Push the “Clear Button” To Eliminate Stress from Your Life by Don Joseph Goewey

Jan 9, 2010 by Don Joseph Goeway

To the old saying that death and taxes are the two things certain in life, modern Americans can add a third: stress.

Stress is the great common denominator today. That fact has grown with the economy in turmoil and showing only tentative signs of recovery. People seem more worried than ever.

When you’re chronically stressed, what you see are problems turning into calamities. No one needs to be that stressed. It is entirely preventable.

No, we can’t avoid or change all the circumstances we face that tend to trigger stress, anxiety, worry and fear; but we can rewire our brains to transcend stress for good. That is not an opinion. It’s what science has found.

Transcending stress unleashes the brain power that makes us creative problem-solvers who excel. It also makes us emotionally positive and increases the odds for optimal health.

When anxious, pessimistic thinking raises its ugly head, I suggest trying what I call the “Clear Button” tool to prevent negative thinking from escalating into a nasty stress reaction. Here’s how it works:

Step One — Push the Clear Button: Imagine a button at the center of your palm that sends a biofeedback signal that calms the part of the primitive brain that generates anxiety and sets off stress reactions. Push the button and keep pressing it as you follow through with Step Two.

Step Two — Count to three: The primitive brain has the intelligence of a two-year-old, and like a two-year-old, it needs to be distracted. Your grandparents’ advice to count to three does the trick. Here’s today’s modernization on grandma’s advice: To distract further your primitive two-year-old from acting out, imagine each number as a color. See one as red, two as blue, and three as green, taking a slow, easy breath with each number you count.

Step Three — Let Go: On the final breath, let go. Feel your brain relax. Bring your attention to the present moment. Be right here, right now and smile gently, from the inside. Then go about your business with fearless self-confidence.

Don Joseph Goewey Push the “Clear Button” To Eliminate Stress from Your Life by Don Joseph Goewey By following these steps, you’ve escaped a debilitating stress reaction. Neurologically, you’ve switched control of your brain from primitive to higher neural networks where creative intelligence kicks in. When you do this, you begin to see solutions instead of all the problems a brain under stress tends to exaggerate. The “Clear Button” reactivates higher brain power, lifting you to the top of your game.

Give it a try. Transcend stress, and see how it opens doors to health, wealth and love in your life.

———————————————————————————————————————

About the Author:

Don Joseph Goewey is a co-founder of ProAttitude, a human performance firm dedicated to ending stress in the workplace. A leading authority on how our attitudes and perspectives shape our response to stress, he has worked over three decades with war refugees, prisoners and patients with life-threatening illness, as well as business leaders and others in high-stress occupations. His new book, Mystic Cool, combines the latest research in neuroscience and psychology with practical spiritual insights on how to reduce stress and unlock creative potential. To learn more, visit his Web site: http://www.mysticcool.com, his blog: http://mysticcool.blogspot.com/ or contact him at info@proattitude.com.