Step up: Coping with work-related stress

A stress-free life is happier. With considerable pressure at work, however, employees could be hardpressed attaining happiness and peace. 

Image source: stress.lovetoknow.com

Although you can’t control tension on the job, there are ways to manage it. The following are some strategies for coping with work-related stress: 

Learn to respond, not react. Dr. Sharon Melnick, a business psychologist and author, tells Forbes that it is better act rather than react. “We experience stress when we feel that situations are out of our control,” she explains. According to Dr. Melnick, it is important to identify the aspects of the situation you can control and aspects you can’t and learn to react on these conditions. 

Track your stressors. Take time to understand your stressors. One way is by taking notes to find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them. This can help you develop better responses when tension arises. 

Image source: tweakyourbiz.com

Allow yourself to recharge. We all have limits. If we go beyond those, we tend to submit to burnout and symptoms of chronic stress. Take time to recover by “switching off” from work and learning to relax through meditation or whatever activity you enjoy doing. 

Eat right and sleep well. Insufficient sleep and bad eating habits can affect your overall well-being, including your feelings and emotions. So sleep well and eat right to reduce your susceptibility to stress. 

Practice these strategies to lessen work-related stress. Remember, stress is normal, but the way we respond to it is all up to ourselves. 

Marc Accetta helps people work through and overcome life’s toughest challenges. Follow this Twitter feed to learn more about improving your daily habits to achieve success.

Note: Failure is Not the Same As Lack of Success

“No risk, no reward” — old adage.

Those who really want to succeed must be willing to fail. The highest peaks are best appreciated from the deepest valleys.

Image source: daileyfitness.com

 Majority of today’s (and of the past’s) successful people have at some point in their lives hit rock bottom. However, they never succumbed to failure and instead used it as an inspiration to start anew and finally succeed. Henry Ford went bankrupt five times before his car company became a global brand. Akio Morita’s earliest inventions were epic fails before Sony became a leader in cutting-edge electronic goods. Walt Disney was criticized for his “lack imagination and poor ideas” before his company took off as one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in the world.

Unsuccessful people do not go outside their box and settle for the familiar. They hesitate to offer new ideas because they function from a place of fear. They are afraid to fail because they are overly anxious of the judgment of others, causing them to do only the minimum and play it safe.

Image source: squarespace.com

 Successful people go for their ambitious ideas with an awareness and willingness to fail. Of course, they do not want to disappoint, but they know that if they do not take risks, they will never know what it actually is to win.

Marc Accetta is a life coach who has inspired people from all walks of life. Follow this Twitter page to read more inspiring stories.

Leaping Life's Hurdles: Losing a Loved One

Death is inevitable. It is part of the human life cycle: people are born every minute, and people die every minute. Death maybe in the farthest loops in time, or it may be just around the corner, but no one actually knows when it will happen.

Image source: http://theairspace.net/insight/pathologies-of-grief/

Aside from the fear of one’s own demise, losing a loved one can also have a similar emotional toll. As the brain is capable of linking emotions to memories, this results in distress for people who have lost their spouse, child, or parent. Memories of past conversations and time spent together are some of the things people remember when they think of their departed loved one that can elicit deep sorrow or anxiety. It is best for the grieving individual to be surrounded by family and friends during such tough time. Seeking counseling or professional help can also be one way of dealing with such great loss.

Image source: http://mintstudiospilates.com/blog/2014/7/3/why-pilates-barre-and-yoga

In fact, experts note that those who seek support from family, friends, or professionals, heal faster than those who grieve on their own. Although those who are grieving understand that they cannot bring their loved ones back, they have beautiful memories to remember.

As a life coach, Marc Accetta has helped people in accepting the loss of a loved one. Follow this Twitter account for related articles.

Haters going to hate: Dealing with critics

Image Source: arabianbusiness.com

As much as the adage "We can't please everybody" rings truth, the existence of critics in life is inevitable. Most people have experienced being criticized, and it's never a pleasant experience. So how do you deal with criticism?

Don't be too hard on yourself

Most often, people’s worst critics are themselves. Many are never satisfied with what they’ve accomplished and strive for more. While this is perfectly acceptable, it's also good to cut yourself some slack. It's not good to dwell on the negative. All you need is a little appreciation or reward after so much hard work.

Feel the emotions and then accept them

It hurts to be criticized, but it's all right to feel the pain. Holding the pain in or pretending it never bothered you will only stack up the negative emotion and eventually you'll snap. Allow yourself to feel sad and then afterward, accept the criticism for what it is and try to do better next time.

Image Source: wearandcheer.com

Listen objectively and calmly

When receiving negative feedback for something you said or did, it can be difficult to stay calm. It's also hard not to take criticism personally, but that will be your first mistake. Take criticism as an avenue for self-improvement.

Never lash out in anger

It's normal to feel sad and even angry when receiving harsh criticism, but it's never okay to lash out. Anger won't solve anything nor would it be a good reflection of your character. If you must object (when you feel strongly that you're misunderstood), keep your temper in check and speak calmly.

Image Source: pandawhale.com

Life coach Marc Accetta provides valuable guidance to people who want to change their lives for the better. Follow this Facebook page for more life lessons and other related stories.

REPOST: Productivity guru David Allen shares his 3 best tricks for saving time

Avoiding distractions at work is not an easy task. The following are some of the tips from David  Allen, a productivity expert, toward a more organized and stress-free life.

Image Source

We're always looking for a new morning routine, the ideal office environment, or the latest time-saving trick to maximize our daily productivity.

With the flurry of resources and information out there, it can be difficult to know where to start and what will actually work.

We decided to ask David Allen, the productivity expert and author of the best-seller, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity," to share his top three tips.

Here's what Allen says will put you on a path towards a more organized and stress-free life:

1. Have something to write with at all times.
Whether it is a legal pad and pen or a smartphone app, it is crucial to have a place to record thoughts. "Never keep anything in your head. Your head is not designed for holding ideas. It’s designed for having ideas," says Allen. "If you want to maximize productivity, you have to make sure you’re not trying to use your head as your office. It's a crappy office."

Allen prefers a pen and paper — but there are also a handful of great to-do list apps, including: Todoist (free or $29/year) categorizes your tasks, sets dues dates, and allows you to share tasks with anyone; Any.Do (free) is a quick and simple app with a playful interface that helps you get your day off to a productive start; and Carrot ($2.99) is a to-do list with a personality, and turns everything into a game to help those who have a hard time meeting deadlines get things done.

2. Use an 'in-basket.'
Allen uses the term "in-basket" to refer to the place where you can throw all of the things you haven't yet decided what to do about — notes, mail, flashlights that have dead batteries, etc. — so that you don't have to think about them in the moment.

"You should have one at home and at work," says Allen. "It needs to be a very specific, clean, clear bucket to throw that stuff into."

Find a spare storage basket or container and repurpose it as an in-basket, or pick a bin up at Ikea or Target for under $15.

3. Pay attention to what has your attention.
"This is the most subtle hack. Start noticing what is pulling at your head, because that’s a sign that there are decisions you haven’t made or organization you haven’t done," explains Allen. "Decide exactly what the very next action is that you have to take about it. Getting a clear head is how you get there." 

Start with focus — it's half the battle, says Allen.


Marc Accetta is a life coach who helps people achieve their optimal personal growth. Like this Facebook page for more updates.

REPOST: The truth about yourr job performance

In reality, speaking the truth may cause negative feelings to staff members, but when done skillfully, according to this article, it is much more likely to improve performance, and therefore results.

Image Source: prevention.com

We all know a technically strong leader with a well-deserved reputation for harshness toward people. Staff members complain about it. The leader’s peers can’t believe she gets away with it.

All too often, this leader’s annual evaluation is filled with praise for her technical prowess but barely mentions her troubling style with people. The review meeting focuses on her technical successes; as the employee leaves the boss shakes her hand and offers an afterthought: “You could put a little more effort into your people interactions.”

Because the skill deficit is downplayed, no discussion occurs about what success would look like or how it would be measured. The leader exits, thrilled at her great review, oblivious to the difficulty with her style. And the boss secretly hopes she will change her approach. But she doesn’t because she doesn’t know she should. Because no one has told her the truth.

What restrains organizational truth-telling? Fear of hurt feelings or injured relationships. Fear of conflict and confrontation. Fear that a valued technical resource might leave the organization.

It is human nature to quickly tally up the potential cost of speaking out. In reality, speaking the truth may cause these or other challenges, but when done skillfully, it is much more likely to improve performance, and therefore results.

Imagine what losing this fear of truth-telling might yield for your company.

Employee satisfaction grows and subsequently productivity rises. Problems are reported early, before customers are impacted. People bring forward new ideas, no longer worried about offending their leader by suggesting work be done differently.

What truths about performance are withheld in your organization? What cost does the resulting lack of employee knowledge impose on the organization? How are results impacted when the truth is unspoken?

What simple truths about performance do you need to speak for the betterment of your organization?

Image Source: insightswest.com

Marc Accetta uses his unique style called “edutainment” in conducting his seminars as a life coach. Like this Facebook page for more updates.

How to deal with failure

Image Source: timohai.com

We all have to accept that failure is a part of our lives. We know this is true but it doesn't make failure less painful. Below are some ways to grin and bear it:

Acceptance

Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel. You cannot ignore the pain. Embrace it, own it – this will help the process of healing. Accepting failure is also admitting that you have made some mistakes. Analyze the situation to find out what you did wrong but don't dwell too much on the negative. From here you can try to work out how you can learn from your mistakes and eventually find success.

Keep yourself busy

It's hard to get over failures but one of the ways you can speed up the process is by keeping yourself busy. This can be done through a different hobby, completely unrelated to the endeavors you've failed to do; or it could be your new plan of action to correct your mistakes. Keep moving forward and success will come knocking at your door.

Image Source: wikihow.com

Redefine failure

Don't think of failure as the end. Endings are simply new beginnings. Mistakes teach you lessons that you can apply in life to achieve success. They give you experiences that are necessary for personal growth and maturity. Remember that success is a matter of failing many times to eventually find a solution that works.

Believe in yourself

Once you lose your confidence in yourself, everything will come crashing down. That is not a reason to think lowly of yourself and give up on everything. Failure is giving up without trying again. No matter what, believe that you can be who you want to be.

Image Source: showyourhope.com

Hi, my name is Marc Accetta and I live to inspire other people to live to their greatest potential. Visit my Google+ page for more helpful tips on life and all things in between.