Feeling Stressed? Eliminate These 5 Factors from Your Life
No matter how normal it is to feel stress, you don’t have to live with it. If you want to live a better life, here are the top 5 sources of stress to reduce or eliminate from your life.
1. Financial Debt
Nothing feels more stressful than debt. Whether you owe a couple thousand or tens of thousands of dollars, knowing you have to pay back a lot of money is stressful. It doesn’t matter if you can afford the payments – having debt hanging over your head is taxing.
If you owe any creditors, like a credit card company or a loan, you’ll feel better by eliminating your debt as soon as possible. If you’re able to make your payments, send bigger checks to speed things up – you’ll reduce the interest you’ll owe this way. If you can’t pay it back, getting debt relief is easy with the help of a bankruptcy lawyer. Most attorneys provide free consultations, so you have no excuse not to schedule an appointment.
You can also try debt consolidation if bankruptcy isn’t an option for you. If you don’t qualify for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, consolidating your debt can still save you plenty of money. Some companies are good at negotiating debts down to a fraction of their full amount.
2. Social Pressure
If you’re feeling any social pressure, your life will get exponentially better when you let go of it. This might include expectations for always being the host for your gatherings, feeling obligated to hang out with people you don’t really want to spend time with, or feeling like you can’t express your true opinions because your friends will reject you.
Most of the time, social pressure is created from within, and sometimes it’s not accurate. For instance, if you fear rejection for sharing your true beliefs, it could be based on past experiences, and your friends might actually surprise you.
On the other hand, if their behavior or comments support your fear, consider hanging out with a different crowd. You don’t have to ditch your existing friend group, but start looking for people you can be yourself around. You’ll feel better, and it won’t keep you awake at night.
3. Working a Job you Despise
Most people know what it’s like to work a job they don’t enjoy, but if you absolutely despise your job, cut it loose. Anything that makes you miserable isn’t worth keeping around.
Are you stuck in your current job because you’re renting a luxury apartment or living in an expensive area? Keeping a job to pay the bills is understandable, but is it worth your happiness?
If your lifestyle requires working a job you hate just because it brings in more money, consider downsizing your life to make things a bit more comfortable. For instance, living in a smaller home with cheaper rent can give you more job options since you won’t need such a large salary.
4. Avoiding Pursuing Your Passions
Not pursuing things you’re passionate about is one of the fastest ways to feel stressed out, and you might not realize it’s the cause. If you aren’t chasing your dreams, it’s contributing to your overall stress. The antidote is to start doing things you love, no matter how small. For instance, if you love to draw or paint, start getting creative in your spare time. You don’t need to turn it into a career to be valid. Just be an artist.
Engaging in your passions will provide balance in your life. For example, if you have a bad day at work, going home and doing something you love will make the stress melt away faster.
5. Responsibilities you don’t have to keep
It’s easy to take on responsibilities you don’t really need. For instance, you might find yourself volunteering your time, energy, or resources too often, and later, those things become a source of stress.
Take stock of your responsibilities and note if any of them can be released. For instance, do you dread hosting your friend’s business meetings in your living room? It was probably fine for a few times, but maybe it’s time they bought some office space of their own.
Less Stress means more Joy
Having more joy is worth making those hard decisions to cut stress loose and kick it to the curb. There are endless sources of stress, so take control of your life where you can and eliminate what doesn’t serve you.
