Episode 23: My New Stress Analogy

Stress management is crucial. I know, because I ignored my stress for a long time until I crashed and burned. Now it's my mission to make sure that doesn't happen to you! That means I'm going to continue to come up with analogies to help you understand why treating stress management as a luxury or something you "don't have time for" isn't an option long term. The sooner you start prioritizing stress management that is proportional to the amount of stress in your life, the sooner you're going to boost your success in all aspects of life. If you like money, you're going to like the analogy in this episode. ;-) 

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Learn more about how I can help you here!
I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Music: “Play Thing” by Ketsa
From Free Music Archive

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn! 

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

0:01

Hey life booster. This is Dr. Amelia health coach and veterinarian here to help you ditch yo-yo dieting people, pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within. So I just finished recording a podcast episode on my approach to like really hard, sad days and stress management. And then like, literally two minutes ago, I thought of this whole new analogy for the importance of stress. And so I'm gonna share it right now with you and. I literally just came up with it. So we're kind of going to work through this analogy together, but I think it works so side note. Um, so this is the day after I had a really tough day at work and I thought, like, it was just magical that I happened to have my monthly massage scheduled, this afternoon. And then as soon as I finish. recording that podcast episode, my amazing massage therapist had sent me a message letting me know that her hand she did something to her hand and she had to cancel the appointment, which I am so sad for her hand. Um, but that is also a bummer. but good thing. I am feeling better mentally. From that hard day because I made time to do, to work through my stress and other ways. However, my body is very sore and I am so ready for a massage. If you don't get monthly massages, I strongly recommend it. I completely understand that. It feels like. Like a luxury, cause that was me, um, for so long. And also if you haven't listened to my money mindset, podcast episode, I encourage you to listen to that because you will know that I used to be, um, and still tend to be, I guess, a little bit of a penny pincher, but I have learned to embrace. and to see money in a whole different light and it also kind of mimics my approach to health. So, um, we don't need to talk about that again, if you haven't listened to that podcast episode, I encourage you to, it's a great time to reflect on how maybe your relationship with money is also showing up in the way that you treat your body. But yeah, monthly massages can't record that recommend them enough. Back to why originally hopped on this podcast. okay. So stress management is kind of like having a credit card. Okay. So every month you have. Expenses, right. That's just part of living your life. You have to pay for things, um, and you may choose to put those on a credit card and that is completely manageable and fine. As long as every month, you're also making time to make enough money in order to pay off those bills every month. So that's a lot like throughout life, you are going to experience stress day to day as just part of life. And as long as you continue to also prioritize, making time for dealing with that stress and processing the stress, it all evens out and you're able to just continue to kind of support your body and, and live through life comfort. Now what happens if you are just, you don't have time to be dealing with, maybe you're suddenly not working as much, you don't have as much of an income, or maybe you are needing to like treat yourself too much. And so your credit card bill, you start racking it up a little bit more than you. Are spending more than you have in your bank account. So what happens at that point is that that money, maybe you pay what you can that day, but then the next month that kind of rolls over and you know, maybe you're like, oh, that's fine. Like no big deal. Like, it was just a little bit that I'm carrying over. That's fine. But what if that next month you didn't make enough money to also be able to pay off that debt from the month before. So maybe that starts to like build up a little bit more and you're like, ah, it's fine. Like, it'll be manageable in the future. I am, you know, going to be getting this income or I'll probably work. Paying for it in a bit, you know, and you kind of just like turn a blind eye to that. then that's starts to. You know, in the back of your mind, you probably have like a little bit of stress thinking about that. Like, oh, this is, that's kind of like snowballing, but it's really not affecting your day to day life at all. So that's kind of like what happens with stress when it's no longer balanced. So life is just feeling like a lot and you. Pride and fill out of control. Things are overwhelming. You don't have time to like, be making healthy meals or to like, for sure you don't have time to like sit down and meditate when life feels crazy, or do yoga or go for a walk or connect with friends. Like you're kind of in survival mode at this point. And, um, you are like, okay, I know that right now is crazy, but, As soon as I get through this hump. And like, as soon as I meet this deadline, or as soon as all these things are done, like then I'm going to take a break and, you know, I'll deal with the stress. So, it's maybe a little bit uncomfortable, but things feel manageable. Now, what happens if you have with your credit card, you haven't been, you know, making extra money or making the payments that you needed to, and you were just kind of ignoring that and treating yourself and, you know, it's a year later and all of a sudden you have some really insane credit card bills. And right now the interest rate alone is. Feeling like too much to keep up. And you are at a point where this is really affecting your stress and your day-to-day life. And you're starting to worry about like, you've reached the max on your credit card limit, and this is starting to impact just being able to, to pay your normal bills that you need to survive. That is what happens when you don't make time to let your body deal with stress. There's that interest that is compounding and that is building. To a point where it no longer feels manageable and it's starting to affect your daily life. And that's what happens when we start to see all of these signs, just like complete exhaustion or for me, it was these crippling stomach aches that I just needed to like hurl up in a ball. I never knew when they were going to happen. I felt out of control. I was experiencing such brain fog. Like I would have so much difficulty just like focusing in the afternoons, even though I was trying when you don't make time to deal with your stress in the way that your body needs, not in a way that you're telling yourself isn't. Then it does start to creep into your everyday life and it starts making it so that you can't do your normal things comfortably anymore. That is my new analogy for stress, but border Collie, one definitely still, applies, but in case you are more into. Money or credit card, if you, if this resonates more, this is what I really, I'm going to keep saying it in as many different ways that I can, because I know that our society is just so good at pretending stress as in a thing, or like pretending that that's a normal part of life and that we deal with it with like drinks or. Food, you know, eating too much, like just treating yourself, like when we say that that's for stress, it's not, that's just for like a temporary feelings that make us feel better, but that's not actually dealing with a stress. And just like, you need to pay your credit card bills. You need to make time for stress management. And sometimes that may not feel convenient and it may not feel like it's a priority in the moment, but it has to be. And, um, that's also, you know, if you have a hard time with making. For stress management. Then I also encourage you to listen to my podcast episode about the one question to ask yourself when, healthy habits feel hard because healthy habits. Don't always, aren't always going to feel like something that you want to do, but there are times when you should kind of force yourself to do it. And I talk about that one really important question to be asking yourself. And ultimately it comes back to, are you forcing yourself from a place Of love and respect for your body and knowing that that is something that you need to do in order to feel your best long-term stress. Doesn't just totally take over because eventually it will. And, um, and I don't want that for you. I know what it's like to, um, just completely ignore your stress for too long and it. Really impacted all aspects of my life. So I am recording this podcast and I'm going to keep on sending this message, because I want you to not have to learn the really hard way that feels really uncomfortable. I want you to start making changes now and. Also for stress relief and stress management and self care. You know, I know that there are so many things that just like automatically bubble up around that. And, um, especially with self care, you know, and I know I started this podcast episode talking about a massage and I think a lot of people think about like, um, making time for like luxurious bubble bath or like treating yourself to like Mandy petty. All of these, like, you know, kind of extra things. Um, but that isn't necessarily what self care is or stress management. You just have to find what works for you. It could be, um, just like a little bit of time to be creative. It could be like coloring could be just like laughing. So. Friends, it could be watching like a show. Um, it could be going for a walk, doing yoga, dancing dance parties are the best. Um, Get curious with what does feel good and what is a great outlet for you and know that I highly recommend having a whole toolkit of things. Um, not just one go to, because the more that you have, think of that as like more sources of income, if you are needing to pay your credit card bills. Yeah. It's awesome. If you have money coming in from different places so that if one stream, um, isn't bringing in what you expected, maybe the others will still be able to supplement just like for stress management. Okay. Hope that helps you. Let me know if this is an analogy that resonates with you and cheers to your health, happiness, and success. All right.