The Stress Buster System
It’s good to see you,
Welcome to the Stress Buster System (or SBS to keep it brief). First things first, let’s start with the Stress Buster Compass. Life is not a linear experience, instead it’s a journey between where you are now and where you want to be. Along the way, obstacles are going to get thrown your way so my hope with this training program is you feel more confident to climb over these hurdles. The goal of this article is to give you a zoomed-out perspective of the system before we get started.
Principle #1: The Dichotomy of Control
A good place to start when faced with a challenge is to understand what you have control over vs what is out of your control in that moment. Most problems will have elements of both, yet to be efficient, you need to know where to focus your energy.
Within the SBS Compass, the first axis stands for your control over the situation. Factors that are within our control should adopt a Stance of Radical Ownership and implement A+ Skills (A+ stands for Action)
Whereas the other end of this axis stands for your options when you have little to no control. In these instances, adopting a stance of Radical Acceptance while implementing De-Stress skills will prove to be helpful.
Principle #2: Mind-Body Fitness
It’s commonly accepted now that health includes both mind and body. The biggest energy drain for our body tends to be caused by our thoughts, while low physical health can impact the way we think and feel.
When faced with adversity, we can use our Re:THINK skills to help improve mental precision and mindset. These tend to be a top-down approach to managing stress. In other words, Re:THINK skills are all about focusing on your mind. Consider these techniques as the North of our compass.
On the other hand, what we do in-between stressors also count to make sure we have sufficient resources to endure new challenges. We call these Mood Booster skills. These are lifestyle choices that tend to be a bottom-up approach and help to reduce reactivity and improve resilience. In other words, the focus here is on the body and soul. Consider this the South of our compass.
Principle #3: Mindful Awareness
At the core of these two axes, is YOU … and YOU play a critical role in connecting all these elements. At the heart of this system, we hope you can gain greater awareness of your:
1. Values
2. Beliefs
3. Interests
When our values, beliefs and interests are challenged or facilitated, we tend to have a reaction and our response is critical if we to move towards our goal.
When feeling lost around these 3 awareness targets, a daily journal can be a great tool to help identify and make sense of them. If daily journaling is not your thing, I’d recommend using the Stress Monk, Emotions Ninja and Cognitive Wizard worksheets, to help increase your awareness about you.
Improving your mindful awareness will help you align 4 essential layers to live the life you want. These include your:
1. Physiology (body)
2. Emotions (feelings)
3. Cognition (thoughts)
4. Behaviours (actions)
Being attuned to these 4 layers will help you towards your goal of mastery and kicking butt when the world throws you a challenge. Consider this section the center of your compass.
Principle #4: The Mastery Ladder Knowledge
In the 1970s, Noel Burch introduced a 4-step process towards mastery and being aware of this process really goes nicely with principle 3.
Lvl 1: Unconscious Incompetence (Beginner) - In this state we’re not aware that there’s a problem nor do we know we should solve it.
Lvl 2: Conscious Incompetence (Novice) - In this state, we’re aware that there’s a problem but don’t know how to solve it.
Lvl 3: Conscious Competence (Expert) - In this state, we’re aware of the problem and can apply solutions when we put our mind to it.
Lvl 4: Unconscious Competence (Master) - In this state, we’re aware of the problem and can resolve them with great ease.
Principle #5: The Progress Formula
Knowledge without action is useless. Here’s a simple formula to keep us on track.
Progress = Strategy (having the right tools for the task) x Implementation (having the right supports and systems to execute) x Duration (having the ability to repeat it over time). Applying this formula is a good way for reaching lvl 4 of the Mastery ladder
Principle #6: Get Started
The key is to get started now. The risk of waiting for tomorrow is that you are at greater risk of either making a situation worst or not progressing and staying miserable. On that rather unpleasant note, let’s get started with the foundations of stress.
In summary
Here’s your SBW Compass:
