7 Simple Steps to Achieving More Energy and Reducing Stress!!

For me, being healthy means having more energy and having the ability to make good decisions and improve other people’s lives, no matter how insignificant it is. Which means I need to be in a positive mindset and have a great attitude, which means my ability to have control over my stress and ability to regulate is pretty important.

So let’s go through the top 7 steps to achieving more energy and reducing your stress…

1.       Prioritise yourself first!!

I know this sounds easier said than done, but it really is most important…

You are the cornerstone, the foundation and the most important figure stone in your life. You need to realise that you are also all of those things to the family and people closest to you. You are the supporter, you are the mother/father, you are the nurturer and the first person that deals with all the troubles. So what would happen if you were to get sick, or injured?

“You must first build your own house and then you can look to help others…”

Meaning you must look after yourself first, so that the ones closest to you do not have to suffer. That is right, if you are not a little selfish and look after yourself, you are in fact making the others around you suffer. No one wants to put the loved ones around them through suffering.

So, prioritise yourself first, you are number one, you are the creator of your own universe and need to realise that without you, those who depend on you would be extremely stuck without you.

2.       Communication

Communication is always the key, it is not just verbal communication though, but your body language, your delivery of said communication. You need to start making sure you communicate more efficiently to your family, to your husband and to your children. This will increase productivity in the family dynamic, take a lot of stress off of you and you will find those closest to you will love you more for it. Be translucent, be completely open to everyone you are close to and tell them what you are doing and what you are doing it for. They will support you, no matter what.

A great place to learn more about being more open and communicating more is to check out “The Imago Process,” which my mentor has just recently got me researching to improve my own communication skills. So far, it has been amazing the results you can get by improving your communication.

3.       Make a morning routine

This is so important, you want to expend the least amount of energy in the morning and make it as easy as possible for you to get the day started!

So figure out a morning routine that works for you. You could go for a walk when you wake up, you could shower, eat breakfast and meditate before anyone else is up. Wake up at the same time, every day, no matter when it is.

It does not matter what your morning routine is, as long as you build a habit around it and make it the same as every single morning. For a quick example, I will wake up at 4:30am on a weekday, shower, eat breakfast, brush my teeth and journal for 10-15 minutes every morning. It could be as simple as that (Doesn’t have to be at 4:30am either). Find your routine and stick to it!

 4.       Get Moving!!

Physical activity is truly underrated by a lot of people, by simply just moving a little bit and doing some vigorous activity three to four times a week (such as weightlifting, running/sprinting, boxing/Muay Thai, HIIT) this will vastly improve your bodies ability to regulate hormones and energy levels.

Not to mention, it will help improve your sleep along the way, helping you to improve recovery and everyone automatically feels better on a good nights sleep!

5.       Organisation is key

You need to be organised, yes I know it sounds cliché, but having a plan for the day does increase productivity and also decreases the energy demand on your decision making throughout the day.

So make a to-do list, or use 10 minutes to plan out your day. I do it in the shower, I think of exactly what I will be doing in the shower. I spend about 5 minutes thinking about what I am going to do the next day at night and in the morning when I wake up and shower, I consolidate it.

Make sure you have a plan and then DO IT!

6.       Stop saying YES to everything

This is the worst for most people, especially to the people you care about and also if it affects them in any way. However, you must prioritise YOU first, meaning you cannot say yes to everything. If you take on more and more, you will start to burn out and become quite irritable. Which will make you hard to deal with and people will not even know why.

You need to say NO every now and again, your energy needs to be directed to the most important things that you need to dedicate yourself to. Saying no makes you stronger and also gives you your own power back, the more you say yes to someone, the more indebted you become to that person.

7.       Allocate YOU time

This is the most significant thing you can do to reduce stress and increase energy!!

Allocating you time, whether it is 30 minutes at lunch or maybe it’s your morning walk or even a session with your personal trainer/coach. Without this time, you will become flooded, overwhelmed and everything that seems like such a simple task will get extremely difficult.

You need time for yourself. Don’t make excuses, just do it!

Not to mention, it helps improve your sleep, by giving yourself time to think about what might have happened during the day or what is to come. Your mind can organise itself a little bit and start to put things in order, which will reduce stress significantly.

These seven steps are definitely not the only thing you can do to improve energy and reduce stress, in fact there are a multitude of things that you can do.

However, they are a great starting point to helping to reduce the angst and pressure that we have in our everyday to day lives. Most of which work extremely well, but you need to find what suits you, which means putting a bit of time into yourself and giving yourself every opportunity to live your best life.

Let me know if you use anything else in particular that helps to reduce stress for you, I would love to know about it…

Until next time,

Take Back Control