Dealing with Stress: More Radigan Carter Wisdom
Change is hard. Adapting to change in our environment can be brutal. Stressful to say the least.
This is why I gain so much from being a fanboy of Radigan Carter, who literally is on the frontlines of conflicts around the world. A renaissance man, modern day Thucydides who fights, thinks and writes deeply. He is a man who knows how to handle stress. So sharing what he brilliantly wrote back in June.
“Stress piles up, it has a pretty long half-life in our brains. It hits us mentally, physically, emotionally, it spills into our relationships, work, our decisions. The research on chronic cortisol is showing how it affects our health long term with cardiovascular issues, cognitive decline, and accelerated aging. That’s not great, the opposite of living a beautiful life.
So here are three things I’ve really been trying to focus on this month with reducing stress.
I ask myself what I'm actually upset about, and give my subconscious time to work on it. Usually after sitting with it a while, I realize it's not what I first thought. And the moment I figure out the real reason, something shifts, like I've removed a silent stressor I didn't even know was there. Then I can think clearly, figure out what I can actually do about it, and start working the problem instead of just being mad.
I remind myself that staying mad at someone or a situation doesn't help me. All it does is make me miss future opportunities, because winners don't want to be around someone stewing about something they can't change. I know I don't. So I let it go and move forward. Sometimes this takes a while, I’m still working on it. The problem I have is letting go feels like I’m saying it’s ok and that isn’t it. I’m not saying what happened wasn't wrong, but I’m realizing hanging onto it only hurts me and my future.
I give myself permission to feel it, and just do what I need to do to get through the day and take care of myself. Can't take care of others if I'm worn out. It's ok to not be running full speed all the time. It's ok to say man, these last few months have been brutal, I've been working crazy hours and not sleeping, I’m cooked. I don't need to cross everything off the list today. Some things can wait, and actually when I’m feeling this way, usually the best thing I can do is not make any decisions I don’t have to, under stress, to let it wait until my mind is clear, I’ve had time to think about it and I feel centered and not like I’m reacting.”
If Radigan used this to deal with all the literal real life crises on the ground in the Middle East, I can use his guide myself for my personal finance issues and business issues at large. I found it to be personally helpful so far.