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 Self talk for stress relief? What's that?

What is self talk for stress relief? That seems to imply that you can talk yourself out of being stressed-out.

Maybe or maybe not? It all depends. But self talk for stress relief can certainly help. It all has to do with your mindset.

Let me explain by sharing a story from my childhood.

When I was growing up my family didn't go out to eat often.

When we did, my father always wanted to get his money's worth. Thus, we often ended up at an "All You Can Eat" buffet.

Being my father's son, I too wanted to get his money's worth. So I believed it was my moral obligation to eat as much as I could possibly eat. I entered the restaurant telling my self, "I have to eat as much as I can." That was my mindset.

If I was not stuffed to the max when we left the restaurant, I was not getting the full benefit of the purchase.

It was almost a relief when I saw a buffet advertised as an "All You Care To Eat" buffet. The pressure was off. I no longer HAD to eat as much as possible.

I could tell myself, "You can eat as much as you want but you don't have to eat more than you want." My self talk and my mindset had changed.

By using self talk for stress relief, you can change your mindset.

Approaching life with an "All You Can Do" mindset can result in living an out-of-balance lifestyle and feeling stressed-out.

You are continuously telling yourself, "I have to do more." This self talk stresses you out.

If you change to an "All I Care To Do" mindset the pressure is off. Now you can tell yourself, if I don't care to do that I can choose not to do it.

This is self talk for stress relief.

I heard someone say that if you are at a buffet and keep pilling food on your plate, eventually something is going to fall on the floor. Your plate can only hold a limited amount.

The same is true in life. If you keep piling more and more and more on your metaphorical plate, eventually you are going to drop something. The quality of your activities will decline, as will your enjoyment of those activities.

Your productivity will also go down.

You will be so busy - and stressed - that you will miss out on some of the rewards of a life well lived.

With an "All You Care To Do" mindset, you will be able to select which activities to engage in and which to pass by.

You will be free to live according to your values,  your purpose, and the goals you have for your life.

The choice is yours?

You will still choose to do things that you don't want to do from time to time; after all, your choices alway result in consequences.

But even then you can use self talk for stress relief.

For example, you can tell yourself, "I don't want to go to work today. I want to go play golf. Nevertheless, I am choosing to go to work because I don't want to lose my job."

With this mindset you are free to make choices based on the consequences of those choices. You feel less pressure. You are more in control of your life.

You are using self talk for stress relief.

Compare that with telling yourself, "I have to go to work." With this mindset, you don't have a choice. You are no longer in control of your life.

You are stressing yourself out with your self talk.

Which mindset do you choose?

What will you be free to scratch off your list of things that "must" be done if you choose to live life from an All I Care To Do mindset rather than an All I Can Do mindset?

Here is a brief video on how you can gain strength from stress by changing your mindset.

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