Below is a resouce of articles on how to build your resilience.   Some of the topics covered include: dealing with burn out, becoming a resilient business owner, work life balance, avoid becoming stressed out, how to relieve stress, building a resilient workforce, the power of attitude, optimism and productivity, bouncing back from setbacks....and lots more! NOTE: You are welcome to use my articles in your ezine, newsletter, journal, publication, etc., on the condition that you do not change the content or the article, and that you include my contact name and website details (as written on the bottom of each article).   Enjoy! That Pain in the Neck Studies have shown that working at your computer for hours and hours, without a break, can lead to neck aches, back pain, eye strain headaches, back soreness, and fatigue - or even RSI, carpel tunnel syndrome or tendinitis.  However, by taking regular micro-stretch breaks (~60 seconds) every few hours, your energy stays fresh, your mind stays focused, and your body is protected from developing injury, strain (RSI) and muscular pains.     Click here to read the full article How to build a resilient workforce In today's business world, CEO's, managers and staff are under great stress to deliver more in less time.  They face conflicting demands, long working hours, and constant change in an unforgiving business environment that keeps getting tougher, busier and faster.  Companies are finding it difficult to hold onto valuable team members, and business owners are finding themselves working harder and longer, are spending less time with their family, and are burning out.  So, what is the solution?  Click here to read the full article Optimism Increases Productivity ...Pessimism has been found to not only increase stress, but also increases incidence of illness & absenteeism, tiredness, slower recovery from surgery, low self esteem, and causes the under use of abilities.  Test results found that 'optimistic' men were about half as likely to develop heart disease and have less health problems.   So, can you become more optimistic overnight?... Click here to read the full article The Power of Gratitude ...Becoming resilient to pressure is a choice.  How fast you bounce back from stress, pressure and burnout is a choice.  So, how do you choose to be resilient?  By practising gratitude.  Dr. Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, say their initial scientific study indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person's sense of well-being... Click here to read the full article 'The Psychology of Bouncing Back Fast from Setbacks' Do you become stressed when you don't succeed in achieving what you want?  The very reason why failure and setbacks damages so many egos, breaks so many hearts, and steals so many dreams may lie in how resilient you are to pressure...So, how do you develop resilience to the emotional stress of setbacks and failure?...Click here to read the full article 'Resilient Business Owners' As a Self Employed Business Owner, you are your business.  Quite often, you are also the marketer, client relations manager, office administrator, help desk, occupational health and safety officer…and the office support team!   So, it is you who has to manage the pressures of working long hours, cash flow issues, keeping up to date with your industry changes, heavy workloads, as well as finding time for your personal/family life – without burning yourself out.   Click here to read the full article Happiness Cures Stress We have all heard that 'laughter is the best medicine', 'smiling is contagious', and that 'happiness heals stress'...but does happiness really have such a big influence on our productivity, wellbeing and stress levels?  In a word...Yes!   A new study suggests that 'People who are happier in their daily lives have healthier levels of key body chemicals than those who muster few positive feelings.... Click here to read the full article 'Confidence Increases Clients' ...Yet, like most business owners, you continuously need more clients, customers or patients to sustain your cash flow - but don't enjoy the process of going out and finding them.  Let's face it, at some stage, every business owner has felt apprehensive about making cold calls, networking with other businesses, dealing with a 'no', or giving a presentation.  By letting these fears and insecurities determine what action and activity you will take, you are putting your business success at risk...    Click here to read the full article There is no 'quick fix'  We live in an 'I want it now' society.  We can be eating fast food within 10-120 seconds of ordering it.  A painkiller can block a headache within 6-18 minutes.  Our lifestyle has become very convenient and very 'instant'.  The problem is when we expect everything to be able to be delivered, fixed or changed instantly.  Therefore, we expect to get everything 'now' and become frustrated, impatient or stressed when change is not instant.   Click here to read the full article Don't Dream it - Be it Many people have the 'busy duck' syndrome - on the surface everything appears calm and looks fine, but underneath they are frantic, uptight, exhausted and stressed-out...but never show it.  The pressure of not being real is draining. Feeling one way, but putting on a front to appear another way is emotionally exhausting - and a waste of valuable time and energy!      Click here to read the full article What Did You Say...? How you describe something is exactly how you experience it.  When you describe an event/situation in negative terms, like 'miserable' weather or 'terrible' traffic - then your body feels stressed and becomes tense and uptight....it is your thinking that makes it a miserable experience. Click here to read the full article Stop Thinking Yourself to Death!  Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed.  This is outrageous!  Just like stress, depression is not something to 'tolerate' and hope it will go away.  It can be debilitating to every aspect of your life.  So I spoke to Chris Green, author of Conquering Stress for his insights on how you can 'stop thinking yourself to death'... Click here to read the full article I Never Promised You Anything...   Think about those visions of success, profits and happiness you saw yourself achieving this year.  Are you still on track?...or have you broken some of those promises already?  "Just a moment", I hear your say "I never promised that I would achieve them, I just committed to trying my best.  I didn't break any promises, I just got caught up in other things"  To me, this is an excuse.  It is a habit of allowing yourself to not stick to your targets because you lose focus when under pressure.    Click here to read the full article Who's hitting Your Hot Buttons? No-one can push your hot buttons - unless you let them!'  You allow yourself to get worked up, upset, disappointed, uptight or raving mad when people do/say things that you don't want.   Sure, it is your right to get mad...but it comes at a cost...   Click here to read the full article Hug a Butterfly Becoming resilient to stress and pressure is all about how well you ADAPT YOURSELF to changes and challenges in your business, work and life.   Most people dislike change and fight it.   They find that dealing with unexpected changes, new systems, other people's time frames, or even being stuck in traffic that just won't move can be frustrating, stressful or depressing....and this is where the damaging effects of stress occur...Click here to read the full article Are You Acidic or Alkaline? If you start your day with a coffee and a piece of toast with jam, snack on a coffee scroll, are under time pressure and stress each day, and finish your day with a steak, some pasta, a glass of wine, topped off with a piece of chocolate, then chances are that your system is acidic, creating stress feelings and draining you of energy.   I asked Lynne Max, the Principal Herbalist and Iridologist from Signature Herbals in Armadale (Melbourne, Australia), about how to alkalise your body to combat the effects of stress and pressure...  Click here to read the full article Eat Away Your Stress Even if you are exercising in the day and meditating at night, if you are eating low value, rubbish food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, your body has no choice but to feel stressed, tired or irritable.   If you, or your team, are eating low value, processed food then it may be sabotaging your productivity and working stamina.   So, what can you do about this?       Click here to read the full article 'Cackle or Crumble' Whether you own your own business, manage a team or work with one, at some stage you will be faced with demanding, rude or insensitive clients, customers or colleagues.  Resilient workforces are made up of people who know how to take the knocks of business, work and life and bounce back fast from them.  Your body is designed, by nature, to repair, restore, and even replace aspects of you that get damaged, strained or broken.  In the same sense, you are built to bounce back from the drain of demanding and difficult people. ...  Click here to read the full article 'Powerful Sleep' Over the last few weeks, I have noticed that many people in my seminars are feeling somewhat 'burnt out' and saying 'I would love to have a few days off to just catch up on sleep'.  The truth is that, unless you allow your body to get good sleep, your body cannot bounce back fast from pressure and working long hours.  Without the right amount of rest, your body will eventually break.  So, how much rest do you really need feel refreshed and energised? 8hours, 9hours, 10hours?  I asked Kacper Postawski, innovative sleep science researcher, to explain... Click here to read the full article Words of Encouragement Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.   Click here to read the full article 'Nailing Stress' ...There was once a boy with a very difficult character.  His father gave him a bag full of nails and told him to drive one nail into the garden fence every time he lost his patience - or has an argument with someone.  The first day the boy drove 37 nails into the garden fence.  In the following weeks, the boy learns to control himself and the number of nails driven into the fence gets lower each day.  The boy soon discovered that...  Click here to read the full article 'Time Bandits' ...'There is too much to do and simply not enough time to get it done!', 'Time just seems to slip away from me every day', 'I don't know where the time goes' Sound familiar?  Does work overload 'stress you out?'  It shouldn't have to.  One of the reasons people get themselves stressed when trying to fit so many things into a day and deal with their distractions is because they are 'pleasers'...  Click here to read the full article 'Stretch Your Capacity' ...As you know, in today's business world you probably find yourself working longer hours, meeting tighter deadlines, and dealing with more tasks at one time than ever before.  However, you still only have two hands, two eyes, one mouth and one body to do it all!   So how can you expand your working capacity to meet your work demands - without burning yourself out?...  Click here to read the full article 'Stop Thinking!' 'Don't let your search for a great idea blind you to a merely good idea' advises inventor Bob Metcalfe.  'Reject everything except for the very best and you will end up with nothing'.  Are you are perfectionist?....Sounds like a good approach to get excellent results?  Right?  Wrong! ...  Click here to read the full article 'Your Comfort Zone Prison' ...Unfortunately your comfort zone also becomes your prison and limits the degree of effort you put into driving a project, dealing with a challenge or overcoming an adversity.  Working in a comfort zone may lead to...Click here to read the full article 'A Wake Up Call' The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,  "What was that all about and who are you?  Just what the heck are you doing?  That's a new car and that brick you threw is  going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"  The young boy was apologetic.  "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,"  He pleaded.  "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."  Click here to read the full article  'Death by Email' Is technology making life easier or more difficult for you?  Email and SMS can be a great time saver.  It allows you to manage multiple tasks without having to physically be in a meeting or on the phone - freeing you up to focus on other projects.  In today's world you have to be able to do more in less time, and this technology makes it possible.  However, emailing and SMS can also compromise your efficiency and effectiveness.Click here to read the full article  'Expect to Succeed' When you are working under pressure, if, in your mind, you are expecting that your workload will never end, or that problems will take forever to resolve, then you are weakening your body's resilience and, very likely, reducing your body's resistance to illness...   Click here to read the full article 'Become Mentally Tough' Do people tend to push your 'hot buttons', leaving you feeling frustrated and intense? Do the mannerisms of your clients', or their poor communication skills annoy you?  Do demanding or abrupt customers make you feel stressed and uptight?  Then you need to become mentally tough....   Click here to read the full article 'Are You Planning to Fail?' Have you ever set goals but found yourself getting sidetracked, overwhelmed, unmotivated or just too busy to actually achieve your targets?  Do you put off making goals because they take too much time or you perhaps you just can't be bothered?  You may be CREATING stress and pressure for yourself if you don't set goals for 2005.  Let me explain... Click here to read the full article