Allow yourself to be open to the idea that feeling stressed-out means you are thinking stressful thoughts, and that stress is nothing more or nothing less than that.
Pay specific attention to the thoughts you are having each and every time you feel stressed. See if you can identify the thought you had that preceded the feeling of stress. The more you pay attention to what you are thinking, the easier it will be to see that the way you think is responsible for your stress.
After all, if there actually was an inherently stressful situation or person, everyone who encounters it would have to be stressed by it.
Notice your thoughts and see if you can change the way you are thinking about whatever it is that seems to be stressing you out. This might not be easy at first and changing the way you think about some situations will be easier than others. As an example, you may be stressing over getting to work on time so you might change your thinking to “Relax. It is what it is. Everything is going to be okay. Being stressed won’t get me there any sooner.” This is not to make you believe that it is okay to be late, but to realize that being stressed will not change the outcome. When you succeed at changing your thoughts, the feeling of stress will begin to disappear.
For many, being stressed-out is a perfect way to look good to others in order to get approval from them. When their stress is worse than everyone else’s stress, it provides a way for them to out-do their friends or coworkers. They can one-up everyone else with their stressful life and perhaps even gain a little extra respect once they convince others that their stress is worse than everyone else’s. Furthermore, having so much stress to deal with can be a great way to fit in and belong with other stressed-out friends or coworkers.
