Reduce Stress With This 1 Question

Health
March 14, 2016

How often do you find yourself asking: “I wish I hadn’t done that?”, “What will they think of me?” ,“What if it all goes wrong?” These are the common questions that we tend to ask ourselves as we fall into the common trap of investing time considering things that are completely out of our control.

It occurred to me that I could significantly reduce the stress levels of my clients by teaching them how to live in the moment. In the book ‘The Power of Now’ Eckhart Tolle explains that only the present moment is important, and both an individual’s past and future is created by their thoughts.

Most people however spend their time thinking about the past, whether it was what they had for breakfast, what they should have said in the meeting or living in the future worrying about an upcoming presentation or winning a competition. In any case it’s clear that we cannot control those things that have happened already or may happen in the future unless we consider the now.

By spending our time in the past and future it not only leaves us feeling extremely stressed, but it leaves most of us feeling out of control. Therefore we go spiraling into negative thoughts, our emotions take over and we feel isolated.

What I have learnt from working with my clients is to be aware this is happening. Usually it’s that tight feeling in the chest or the knot in the stomach that are early signs that we are not being present.

I ask them this 1 simple question: “What do I need to do now?”.

By answering this they are able to feel empowered and take back control of what needs to be done in order to shape the future they want. The great thing is, if something goes a different way than expected, there is still no need to feel bad. It usually means a new piece of information was found along the way that they didn’t have at the start of asking themselves the question. However, this feeling of control leads to improved well-being, increased confidence in decision making and most of all less stress!

So, what do you need to do now about your current dilemma?

About Elika

I work with professionals with time constraints to help them achieve their health goals through nutrition, exercise & providing clean eating fun food through a CBD educational food cafe.

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John Ntatsopoulos

Over the course of his 34 years career, our CEO, John, have worked predominately in the area of insurance and financial services across major APAC markets, including Australia, NZ and across South East Asia. Over the last 9 years, he has been based in Singapore focusing mostly in Medical Insurance and Employee Benefits while working across Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. John graduated from the University of New South Wales with a master’s degree in commerce. Off-work period calls him for a game of rugby, strumming a guitar, whipping up his favorite meal in the kitchen and riding a motorcycle across many different countries.