Stress refers to our reaction from the conflict between our external environment and us, leading to emotional and physical pressure. The key is in learning to distinguish when the levels of stress are too high, and how to take steps to reduce the level of stress so that it remains optimal for you. Here are 3 tips to help your relieve stress for free!

Tip #1: Always set Goals

At the start of each day, week or month, it is crucial that you set yourself goals. These goals should be SMART, meaning that they have to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. Remember that your goals should always be realistic, and by pursuing the goals that you have set out you will be able to achieve more than you thought you were capable of in the time span you have set yourself. It is no point to set goals that are overly ambitious, as the end result may be undesirable, with you unable to meet your goals and hence feeling stressed out and experiencing a lower sense of self confidence.

Tip #2: Improve your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence here is taken in the context of managing your emotions, especially in relation to stressful situations. This is usually measured by an indicator known as the Emotional Quotient, or EQ. Most often, your emotional reactions may be more extreme than called for, and this is due to your perception of threat to your emotional wellbeing. It is important that you do not adopt extremist views with regards to any situation, though it definitely does not mean that you should not have an opinion. Remember that there is no strict black or white, and that our opinions should always be flexible along the gradient of gray.

Tip #3: Time Management

With proper time management, you will find that 24 hours a day is more than sufficient for you to complete everything that you want or need to, including rest. Before you go to sleep each night, review what you have done for the day, and what you are planning to do the next day. Follow a set of priorities, or draw up a daily to do list, complete with a realistic amount of time allocated to each task. However, there is no need to be overly rigid to the timetable as certain tasks may require more time due to greater complexity than accounted for.

Stressful times mean great opportunities.
The times are very intense with lots happening all over the world. How it turns out for you personally – when the dust settles – depends ONLY on your Attitude and expectations. You can thrive and prosper: No matter what. Here’s how.

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar." Raymond Lindquist

Law of Attraction in Action.

Everything you now have and experience is the result of your attracting power. The Law of Attraction (like a magnet’s pull) is an alignment of vibrations. All your "stuff" matches you, just like a very poor person’s "stuff" matches them. Law of Attraction is like the Law of Gravity: where the "pulling" power of the earth keeps you from floating off into space. The Law of Attraction "pulls in" or aligns your experiences – and future – with your present "vibration." You are your point of Attraction – like a magnet.

Fact: The one looking for solutions finds them. The one looking for problems finds them.
If "easy money" is not in your experience now, you can change your signal and draw it in to you. You cannot attract easy money unless you are a matching vibration: no matter what you do.

Step one is to feel just like you do when you’re, "enjoying easy money."
Not hard to do, right? Your old habits of thought may slip in until you solidify the new habit – so stay alert. Attitudes, ideas and feelings set your signal. Your attitudes determine your feelings. "Emotions" are your vibrations – and are the signal you are sending. Law of Attraction is why…. "the better it gets, the better it gets."

Use the Law of Attraction – by Focusing on and feeling only what you want.
You’ll discover your "attracting power" very quickly. If you want easy money – quick – then why not practice "feeling it" and start to "attract it?"

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." Thomas Edison

Imagine (or pretend) you can attract making easy money – relaxed and happy. Use your power to visualize and your self-talk to set your feelings, or "signal" on making easy money. Imagine being a magnet – and what you Focus on is "pulled" to you. What could possibly be easier than that? Attract what you want by Focusing on loving what you want. Want to make easy money? Then find what you love and do that. Nothing is easier than doing what you love. If you don’t like what you’re doing you can’t be very successful at it. You may have jumped into something "to make money" only to discover, you don’t like the "doing of it " or the "work" to make it go.

"A life spent in constant labor is a life wasted, save a man be such a fool as to regard a fulsome obituary notice as ample reward." George J. Nathan

Drop the "work ethic" or you’ll remain stuck in it.
"Work" is a word that means a lot of different things. So let’s define it. Bottom line? "Work" means doing what you don’t like. "Going to work" means going to a job for money. If they didn’t pay you, you wouldn’t go, right? "Play" refers to hobbies, sports and activities that you like and want to do.

INSIGHT: for the very wealthy and creative: work is play. Want to be wealthy and creative? Then make the switch from "working for a living" to "playing for a living."

"Surely if work were a good idea, the rich would’ve kept it for themselves." Web Wisdom

Signal "working very hard" and Law of Attraction will bring you hard work. Give up "work." You can’t get to success from being unhappy or doing what you are supposed to do. Relieve stress and your body will relax. Then you’re mind can relax and you’ll open to your own Inspiration that leads to Opportunities. Getting what you want will make you very happy – and healthy. Once you get in that grove, your new habit will carry you just like the old one did. This time you’ll end up where you want to be.

Step two: Cut out what isn’t really working in your life and find what you really love.
Right now. Make a list of ten things you love doing and ten things you love about your talents and abilities. Feel happy, eager and excited and Law of Attraction will bring you more of that. Attracting what you love is the easiest and most creative adventure in life. You set that in motion with your attitude and feelings.

Making easy money is all about your attitude and nothing to do with "working." Don’t worry about what will make money. The money comes from your passion and desire and inspiration. Remember the pet rock? How about the hula hoop, fried chicken, comics, books, and playing games? You can do most of those things. It’s not what you do, but what you think and feel about what you do. Without a success mind-set and expectation – nothing you do will produce the results you Dream of.

"The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn." Alvin Toffler

Law of Attraction and changing vibrations or your Set-point.
You are the attracting power for all your experience – and you will always and only get a match to what you feel and resonate. You are not just a clump of "stuff" – you are a flow of energy – remember Einstein (e=mc)? Fact: What you feel is what you get to experience next. Feelings are your "emotions translated into vibrations." If you can’t change your emotions into feeling what you want to feel you can’t get what you want.

Emotions flow naturally from the low range of vibrations – fear based – of depression anger and revenge – and on up to hopeful and then expectant and finally joyful. Visit the emotions on the Emotional Scale and determine where you are now and compared to where you want to be. Your natural inclination is to rise up the scale to feeling really good. You’ll quickly learn to "go with the flow" once you see the spectacular results.

Find what you love and feels really, really good and you’ll get good results.

Create a new habit of living the life of your Dreams. Once you have a good idea of who you are and what you love, make it a new habit so it stays in your awareness and helps you make decisions about what is right for you. Relieve stress and anxiety instantly automatically when you do what you love. Once you know what you want and what to do next to get it your tension and anxiety diminish. That’s healthy and aligns your body cells with feeling good too. That increases your attracting power to feel better and better.

INSIGHT: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
TIP: Feel what the rich feel and you’ll end up rich: Law of Attraction in action.

Make your new feelings and point of attraction permanent.
Make your desires into a Vision or Dream of just what you want. Take the time to write it up and post it many places – (just like a billboard) it works on your subconscious. Very soon it becomes a new habit and you’ll hear it in your self-talk and find it attracted to you and all around you. Most people are visual so add a few pictures that make you smile. The better you feel, the more often, the quicker you are drawing in what you want. Make it automatic and a routine.

Will it last? Only if you keep it alive. Bathing doesn’t last and you need to do it regularly. The food you eat doesn’t last, so you eat several times a day. Feed your mind and spirit every day with what you want to live. Expect to continue your new habit – through repetition – into your future.

"What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?" Robert H. Schuller

Step Three: Open your mind to the new possibility that you in fact ARE the creator of all your experiences.
Your tools are your attitudes and thoughts (and the feelings that follow.) No one else can tell you what to think – you choose. No one else has anything to do with your living your dream. Imagine you ARE creating your future with what you feel. Once you practice and make this true for yourself, you can change what you don’t like. Why not test it out? You have nothing to lose but all the stuff you don’t want anyway.

Once you become conscious of your thoughts and feelings it’s pretty easy to change them. Your emotions flow naturally if you allow them to. And you feel what you tell yourself to feel. Why not tell yourself how good life is? How much you enjoy making easy money and playing for a living?

The worst thing that can happen is you’ll feel better. Here’s exactly how to do it.
Drop the old habit of hard work and build a new habit of living a life you love, doing what you love – creative, free and happy. You live your Dream in just this way. Once you have a good idea of what you love you can quickly sift through possibilities and find the opportunities that are right for you.

You know what feels right to you, in the same way you know what tastes good to you. If you taste something you don’t like, you spit it out, right? Do exactly the same thing for ideas and opportunities that don’t feel right to you. Only you can decide because only you know what feels right to you. Time to "wake up" and live your dream. Only your dream will make you happy and make your life – and making money – easy, fun and inspiring.

Step Four: Enjoy creating the feelings you love, and play with possibilities.
The "work" is all done by Law of Attraction. Your job is to feel your Vision, and believe it and vibrate it and look for opportunities. Take action and do the things you love. It really is that easy. That’s how the rich get richer. Why not join them?

Your Good Fortune for today: "Good Fortune smiles on you this week. Look for opportunities in unusual places."

By: Cheryl Janecky

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Cheryl Janecky is the expert on attracting Good Fortune and Living The Dream- Healthy, Wealthy & Wise. Begin today with 21 free tips and strategies- and also insights on many more ways to make easy money from home and online at www.quick-good-fortune.com/Make-Easy-Money.html. Start today, find your passion, take action, live your Dream. From the new sciences and ancient wisdom come free facts on how to live richly- www.quick-good-fortune.com. Cheryl Janecky- All Rights reserved.

Fret no more. Here are the RULES but like all rules, they may be broken or should I say improvised and revised to suit you. I say….whatever makes you and/or your daughter happy!

1.Confer with your daughter. She will come up with a color scheme for her wedding.

2.Ask her whether she wants the color of your dress to complement her wedding color/colors or almost match it. Examples of complementary colors to a red color theme is burgundy, wine, claret red, dark pink, and purple. As for a ‘match’, it would certainly be difficult to have an exact match of the colors, as your dress will be of a different manufacturer, style, fabric, and dye. So, do not stress over this.

3.You, as the mother of the bride, will decide on a color or colors, after consulting your daughter. Suggest to her to be flexible on the choice of colorsperhaps two or three choices would be great. Mother of the bride dresses are not made like bridesmaid dresses, the latter being preordered and tailored months ahead of time for the occasion. Shopping for a mother of the bride dress can be a headache and nightmare rolled into one, especially for the plus size woman or if you live in a rural city.

4.Do not forget to involve the mother of the groom. After you have an idea of what color you would or should be wearing, inform her. She will definitely appreciate that as she will be in a panic mode as well, going through the same motions as you will soon be, looking for that perfect ‘mother’s’ dress.

5.Shop as soon as you can. Finding YOUR dress is important too. Understand that you are shopping for a specific style that you like and look great in, a specific color, and then a specific size. Then, you will need to allow sufficient time for professional tailoring of the dress, to get it to fit just right! Also, what about the accessories like shoes and jewelry? You will be surprised how many ladies come to my online store www.audreysmotherofthebride.com hoping to find their dress within a WEEK of the wedding!

6.Shop bridal or department stores first. You can get a first hand look at the styles out there and the type and quality of fabrics. Do not ignore online formal wear stores. Visiting an online store is easy and stress free as they are sources of good ideas of what you would like to wear on that special day.

7.Take care of yourself in these nerve-wrecking times of preparation. Remember, you need to look good as well, although it is your daughter’s wedding.

8.Now, sit back and relax. You have found your most perfect mother of the bride dress and have a few more weeks to spare. Give yourself a big pat on the back!

About The Author

Audrey Cheong is the owner of an online bridal store specializing in mother of the bride dresses, prom and bridesmaid dresses, and other formal special occasion gowns. Visit her store at http://www.audreysmotherofthebride.com.

help@audreysmotherofthebride.com

1) The thought counts – Put some thought into each gift so it matches the tastes of each recipient. Everyone will appreciate it, and appreciate you more for it.

2) Bright and early – Start your shopping early with a set deadline. It’s best to go early in the day and at the start of the week when fewer shoppers are out.

3) The perfect getaway – Plan a day or weekend getaway with a friend that includes a visit to a museum or gallery for unique gift ideas.

4) Get creative – Have a knack for crafts or culinary delights? Why not buy some supplies and make something special for someone special?

5) Encourage an interest – Know a wine enthusiast? Give them a wine kit. Know someone who wants to learn how to tango? Enroll them in lessons. Once you know someone’s interests, the possibilities are limitless.

6) Certified smiles – Gift certificates allow everyone on your list to treat themselves to anything from a night at the movies to a day at the spa. They also save you time spent shopping and wrapping while reducing clutter.

7) It’s great to delegate – Some stores feature personal shopping services, offering gift advice for everyone on your list based on their personalities and tastes.

Get online – many retailers have websites that allow you to shop at any hour from the comfort of your home.

9) Give an upgrade – Make that ‘can’t-live-without-it’ item even better. Buy the new version of a popular video game or computer program, or upgrade someone from a CD player to an MP3.

10) Don’t ‘top up’ – Giving gifts is about finding the right present, not how much you spend. So resist the temptation to buy that extra gift just to make someone happy.

Can you feel the holiday jitters beginning? Suddenly there it is right around the corner. Relax! Take time to plan well now and ease into the holidays with a big smile. Grab a journal and pen, and let’s get started.

Reminisce over previous holidays- In your journal create a column for What Works and another for Not That Again. Under What Works list the activities that bring you joy, come naturally, and click into place. Under Not That Again list your challenges. Jot down the things that drain your energy and bring you down. What can you do to delegate, dump, or change the items in the Not That Again column and embrace more of the activities in the What Works column? What changes need to be made?

Choose a theme you can be excited about- What is important to you this holiday? Base your theme on that. If you want to stay home instead of traveling your theme could be ‘Home for the Holidays’. If your budget is tight consider ‘Simply Sensational’. Your theme helps you stay focused. A theme that honors your spirituality could be "Faith and Family First". Or choose a favorite quote such as Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Be the Change You Wish to See in the World’. Get creative, have fun, and write it down.

Set your top 4 priorities- Base them on what you really want which should connect with your theme. Get crystal clear. Write them down. When you know your priorities you are able to respond easily to a request and set boundaries. When someone asks you to get involved request 24 hours to respond. Look at your priorities and see if it serves them. If it does, consider it. If not, the answer is likely no.

Create a Map- What if you took a big trip without planning? You would likely get lost, waste time, and experience anxiety. It makes sense to plan at the holidays when so many areas of our lives are effected: time, energy, personal care, relationships, physical environment, and finances. Consider creating a task list thru the end of the year. It takes a block of time but will save you time and stress. It will rescue you from running in circles, going back and forth to the same place, and trying to remember what’s next. In the past I’ve had hundreds of items on my task list. No wonder we get stressed when we attempt this in our heads. Here’s a tool to help. Pick up a task list at www.StartingNowCoaching.com or create your own. On your computer create a chart with 4 columns. Use your theme for the header. Under your theme list your priorities horizontally. Label the columns in a way that is helpful to you. I use Business, Personal, Holiday, and Need List. Use small font and minimal margin space to fit as many rows as possible. Print your map. List your tasks and add on as they come to you. Keep your map with you at all times. Schedule time to carry out the tasks. Have fun and build momentum as you make progress. Remember to save it for next year.

Simplify- Every task must be handled. You can do it, delegate it, or dump it. Eliminate what does not serve your priorities. What can you get help on and delegate? This is a good time to get rid of those items on your Not That Again list. Hire someone to decorate or a housekeeper for the month. Have everyone bring a dish instead of you doing it yourself. Get your family involved and remember that things don’t have to be perfect. Let go. This will give you the space to embrace what you truly enjoy.

Set a budget- Develop a budget that feels good. There are lots of ways to make a holiday special without adding stress to your budget. Show people they are appreciated. Plan family fun and activities. You can let someone know what is special about them in a card, letter, cassette, or video. Get creative. Every year I have one gift for the kids to find. I wrap empty boxes inside each other. When they open the last box there is a clue telling them the next step. Don’t let a tight budget steal your joy. Make it fun!

Set boundaries- Decide now what you will not tolerate. Write it down. Remember your Not That Again list? Is there someone who ropes you into things you don’t want to do? Have the conversation that’s overdue. No is no. If someone keeps asking after you said no, they are attempting to control you. Setting boundaries is about educating people on how they can treat you. Is there someone you need to educate?

Schedule time for planning and yourself- When is a good time to update your plan? When can you take time for you? Put it on your calendar each week thru the end of the year. Keep the appointments. Add this line to your daytimer as a reminder: "I have an appointment in honor of myself this ______(day) at __:__ (time) to do something special for me because I sooooooo deserve it!"

Give in a way that gives you joy vs. obligation- When you give in a way that comes naturally to you, you stay in integrity with who you are. Therefore, you are able to share your own special gifts with others. When you are doing what you love life clicks. If there is a situation you are dreading, think about how you can tweak it and handle it in a way that would bring you more joy.

Take action now- Begin today so that you are tying up your last bows well before the pitter patter of hoofs on the rooftop. Keep your holiday journal and map close at hand. The sooner you complete your tasks, the sooner you can sit back, smile, and enjoy the season!

What I want for you is to take action to move one step forward to prepare for the holidays…Starting Now!

Please send your thoughts and comments. I would love to hear from you. Copyright 2002, Beth A. Tabak. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Beth Tabak is a Business & Life Coach, columnist, & owner of Starting Now. She is 100% committed to coaching small business owners and professionals to grow beyond limits while creating the business and life they keep thinking about. For free informative classes, resources, ezines, and Holiday Task List stop by http://www.startingnowcoaching.com.

startingnow@houston.rr.com