Here’s how Emma deals with work stress. She shares her tips on how to deal with work stress as she hikes the Y mountain.
How To Deal With Work Stress
Nothing ever looks that steep on camera, but it is. Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to walk you through my personal process of dealing with stress and anxiety.
I feel a little bit like a tweeb because I’m doing a selfie video while hiking, but this is where I’m at right now.
And I’m wearing yesterday’s makeup, got a pack on my back. I’m training for a big hike in two weeks and um dealing with a lot of stress with my work.
So, I bet some of you guys can understand that idea. Dealing with enough stress that it bothers me throughout the day, makes my stomach hurt a little bit, interferes with my sleep. So, what’s my game plan?
Well, game plan number one, honestly admit it. Say to the stress like “Okay, this is stress; this is anxiety.”
And then number two is just like acceptance, right? Like okay, if I want to do good in the world, if I wanna make YouTube videos that help people and if I get big enough there’s gonna be problems, there’s gonna be people who come after me or mean comments or just the stress of trying to run a small business when I’ve never run a business before and not doing that perfectly, right?
So, my first step is like okay, stress is part of the game. Then my second step is like okay, what else can I do to decrease my stress, right?
Choose What You Can Act On And Let Go Of
What else can I do to change how I’m feeling?
First step for me is well, I love exercise. It helps process all those stress chemicals, helps me feel better, helps me relax.
So, here I am. I’m out hiking the Y. It’s uh only a mile, but it’s a thousand feet of elevation gain. Okay, it’s a little more than a mile. And uh it’s my morning workout. Next thing I’m gonna do, I’m going to look at what can I cut out.
What am I doing that is too much? What do I need to let go of? So, I’m making a better to-do list and I’m reminding myself it’s impossible to do everything, it’s impossible to fix everything, it’s impossible to control everything.
So instead, I’m just gonna choose what I’m gonna act on this week and what I’m gonna let go of.
And then the next step is just facing it head on. I seriously feel so nerdy talking to the camera while I’m hiking.
So, facing it head-on. So, I’m facing some issues, like it’s an area where I’m not an expert in at all – legal issues.
I’m legally in the right; my lawyers tell me so. But still every time I think about legal issues and contracts and stuff my stomach drops a little bit.
So, how do I face this head on? I say, “Anxiety, bring it on. Let’s do this.”
Face Your Anxiety
As soon as I get done with my hike, I’m gonna go sit down and write it all down, right?
Never worry inside your head. Write it down. Put it on paper. And then you can choose, I can choose to take action.
Right now, I’m feeling pretty composed about this. The last week – no, it’s two weeks ago – I woke up at like six in the morning just freaking out about this.
I never wanted to be famous – I’m not famous, but I do have a certain amount of exposure when a million people watch you every month. I’m like an introvert, right?
Like, my career calling was to sit in a room with one person and talk about your feelings. I never thought I’d be on YouTube.
So that’s a lot of pressure.
And the other day, two weeks ago, I was having like an anxiety attack about it really early in the morning.
So, I tried to calm down. I tried to do some breathing, I tried to talk myself through it, and I was still feeling really upset. I was crying – I cry like all the time, so that’s like normal for me.
Not all the time; I easily let myself cry. Not a big deal for me. But two weeks ago, this was a bigger issue.
So, I’m trying to make all this anxiety go away, and it’s making it worse.
And so instead I say, “Anxiety, bring it on. I can handle you; let’s do it. Do your worst.”
And I tried to feel as anxious as I possibly could. And honestly, that like released it. It dropped the whole struggle with it.
Then I called a friend at like seven in the morning. I’m, like, “Hi, can I cry to you?” And she was like, “Sure.”
And then I cried to her. And then I felt better. And I was like, okay, I know what I need to do.
I need to choose my value of direction, which is continuing to do good in the world, continuing to make content, continuing to try to help people even if it does expose me to some risk or some haters or to, you know, the stresses of just trying to run a business or whatever.
So, then I just move forward, like I’m gonna do today. Anyway, I hope this video is helpful for some of you out there. This is my actual process.
I am human. My husband will tell you I experience stress and anxiety all the time.
And he’s like “Emma, um do you know uh an expert on anxiety or stress?” And I’m like “Shut up” because – I’m not mean about it – I’m joking with him.
He knows everything. But he’s like I’m like, yes, even though I know all the things, I still feel a lot of the feels.
But I just choose how I’m going to move forward with them.
Oh yeah, one last thought: I’m gonna make a YouTube video about it, right? I’m gonna take my fear, my stress, my anxiety, I’m gonna channel it into doing some good.
Anxiety isn’t always a bad thing, right? It motivates us to action, can motivate us to feel more deeply with other people, and to reach out and help them too.
Check out the course, Overcoming Health Anxiety, below.
Take Back Your Life From Health Fears and Constant Checking
Here's what you'll learn:
- What causes health anxiety
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- Four practical steps to get your life back
