Six Stress Control Strategies That Can Change Your Life.    Do you feel out of control, overwhelmed or burdened with stress and problems? There are smart ways to deal with these stressful feelings. This article lists six stress reduction approaches that are easy to learn, simple to use and powerful. They'll help you get back in control of your life.    414 words.

Six Stress Control Strategies That Can Change Your Life

Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California

Do you feel out of control, overwhelmed or burdened with stress and problems? There are smart ways to deal with these stressful feelings. I have been helping people successfully deal with their stress for 30 years now, and I want to help you too.

Here are six stress reduction approaches that are easy to learn, simple to use and powerful in their effect. They'll help you get back in control of your life.

1. Schedule Time Every Day To Center Yourself: A few times a day, stop and take a moment to gather yourself. There are many approaches for this. Here you become still, focus on your breathing, relax your muscles, and manage your mind. This gives you a centered, calm focus for your next activity.

2. Focus On Your Breath: When I coach professional athletes the first area I work on is their breath control. Your breath is the center for controlling your emotions, muscles and mind. Learn how to listen to and feel your breath so you can "drop down a level" and get tuned into the moment.

3. Know What You Can Control: Make a list of those things you can control, those things partially in your control, and those things out of your control. As you go through your day, let go of things that you can't change.

4. Develop The Gratitude Attitude: What are you thankful for? Everyone has people and activities in their life that are good, beautiful, and valuable. Every day make note of this and be thankful.

5. Hit The Reset Button: Just as your computer needs to be rebooted often, your brain needs a reboot. Hit the reset button daily or you will gum up your mental RAM. Take a break, change activities, be with loved ones, or do nothing but meditate. Clear out the junk in your mind, so you can come back refreshed.

6. Start Your Day With Quiet: Clear your mind, quiet your emotions, and let your muscles relax. Doing this places you into the IPS – The Ideal Performance State that top performing athletes use to get into the zone. You can do this too.

The prime concept in stress reduction is to know what you can control, and what you cannot. With the help of a stress management specialist you can learn a wide array of stress reduction strategies that can help you feel more in control of what happens to you. Isn't it time to reclaim the power in your life?

Copyright © 2011 Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.

Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com), an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.

Free Re-Publishing Rights For This Article

You have our advance permission to republish this article, as long as you do not sell it. The author's name, web address (MentalGameCoach.com) and copyright notice (Copyright © Bill Cole, MS, MA) must appear in all reprinted articles. If the article appears on a website or in an e-zine, the article must include a link to a page in the MentalGameCoach website. We would also appreciate your including the author's bio and full contact information in your article, although this is not a requirement. For additional information, see our full article re-publishing permission guidelines.