The strategy for this week invites you to actually fail! Often we create extra stress and pressure in our lives by believing we simply cannot experience failure. Keep in mind that “experience failure” and BEING a failure are two very different things. It might help if you remember when and how you learned your greatest lesson. Was it from something that was easy and completely stress free? More than likely, you learned something from a stressful event, or even something you failed at.

So, for today, you get to choose something (small even!) and …

Allow Yourself to Fail

What would you do if you ALLOWED
Yourself – just this one time – to fail?
Make room for failure.
Celebrate it.
Have fun with it.
Redefine “failure” as “steps toward progress”
And – a means of learning.

How are you going to choose to fail in one small aspect of your current situation? 

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Creating your own stress management “Toolkit”

We all have our own well-worn ways we handle stress and difficult events. Often, we become locked into repeating patterns of coping that may not serve us – and may actually keep us from becoming as successful as possible.

Start by making a list of the ways you typically cope when you feel challenged.  Next, take a look at the toolkit strategy from this week and make a commitment to try something new.

This blog describes a variety of tools that could help you change your negative coping patterns into more effective ones or shift your self-defeating thoughts into ones that support you better. They come from my work with clients – as well as myself – helping to manage and transform difficult the feelings, concerns, and situations that you may also be working through. 

Practice

Forget “practice makes perfect”! We are all practicing and learning as we grow and develop. It may take several tries – practice – before you feel even a small shift, but keep at it! You might find changing just one thing in how you approach a challenge in your life brings at least some relief.
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Suzan K. Thompson, Ph.D. is a licensed professional counselor with over 30 years experience. She helps adults learn practical tools and strategies to manage anxiety, depression and trauma. For more tools please visit: www.Toolkit4Transformation.com.