Siimon Reynolds’ book “Why People Fail” with Kevin Lovewell – Chapter 12
Other people don’t kill our dreams – We do! … a continuing discussion about Siimon Reynolds’ book “Why People Fail” with Kevin Lovewell
Chapter 12: Stress
Interestingly, most people in business accept without question that stress is an inevitable part of modern life. STRESS need not the silent business partner. We do not really need to be reminded of the direct relationship between stress and declining work output. Just as there is a direct correlation between a life lived with high levels of stress and heart attack, stroke and early death. There is a link between lowered levels of stress and high levels of “happiness” in work and life. Siimon begins by asking the reader to complete the following table as a guide. If you answer YES to more than seven questions, you are in a “dangerous” category. Worse for you if you are over 40 years old, you are gambling your business (not to mention your life) with dice that are stacked against you.
So, be honest, how did you go. (I’m in the danger zone) So what can be done? Now, here are a few stress relievers.
Deep breathing, as a way of quietly and passively letting the stress flow out of your body. Cleaning and simplifying your mind, work and home environment. Siimon makes it a habit of throwing away – regularly. He refers to a de-stressing habit of cleaning his office of clutter, taking things off the desk.
Office workers should get more sunshine. This is a pretty obvious truth to most of us. By taking your lunch outside, and more importantly, attempting to eat five small well balanced meals per day we will achieve positive results cheaply. (Siimon goes into the medical and environmental proofs. He didn’t need to do that for me. You might care to read more authorative texts on stress. I was quite happy with this level of detail.)
Regulate your life. If you cannot, or do not… you are providing no lasting or real benefit to the business you are building, yourself, or those you love. Think about that as you produce for yourself the circle of influence. Draw two circles on a blank page. In the top circle, list the things you can actually change and improve: these things are within your capacity to modify and affect, they live in your circle of influence. In the other circle, list the things you cannot change, it will include economic issues, people, and their feelings about you, challenges and issues others have. These things – if not inside your circle of influence, should be dismissed. In this way, you will have automatically reduced your workload and released a whole lot of stress.
Action Step
Stress and failure go hand in hand. By taking daily action to keep stress levels in check, you are far more likely to have the energy and the motivation to keep striving for victory. Don’t wait for the heart attack; or death of someone close; a mate or loved one to actually start on this initiative.
If you need more information, please talk to me:
Kevin Lovewell
1 – Taken from the book “Why People Fail – the sixteen obstacles to success and how to overcome them” – Siimon Reynolds
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the Writer. The information is not meant to be exhaustive. Readers are responsible for making their own inquiries and assessments as to the truth and accuracy of all the information given and should seek advice from professionals. No liability (in contract, tort or otherwise) will be accepted for any loss or damage incurred as a result of reliance upon any material contained in this publication or any information or advice provided in this publication or incorporated in it.
Siimon Reynolds’ book “Why People Fail” with Kevin Lovewell – Chapter...