I really love the wisdom of Paul Wilson, the guru of Calm. One of his suggestions for reducing self induced pressure is: “Prune pressure phrases – pressure phrases like ‘I have to’, ‘I must’, ‘I should’, ‘I don’t have the time’, exacerbate feelings of stress. Listen for such words in your thoughts and speech, then replace them with more relaxed phrases – ‘I may’, ‘I choose to’, ‘I will make the time’.”

 

He also says: “Have little successes – there’s nothing like a degree of success to help you become relaxed. Even if it’s only with the most trivial activities, make room for yourself to succeed from time to time.” Breaking big goals down into smaller ones really helps to achieve the feelings of success he is talking about. The big picture can sometimes be overwhelming to contemplate, but if we take it one step at a time, not only does it seem less daunting, but the small successes we achieve along the way serve to encourage us to further achievement.