A column by Dr Cobus Oosthuizen
1. Identification – Know who you are: If you are unsure of your identity, you’ll allow others to pressure you into their moulds. Trying to be someone you’re not causes disequilibrium and stress!
2. Dedication – Know what you want: Just when you get one group of people happy, another group will be upset with you. Don’t allow the fear of rejection to manipulate you, and don’t be a “people pleaser.” No one can pressure you without your consent.
3. Organisation – Set clear goals: Preparation prevents pressure, whereas procrastination produces it. You work by either priorities or pressures. Plan your work and work your plan. Let the cycle of plan, do, and review become entrenched in your orientation.
4. Reflection – Crystallise your thinking: Regular “alone-time” to reflect helps to order the invisible paradigm of thinking and to “decompress.” Use this time to integrate the array of interrelated issues, evaluate your priorities and reflect on options and solutions. The seemingly daunting will start to appear manageable as the mind maps out a way.
5. Concentration – Focus on one thing at a time: You can’t run two races at the same time and expect to win both. Don’t allow interruptions to distract you from your primary goal. Keep the main thing the main thing and don’t major in the minors.
6. Delegation – Don’t try to do everything yourself: We get tense when we feel everything depends on us. Don’t allow perfectionism, or the fear that others may do a better job, to keep you from involving others in a task or project. The team makes the dream!
7. Relaxation – Take time to enjoy life: Balance is the key to managing stress. Work must be balanced with family time, exercise, recreation, fun and spirituality. No one gets to the end of a life and says, “I should have worked longer hours during my lifetime.”
