Release the Pressure

‘Leading the championships every race is exciting but there are pressures. This is the first time I can relax, go out there, do my thing and enjoy the race.’

These are the words of Jenson Button, 2009 grand prix world champion. After a summer of worrying and living with the stress of wanting the championship title so badly, he and his team mates can now start Sunday’s race knowing they have already achieved what they worked so hard for. The hard work has paid off and the pressure has been released. Jenson can now hit the track with a head free of stress and take pleasure in the sport he loves.

We all at some time or other get worried or stressed and often it is because we put pressure on ourselves as we don’t want to fail but want to succeed and achieve our goals. It is not healthy for us to always be worried or stressed, sometimes you just need to let go and clear your head. In the words of Dale Carnegie, ‘If you have worries, there is no better way to eliminate them than by walking them off. Just take them out for a walk. They may take wings and fly away!’

Here are some tips to help you dispel some of your stress and worry and enjoy whatever you are doing:

• If you want to avoid worry, do what Sir William Osler did: Live in “day-tight compartments.” Don’t stew about the future. Just live each day until bedtime.
• Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries. Ask yourself : “What are the odds against this thing happening at all.”
• Co-operate with the inevitable. If you know a circumstance is beyond your power to change or revise, say to yourself: “It is so; it cannot be otherwise.”
• Let’s fill our minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope, for “our life is what our thoughts make it.”
• Do the very best you can; and then put up your old umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from running down the back of your neck.’

So next time you let the pressure get to you and you begin to feel stressed, refresh yourself with the tips above and let your worry go. Remember life is there to be enjoyed.

Sophie Whittall
www.london.dalecarnegie.com