Don Roulo is the CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) of Life Quest. He is a life, career and business coach as well as a Certified 48 Days Workshop Facilitator. He travels nationally and internationally to conduct business and career training as well as marriage and family workshops.

By DON ROULO

I just read an article about stress. It was called, “Stress – Black Death of the 21st Century.” It stated stress has eclipsed heart attacks, strokes and back problems for reasons to be absent from work for an extended period of time.  It further stated many reasons for stress; a bad boss, marital problems, job uncertainty and the overall economy.

Each of the reasons given for stress in the article can be summed up in one word – hopelessness. The Bible says hope deferred makes our hearts sick. I have taught, counseled and helped a wide variety of people for over 20 years – including prison inmates to company executives. Without a shadow of a doubt, the one common root cause to each person’s pain, or stress, has always been hopelessness.  Hopelessness is the most insidious disease that has its grip on so many people today.

Stress and hopelessness are completely related to each other. If there is stress of any level there is also some level of hope which is lacking. We have all faced time deadlines for a work project which have cause stress. The lack of hope is absolutely involved at a very small level. It even shows up in what you may say about this work situation. You may say something like, “I hope I get this project done on time.” What you are really saying is you are not ‘full’ of hope it will work out – there is doubt. If you were full of hope you would say, “It will all work out – no worries!”

John Maxwell has a great quote that can help inspire the necessary change, “Hope for the future, gives us power for the present.” We have no power in our present to do the things it takes to move forward if we don’t think our future will be better. Why would anyone even take a small step in the right direction if there is no hope for a good result?

A vast number of people don’t see their future ever being any better than it is right now. We have all heard people make the following statements: Why study for a test since I will fail anyway? Why try to save my marriage, they won’t ever change? Why start a new business because most new businesses fail? Why try to look for a job, no one is hiring?

As I already mentioned stress is the number one reason people have time off of work. Stress shows up in more than an emotional feeling or sleepless nights. Every doctor will tell you about the physical effects stress causes. High blood pressure may be the most obvious, but it can affect all areas of your health. Stress can lead to a cold or flu. Stress can lead to severe headaches. Stress can lead to back and muscle issues as well. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, but these are now the accepted norms in medicine.

If stress is not the direct cause of a physical problem, it will certainly make whatever may be wrong with you physically, worse. Stress has been linked to an increase in such things as anxiety, sleeplessness, depression and even some addictions. Again, I am not a medical or mental health professional. I am only relaying the information which is widely accepted by health professionals. Remember what I said in the beginning of this article. Stress, not matter how small or great is related to some level of hopelessness.

You may be asking what all this information has to do with life, career and business success. Businesses lose productivity, and therefore money, when people are off of work especially for longer periods of time. Their bottom line is affected. Families lose financial stability if there is a prolonged time off of work due to stress. Your life, career or business can be severely affected by stress – emotionally, physically and financially.

Now that we know stress, or hopelessness, is a major obstacle we can face, what is the solution? Here are just a few suggestions to build hope and get your stress level down and therefore making you a more productive, financially stable and happy. I do not mean to over simplify things, but these are easy steps increase hope and lessen stress.

Remember your past successes. Look back at your life and remember the times when you thought situations were going to end in a terrible mess, but they ended up working out just fine. I often think of King David facing the giant, Goliath. When he faced certain failure looking Goliath in the eye, he remembered past successes to build hope for his future. He remembered the times when a bear and then a lion came to kill sheep from his flock. David killed them both with his own hands. He was remembering past successes to build hope and lessen stress.

Your marriage, family, job or business may seem like Goliath to you now, but remember similar times when things looked like failure was inevitable and stress was high, yet you not only survived, but even succeeded.

Another thing you should do is to read or watch inspirational stories of real men and women who overcame certain failure, but ultimately succeeded. It is a sure way to build hope and overcome stress by seeing others struggle and fall, but get up and keep going – eventually reaching their goals.

Lastly, we all face small amounts of stress from day to day schedules, to do lists and the like. What can you do to help deal with this type of stress? Here are some simple things to help lessen this type of stress. Take a walk and exercise. Spend time with family and friends who love and support you. Take time to plan out tomorrow, but do it today. Clean – your desk, your car and your house. (It is amazing what happens when we clean up the clutter in our personal lives.) Read an inspirational book. Help someone else who is in need – volunteer. This list is never ending, but the point is do something physically and mentally to reduce your day to day stress.

Stress and hopelessness go hand in hand. You can’t control every situation from occurring, but you can control how you handle every situation. To build hope and lessen stress – remember your past successes, find inspiration in the lives of others and do some simple things to keep your mind and body active.

About the Author

Don Roulo is a life, career and business coach as well as a Certified 48 Days Workshop Facilitator. He travels nationally and internationally to conduct business and career training as well as marriage and family workshops.

As a business consultant, he has written business plans and worked to market products or services as well as organizing financial statements for investors. Because of his success in the sales and business arena, Don has been blessed with the opportunity to train, motivate and inspire others. His passion is to motivate and equip people to find their passion and achieve their goals and God given destiny.