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When facing competitive situations, women in particular, often feel a great deal of stress.

Scientifically, of course, stress refers to the release of the hormone adrenalin in the body, which helps to boost performance.  But that aside, we humans just feel the end result  – sweating palms or underarms, dry mouth, headaches – need I go on?

Some of us are lucky enough to be able to use stress to our advantage.  Often though, we use it negatively, sometimes even turning it on ourselves.

But moderate stress can be used in a positive way, particularly when there’s deadlines at work.  So how do you use it positively?  One way is to stay focused on one task at a time.  Complete focus blocks out all the other problems.  It takes practice and is sometimes really difficult to do, but the results are extraordinary and the well worth the effort.

Let’s have a quick look at relationships – be it at home between family members, work colleagues or your loved one.  Accepting everyone sees things differently can definitely assist in stress levels.  Staying calm and focussing on gaining clarity is also very extremely helpful in these situations.

When you manage multiple roles; relationships, home, family and work, being positive is critical.  We all want these roles to be successful and happy – that pressure itself is stressful.

Another small but frequent situation we experience in daily life is to suffer the dreaded traffic jam.  There can be at times a certain degree of stress involved here, so why not use the stressful situation to your advantage? Listen to your favourite music & just relax or perhaps use the time to learn something new.  Ultimately, if there is a traffic jam, there is actually nothing you can do, apart from waiting for it to sort itself out, so why not enjoy your time?

Stress can be managed.  Don’t turn it inward towards yourself – by overeating or drinking too much alcohol.  Instead try to work out why it is happening.  Are there some good components –  is it moving you towards your goal or deadline.  Try to put it in perspective – is it short-term?  If so, try to relax and believe that whatever you are going through is for the benefit of yourself and/or your family.  If not, what can do you about it?  What’s one proactive thing you could do right now to alleviate the stress?

When we undergo a stressful event, we tend to remember it clearly. The best part of this is it’s an opportunity to learn from our mistakes, come out of the situation more positive from having had the experience. There’s something to be said about looking at the glass as being half full instead of half empty!

In a nutshell, being positive helps lower stress levels and being negative increases stress levels and definitely impacts on you performing at your best.

So, you can stress or you can relax, it’s your choice, however, always remember – everything will work out one way or another!