Steps to Success
Find Your JOY! It’s a great platform for planning a strategically happy and prosperous 2010.
Before you can define your Joy, you need to define what doesn’t bring you Joy. Here’s something to try with a friend. Sit face to face; take turns answering by filling in the blanks below:
1. ______ brings me JOY
2. ______ brings me STRESS
Do this activity for a couple of minutes, or until you have a pretty good list started to work with. Have your friend write down your responses while you write down theirs.
Next, when you have some quality alone time, I want you to write down and journal about what brings you STRESS. You’re not going to share this list with anyone, so feel free to add to it, once you’re alone. Be honest! What causes the most stress in your life? Include everything the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Include all the people, situations, and problems that bring you down.
Next, you’ll review your list by asking yourself this question: Of the things I’ve listed, that cause me STRESS, what do I have control of or responsibility for? Put a checkmark next to those items. Next, go down the list and mark off, erase, or put a line through all the others items on your list. What you have left, the items you’ve check marked…those are yours!
Here’s an important tip: If you don’t have control of or responsibility for something…it isn’t yours to worry about, so DON’T STRESS about it. Let it go!!!
Take a look at what’s left on your list. The items you check marked. This is what you can deal with; because you own this list…it is YOURS! Granted, there are going to be things on this list that make you sad, angry, or cause major frustration…but hey, that’s life. Once you know what you’re faced with, it’s easier to plan how to deal with it.
Continue to use your journal. Write about how the stressful item on your list make you feel. Think about ways you can manage what causes you stress. What we ignore won’t go away; it will only get more stressful. Deal with what brings you pain, anger, and frustration and make room in your life for JOY.
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