Stress occurs when the pressure is greater than the response/ resource. One may not be able to get rid of stress, but there are ways to lower it. Most of the stress experienced is self-generated and depends on how we perceive life - whether an event makes us feel helpless or stimulated, heartened or disheartened, glad or sad.

 

You hold an incredible power to truly transform your life. The process of thinking more positive and mindful in your approach changes the outcome of any situation. Our Thoughts determine our Beliefs, our Beliefs impact our Feelings, Our Feelings influences our Actions and Our Actions and Outcomes shapes/ re-shapes our Thoughts.

 

Positive thinking helps in stress management and to keep your thinking positive, let us learn the “Art of Managing Stress & Building Resilience” by decoding “TABLAA Approach”:

 

T - Thinking

A - Assertiveness

B - Behavior

L - Lifestyle

A - Activating Trigger

A - Ambiguity Threshold

 

Let’s explore how to work with this “TABLAA Approach”.

Change your Thinking (T), Behavior (B) and Lifestyle (L) for managing Stress effectively.

 

THINKING (T)

Re-evaluate: Re-evaluate or interpret the same situation in a different way, which will help you to view things in a different light and less stressfully.

 

Present-focused positive thinking: Present-focused positive thinking can help us focus on strengths, survive more efficiently with our current experiments, decrease our stress, and potentially increase our life fulfillment. The greater extent of future-focused thinking on one hand may add greater worry and anxiety to your life and past-focused thinking may lead to greater depression. The state of present-focused positive thinking can help us stay more present, seek out the positive, make a change, and stop generating emotions about things that have passed or haven’t even happened yet.

 

 

BEHAVIOR (B)

Prioritization - Prioritization of task and planning your day by setting achievable goals in a matrix (Eisenhower Priority Matrix) with Four Quadrants (Q). Q1 – Do it Now, Q2 – Schedule, Q3 – Delegate, Q4 – Delete (drop unimportant activities).

 

Diversion and Humour - Take time out for unplugging from normal work schedule, get away from things that bother you, take time for relaxation ventilation. A famous proverb says 'A problem shared is a problem halved'. A support network of friends or colleagues to talk with or writing a diary or notes may help release feelings that can create stress. Humour at home and work relieves muscular tension, improves breathing and reduces stress.

 

LIFESTYLE (L)

Eating Habits – Incorporate Healthy Eating Habits, optimum caffeine (stimulant) and salt intake for increasing the physical competence.

 

Exercise - Improves blood circulation, lowers blood pressure, clears the mind of worrying thoughts, improves social connect and makes you feel better about yourself.

 

Relaxation - Relaxation with sleep or spending time in leisure gives you a 'break' from stresses, plenty of daytime energy, provides outlet for relief, combats fatigue, and Increases concentration, productivity and clear thinking.

 

 

Assertiveness (A) makes your Activating Trigger (A) positive & increases your Ambiguity Threshold (A) to build your resilience.

 

ASSERTIVENESS (A)

Assertiveness helps to manage stress more proficiently, appreciate yourself and others more easily, with feeling of self-control and self-confidence.

ACTIVATING TRIGGER (A)

If your activating trigger is a positive self-talk/ internal monologue, it will result in right way of perceiving a situation with strong belief system and attitude to resolve the same, finally resulting in better consequences with emotional balance and behaviour.

 

AMBIGUITY THRESHOLD (A)

Your ambiguity threshold defines the way you deal with uncertainty. Improve your ambiguity threshold by avoiding jumping to conclusions when ambiguous change is communicated to you and stop thinking on “what ifs” when specifics are not yet clearly communicated. Seek out new opportunities outside your field of expertise to make path-breaking discoveries, get used to new and changing things outside of your comfort zone.

 

 

Practicing/ Applying TABLAA approach every day will make your state of mind optimistic, helping you to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way by building your emotional resilience. And mastering your own emotions positively influences your actions to live a more creative & better lifestyle.

 

MANTRA/ BUILDING BLOCKS OF REDUCING STRESS IN LIFE

Change your Thinking, Behavior and Lifestyle by being Assertive, making your Activating Trigger positive & increasing your Ambiguity Threshold.