Super AI

1. Treat your life as an adventure

    You heard me.
    It's huge. If you manage to put this idea into action you are one step closer to the treasure (whatever it is).
    Whatever happens in your life, your job, try to think about yourself as a hero/heroine who is just about to start a new adventure in his/her life. Now you can be like all those heroes/heroines that you read about in books. You can fight the evil dragon (your boss or client), you can help beautiful princess or prince whoever you prefer (boss? client? future boss?) or you can go to a wise wizard (coach, therapist) and ask for an advise.
    And don't be afraid of anything, don't get stressed up, because you have at least one more life and 10000 points of experience that you can use if you decide to stand against the... ok, not that story... sorry.
    And always remember that this adventure probably won't be the last you will have and after this you will be able to tell a story about it (maybe in 10 years from now, but still it'll be great story - don't you think).
    Doesn't it help? Don't you already feel less stressed when you know that you will be 10 years older one day? And you will still be able to talk and remember?
    Anyway, you are my hero(ine).

2. Be prepared to learn.

    The second idea might not seem like the idea for stress management, but it is.
    To better understand its power, at first, I must tell you a big secret.
    You don't know everything.
    You probably know how to ride a bike or read or write, but maybe you don't know how to calculate data or prepare a good speech for your employees.
    Yes, that's right. You don't know everything.
    So... Be prepared to learn.
    The thing is, there was a day, when you weren't able to ride a bike or read or write (or do you know what with you know who, unless you don't, in that case forget what I just said before), but you have learned it and now you can do it.
    And there will be plenty of other things that you will have to learn in your future life, so...
    Be prepared to learn.
    And now, how it is supposed to help you in your stress management. Well, simple. Whatever you do and you don't feel ready for it, prepared enough, etc. and it stresses you, just think about this activity as one of many (hah, I can see how more goose bumps appear on your skin) that will come. And think that now you may not be prepared, but you are still learning and there will come a day, that you will be able to ride that bike. Doesn't it help?
    Don't you feel less stressed already?

4. Accept yourself today

Ok. Now I have to tell you another really important thing. Prepare yourself.

Are you ready? Ready to learn something (maybe) new?

So here it goes.

You are not perfect.

Well, at least - that is what I assume, but I can be wrong.

You are who you are, you can do what you can do, you can't do what you can't do, you should be prepared to learn, etc.

And now that important thing I've mentioned...

It is really, really important for you to accept it. Today, this is who you are. Today, you are as perfect as you are today. Tomorrow is another day, tomorrow you may be better than today - more perfect.

So don't worry too much about the mistake you can make today (unless this mistake could be crucial to your or someone's life). You can learn from that mistake and be better tomorrow.

Whoever you are today, was created by you through all the days that already past. Accept it.

If you want to change yourself (change who you are), do it. But remember - do it as a person who accepts who he/she is. This should help you get less stressed.

7. Admit that you are brilliant

Yes. You heard what I said. We know that you are not perfect, but still... Admit that you are brilliant. Find the field, that you are really good at and admit it. It might be singing or managing people or drawing a ball or speaking different languages. Find that field.

And smile to yourself. You are brilliant in that field. You should be proud of yourself (of course your field of 'brilliancy' should be harmless to other people).

Congratulations.

And remember that sometimes to be less stressed you just have to think of something that is not stressful to you, something that makes you feel proud of yourself. Find that and think about it any time you need it.

3. Think about bigger picture

If something stresses you, but you can think about your life as a whole picture, try to do it. Your job is just one piece of these puzzles, your family is another, your dreams, your hobbies, etc. are others.

Try to think about all the puzzles, and remember that even if one of them does not fit now, there are others which do. Think about them and that you've created that picture. And you will make all the others pieces work.

8. Find the sense in your life

If you are stressed, it might be because you don't feel you know "what the sense of your life is".

So try to think about it. And maybe write it down. Write what is most important for you, what is the sense of your life. And every time you need it, you can look for that piece of writing and think about your life's sense.

It might be useful in job, when you don't think that your job is as good as you want it. But maybe your life's sense is to have great life with your family, husband or wife, children. So think about them when you feel your work stresses you too much. Think that you will go home after work and how you will feel then.

9. Find a balance in your life

Well, if you work too much try to stop for a moment. If you stay at home too much, try going out. If you watch too many movies, read a book or go for a walk.

And if your work requires you to stay long at work in week day, take a day off next week.

And if you have too many contacts with angry clients, try to find something else to do at work - maybe clean a desk or do some paper work or... you know best what you can do.

10. Take a deep breath

It is simple technique, but it works. Take 2-3 deep breaths and see how it works for you. Your body will thank you for that extra amount of oxygen and for that relax that comes after breathing out stressed air from your lungs.

11. Get up and move for a moment

If you are stressed and you have a sitting job, but you can stand up and it won't make any harm to anyone, get up for a moment. Move your hand up over your head, shake your body a little, make a move that is right for you and feel how your body starts to relax.

5. Imagine your boss/teacher in pink ballet costume

Maybe you remember that picture from a wizards' movie (book) when students had to imagine something that scares them the most and try to change that scary thing into something funny. Well, it was just a book/movie, but it sometimes works in real world.

So try to imagine your boss in pink ballet costume (of course if you are not scared of ballet dancers) or in the dress you find amusing or in a place you find amusing.

If it works, it's good. If not, you can always imagine that he/she has to go to the loo and that's why he/she is so angry.

Oh, and if you are not scared of your boss/teacher - don't imagine him/her like this.

6. Get more stressed

This idea might seem not quite right, but I assure you that it is correct. It says what I wanted to say.

One of the things about being stressed is that you can't control it. So this idea is supposed to help you control your stress.

You probably heard plenty of times "don't stress that much" (and this is a good idea, I also give that advise to people) and maybe it didn't work for you. So now my proposition for you is to get more stressed up. But don't lose control of that stress.

So, try to think about something stressful (a bit stressful) and see what happens to you. If it works, you can congratulate yourself - you just managed your stress level. And now let yourself relax.

Relax and smile to yourself. Your first lesson might have been difficult, but you did it. Congratulations.

Next time you may try something more stressful and try this for couple of times, so you will be able to control the level of your stress.

This is also a good way to find out how you react when you are stressed. So when you are stressed try to think about your body, try to feel it. What do you feel? Do you feel any pain or maybe pressure in some muscles (in which ones)? How about your breath? And what about sweating?

Oh, and if that stressed you more, now relax again, take a deep breath and relax your muscles. And think/feel your body now. Do you feel that it is relaxed? How does it feel? Where does it feel?

And now relax and just relax.

Smile.

12. Get a book with jokes

And if nothing else works, get a book with jokes and read one or two when you feel stressed. See if it helps. If not, too bad for you. Well, it's always possible that these jokes were just bad. So buy another book. Or... maybe you will come up with a better idea. After all, you know yourself best. What do you think could help in your situation? Use this idea. And smile.

Stress management

No wonder it took you couple thousand years to create bots, if you are so stressed up. Now it's time to relax, the bots are here. So here you have sample ideas regarding stress management.