I have dealt with a lot of stress over the past two years. Mostly related to my business, though I can think of a couple of personal and family stressors as well. I have tried my very best to avoid getting stressed all together, but sometimes you just have to accept it is there and deal with it.

There are many books, courses, activities, groups and professionals that offer and provide assistance. And then there are drugs, supplements and multiple natural products that promise relief.

In the end though it is up to you to deal with it. Only you can take the steps needed to find solutions or make the necessary changes. So I am going to give you a couple of common sense suggestions that have worked for me and hopefully will help you as well.

Physical exercise can really make a difference in your stress level. Over the past few months, while the weather was nice, I have regularly gone for a half hour power walk. The hardest part always was to decide to do it. I am often surprised about how different I feel before and after the walk. It just feels so good afterwards.

You know when your mind just doesn’t want to shut up? It often happens at night. You wake up and can’t stop thinking about the problem and you definitely can’t go back to sleep. Distraction works best for me. I will turn on a boring TV channel like the Nature Channel or I grab my iPad and play Candy Crush. Something that requires your attention but isn’t too stimulating. I get bored and finally fall asleep again.

Often I get stressed out about the amount of work that needs to be accomplished with many of urgent tasks and deadlines to keep. I am sure your parents have given you the same advice I received: “Just take one small step at the time”

When the stress level gets unbearable, or one more issue threatens to put you over the edge, my immediate solution is to talk to someone I trust. In my case my wife or my business coach. Even though they might not have the solution for me, just talking about it, without having to worry how it is received, will help with my stress level.

I often find myself worrying about how to deal with things that are coming up in the future. I have been a problem solver all my life, so I have learned to trust, that I will find a solution when the time comes, so I tell myself to deal with today’s challenges first, and to stop worrying about tomorrow

My final suggestion on how to reduce stress is to Take a Holiday. I am flying out on Saturday night. It’s been a while since my last holiday. I know that the moment the flight takes off, I will start to relax and forget about work for a while. Up to that moment though, I am quite stressed out about the many, many things I still have to accomplish before I leave.

So thank you, and I won’t be thinking about you!