Stress can be a killer. It can also empower us when we use it effectively. We all know about stress. Times when we feel we just haven’t got anything left within us. Our mind is cluttered, we feel overwhelmed or overloaded. Or we feel as though we’re going around in circles. However, a certain amount of stress is considered beneficial. And I’d like to offer three ways you can use stress to empower who you are.

The first way is when you start to feel your emotions building up within you. Either use a recording app on your phone and express everything you want to say into that app. Or write it out. Or go and find a space in nature, where you can shout it, sing it, scream it. It doesn’t matter. Just express it. Release the emotion. And then once you’ve done that, ask yourself. ‘So why did I allow that to happen?’

Emotions are energy in motion. They’re there for a purpose. Why are you suppressing emotions to the point where there’s overwhelm? Because once you start to use your emotions as a fuel, it’s surprising how powerful you can begin to feel about your journey.

The second thing is to stop complaining. There’s always somebody better off than we are. Equally, there’s always somebody worse off than we are. Every time we complain, we affirm lack. So, when we feel that we are not in as strong or comfortable or successful position as somebody else, instead of complaining about it, ask what you can do to strengthen your own position. Is there something more that you can offer? Something different?

And finally, we get stressed when we feel that there’s not enough hours in the day. And the reason is because we are so busy, there is no time for us. Under normal circumstances while we sleep, our brain declutters our mind. With global events over the last two years, there hasn’t been the time for that. Even in sleep, we’ve been restless, we’ve been uncertain.

Take time out for you. Make time to write in your journal the insights you’re gaining. Just take some time where you can do whatever you choose during that period without apology, without guilt, because you can. If you do those three things, you will begin to find your stress levels dropping rapidly.