greater freedom for the most part, it’s also come with its own set of increasingly obvious headaches.

Rather than being the exception, stress is now the norm for many people in Australia and around the world regardless of their wealth, education, vocation or socio-economic standing. We work longer hours, we juggle more responsibilities, and we fight more battles, all with fewer resources, less time and often less reward. Australians now work some of the longest hours anywhere in the world. We’ve created our own stress epidemic that’s damaging our workforce and our people so badly and we don’t seem to be able to deal with it effectively. Part of the reason we may not be addressing the problem adequately lies in our very unique Australian culture.

Twenty-first century Australians inherited a culture that was born from frontier style challenges and ‘making do’. Two hundred years ago, we conquered a tough and treacherous country with minimal resources and a fighting spirit. Against all the odds, we won the battle against the unforgiving, searing heat, the infertile, desert soil, the life threatening lack of water then dangerous torrential rains, the overwhelming distances and geographical isolation. We learnt that complaining didn’t get us anywhere and that we just had to ‘get on with it’. We became masters of creating new ways to deal with the difficulties and we were proud of our achievements. “She’ll be right mate” became our cry of determination, pride and solidarity. Against all the odds, as a frontier people, we conquered our new world! Our universal saying served us well and it also helped us to believe we were completely self reliant, capable and resistant to stress.

While that self motivation and spirit continues to define us as Australians, it can also hinder us from seeking help when things go wrong emotionally due to stress or personal difficulties. For many, the inherent Australian pride makes us feel embarrassed to seek help. We feel we should be able to cope with problems as our forefathers did and that seeking help is simply a sign of weakness.

The other issue that many stressed people in the workforce face is the perceived consequences if their employer should realise they are stressed. Many of us worry about what the boss might say if we complain or discuss our feelings of stress. More and more Australians are employed in casual positions and even those in permanent jobs face the very real prospect of downsizing and redundancy. If we let the bosses know we’re feeling stressed, then perhaps they’d just say “If you can’t handle the job, I’ll get someone who can”. We may feel we run the risk of being overlooked for future promotion, having our hours cut back or being discriminated against for being ‘weak’.

We get stressed as a result of elements that are often out of our control, but that stress is often dramatically increased when we feel unable to control or alleviate it. This might be due to embarrassment because the boss or colleagues might become aware of our situation or because of workplace pressure.

This major Australian program, De-stress Now! was designed to help people just like you by creating an opportunity for you to take control of your stress and conquer the issues without embarrassment or fear of the consequences. Because the program can be taken in the privacy of your own home, no-one ever needs to know your feelings, fears and concerns until or unless you want them too.

We all know that just ‘sweeping it under the carpet’ won’t help to solve the problem in the long term. Sooner or later all that pent up aggravation, worry, tiredness and possibly fear is going to have an affect; and the result might not just affect you. Your partner, children, family, work colleagues and the boss are all going to be affected by the result in some way.

Instead of ignoring the issues, the most productive and effective way to deal with the problems of workplace stress is to bring them out from under the carpet, have a good long look at them and make informed and appropriate decisions about how best to deal with them. That’s what this program, De-stress Now! is all about.

Because we’re all individuals, this program is an in depth yet practical approach that will enable, and support you to identify and create your own strategies to effectively deal with workplace stress, or indeed stress in any area of your life. In other words, you’ll be developing your own, personalised, tailor-made program, one that fits you.

Each one of us is different and this program recognises that. The program gives you the basic, simple to follow recipe of tools, you turn it into a masterpiece especially for you! By following the simple step by step processes on these pages, you’ll have the practical tools and techniques to identify what stresses you and to reduce its negative impact on your life. You will back in control again! You can take charge of your life again!

So what powers will you master as a result of working through the tasks in this book? You’ll be in control again and you’ll be able to:

• Identify 5 factors that stress you so you can incorporate better coping mechanisms,
• Recognise your particular responses to stress so you can feel better,
• Find better ways to overcome stress so you can channel negative energy into something more productive,
• Find innovative ways to lessen stress factors so you are in better control.