You’ve experienced it, time and time again.
Maybe it’s because all your debts are piling up and your salary seems to be getting smaller and smaller each day…
Or your boss just can’t seem to be satisfied with any presentation that you do and all your work colleagues don’t like you…
Or perhaps you’ve been meeting potential clients all throughout the week and yet no one seems interested enough to even reply to a follow-up text that you sent.
Whatever form of representation chronic stress plays in your life, its effects are universal to everyone of us:
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| Courtesy of MayoClinic |
Just yesterday, I’ve been experiencing stressful situations also. It’s overwhelming and it made me feel powerless because most significantly speaking, stress attacks the mind.
It makes you anxious. It makes you think of thoughts that are not even grounded in reality. It deprives you of positivity and plans negative and oftentimes, absurd thoughts that are not even real.
How did I deal with stress?
Usually by ordering unhealthy fast food, binge-watching or mercilessly punching/biting my pillow.
But NOT today.
No.
Today’s going to be the day that I’ll grab stress by its neck, whisper to it “I have control of myself. I may not control how stress comes about, but I can control how I react to it!” and cut off its head.
But I don’t want to blow off my budget, of course, so what do I do?
These pocket-friendly tips significantly reduced my stress levels. I hope they do the same for you too:
1. Declutter
Getting rid off your clutter helps you clear your surroundings and clear your mind, too.
Before opening a container, imagine the items that you think the container has.
Once you open it, throw out the items that you didn’t think of.
Hey, if you didn’t think of them before, what makes you think that you’re still valuing them enough?
The key is in the boxes that you put out:
Keep: Put the items that you thought of here. They’re important to you if you’ve used/remembered the item within the last three months.
Throw away: If an item isn’t important to you and you can’t sell/give it away anymore because of its condition, go ahead and toss it into the trash can!
BUDGET: None
2. Pick up one healthy and stress-busting habit per month
You know the saying: you need to do something consistently for at least 21 days before you can adapt it as your habit.
Your habit can be meditation, yoga or simply allotting a certain amount of time with your pet.
For me, I choose to adapt a healthy smoothie habit, “Pinoy Healthy Smoothie” has:
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| #iwokeuplikethis lol |
Kangkong (water spinach): rich in iron, calcium, phosphorus, carotene, sitosterol, protein, vitamins A, B1 and C and can be used as antitoxin, laxative & anti-inflammatory
Apple: contains phosphorous and iron, helps reduce oxidative stress and builds healthy skin and hair tissues
Banana: has high levels of tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin — the happy-mood brain neurotransmitter.
Cucumber: has B-vitamins which maintains your normal circadian rhythm, and helps curb the negative effects of stress.
BUDGET: P40 per day
3. Pamper yourself luxuriously while spending mindfully
I love going to the spa.
But sometimes it’s tiring because I need to book an appointment, I need to go there, I need to dress up, so the very thought of it stresses me out instead.
For the times when I want to relieve myself of stress, but I’m not in the mood to go to spas, I arrange a home spa for myself.
Light up scented candles
For a relaxing sleep, get the lavender scent.
Drink jasmine tea
Jasmine tea has calming effects which can reduce stress and alleviate anxiety.
Play relaxing music – I am a fan of RelaxDaily’s YouTube channel. In fact, I played his 2-hour piece whenever I was working on the “OMG! Where Did Your Sweldo Go?” book last year.
Put on facial masks
BUDGET: P80 per face mask; P10 per jasmine tea bag and P400 for a scented candle which can last for 10 home spa sessions
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How do you reduce stress?
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—–Want to:
– get FREE life insurance proposal – to financially protect your family;
– get FREE VUL proposal – to financially protect your family and invest to make your money work for you so you can reach your target goal;
– open a mutual fund account – to make your money grow and increase in value over time?
—–Want to get started managing your money/budgeting/investing?
Contact me, your trusted financial advisor, through the following:
Email: liannemarthamlaroya@gmail.com or liannemartha.m.laroya@sunlife.com.ph
Mobile: 0906 243 5059
We can even meet personally for a FREE financial planning session! Let me know so we can finalize a schedule that works. No obligation to do anything – except maybe share what you learned with your friends! 
