How to Set Yourself up to Successfully Master Your Life Stresses (Start Here)
Since this is my first post you’ll probably think I’m crazy for saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway.
Here it goes:
I’m not entirely certain I picked the best time to rebrand my blog.
Our world is suddenly facing extreme stress as we’re currently in the middle of this whole COVID-19 pandemic.
And I can feel the pressure to make good with a blog name like Master Mom Stress.
So, although I’m feeling uncertain about my timing (and qualifications, if I’m being completely honest), here is what I am certain about:
I’m certain that no matter what (good or bad) is going on in the world, stress happens.
Every day, a mother somewhere is finding herself at her wits end.
She’s exhausted, burnt out, and craving a better way of doing mom life.
She’s tired of trying to be all the things to everyone and is ready to take back control of her life, but she doesn’t quite know how.
And that’s where this blog (and I) come in.
Defining Mastering Life Stress
If we haven’t met, hi! My name is Lauren and I’m a thirty-something stay-at-home mom of four.
Allow me to make things clear from the beginning: Just because I went through a period of extreme stress several years ago and I managed to recover from all that, I don’t want you to think I consider myself to be a master of anything.
And I’m certainly not over here living a stress-free life (you did read the part where I said I have four kids, right?).
So please don’t think I’m over here pretending I have my life totally together because I don’t.
Fact: nobody does. We’re all just learning as we go.
I decided to call this blog Master Mom Stress because it sounds empowering.
And that’s how I want you to feel after you read my posts – empowered.
But let me take a step back and define exact what I mean by “master” stress.
Master, according to the dictionary, has several definitions. But the definition I’m using has to do with having control.
I believe that stressful things happen to us, but we have total control over how we allow that stress to impact our lives.
And this blog is my way of helping moms like you reclaim your power to master the stresses you face.
Because once I shifted my mindset and learned that I have the power within myself to feel calmer, my life changed.
Yours can, too.
Now, let’s dive into three mindsets that will help you fast-track your way toward successfully mastering your life stress.
3 Mindsets That Lead to Success
Mindset #1: Commit to taking action
All the motivational quotes and positive affirmations in the world are not going to do anything unless they push you towards taking action.
Reading about something without doing the work does not create lasting change.
True: Sometimes a why explanation about a topic can help you make better sense of it (which is why I have an entire category dedicated to teaching you about the nerdy, sciencey things about stress). But in order for you to master anything, action will be required.
As much as I love crafting and stringing motivational sentences together for you (you’re welcome), taking action is such an important part of building your way towards mastering stress that I’ll always include some sort of action step within my posts.
It’s not because I like telling you what to do (although my immediate family would say otherwise). But I include actionable steps because I know how powerful taking action can be. I share them out of love.
Mindset #2: Get comfortable with putting yourself first
Accept that, as a result of needing to take action (step 1), you’ll also probably need to reprioritize some things on your calendar, which could mean saying no – a lot.
Please understand that this step could upset some of those people you’re saying no to, but remember this:
You don’t owe anyone an explanation.
Not everyone who craves change will actually act on making changes. Instead, they will take out their insecurities on those who dare to do the things they wish they had the courage to.
Related post: 4 Hidden Sources of Stress that are Easily Avoidable
So try not to take it personally if friends and family suddenly want to have nothing to do with you now that you’re starting to put steps in place to master stress. They desperately want to make themselves a priority, too, so your bold (and daring) act of putting yourself first will trigger them.
Stand tall and remain firm in your new commitment to put your health and well-being front and center. Who knows? Maybe you’ll start a ripple effect and bring other moms along for the ride.
Mindset #3: Give yourself grace.
Mastering anything takes time. Give yourself grace if this journey of getting to a place of peace and calm takes you longer than you expected it to.
It’s all about taking baby steps.
I used to be someone who wanted to just hurry up and get past the hard stuff and get to the point where life would just feel easy and relaxed.
I’m sorry to be so frank about this, but there are no short cuts.
I won’t get sciencey here, but our brains are hardwired to do the same things over and over again. When change is introduced, it takes the brain as long as the brain takes to create new pathways.
No matter how hard you try, your brain can’t create new pathways faster.
Just do the work (every single day that you can), give yourself grace about the pace you’re going, and one day you’ll notice just how much improvement you’ve made.
And that’s it!
Those are the three mindsets you must start working on in order for you to successfully master mom stress:
- Commit to taking action
- Get comfortable with putting yourself first
- And give yourself grace!
You have the ability to successfully master your mom stress.
You know how I know this? Because I did it.
And if I can do it, you can too.
I believe in you, mama.
I can’t wait to watch you succeed.
Love & light,
Love this post. I’m also on my journey on mastering mom stress and just life stress in general. When I’m stressed, I usually get anxious or angry and irritable. I feel like stressed is really tied to things not going the way you planned or how you want it to be which is such a big part of motherhood (and life in general too). Love mindset #1 taking action which is something I tend to struggle with sometimes.
Don’t be too hard on yourself about #1! I struggle will action and I write about this stuff!! But I feel like everyone struggles with this to some degree. The point is that you are self-aware that it’s a weakness for you and that’s just as important. Far too many don’t realize what they don’t know and that’s what I’m hoping I can change with this blog. And yes!!! Feeling stressed is absolutely a disconnect between our thoughts and what’s actually happening.