She Said What?! 6 Ways to Keep Your Cool in Stressful Situations

    

Life can be tough. Work can be stressful. And your patience, well, that can wear thin real fast. But in the career path you chose for yourself, you can’t lose your cool.

You’re a Director or NSD, and people depend on you to solve problems in the calmest way possible. So what do you do? How do you keep your cool in stressful situations no matter what she or he might have said?

Keep reading to find out just how you can do it!

1. Stay Positive

Easier said than done? Absolutely not!

Being positive is as simple as convincing yourself (and your mind) that you can be happy in spite of the stress you’re under. Be confident in the decision you make and be happy.  

Letting stress take over and affect your mood can have a heavy impact on your health. Why let stress win? Work on your positivity.

2. Avoid Caffeine

When you feel like you have a lot on your plate, what’s the first thing you reach for? I know in my case, I go straight for the coffee pot.

My thought is that coffee (or any caffeine for that matter) is going to help power me through the situation, keeping me alert and focused the whole time.

While the alert part is true for caffeine, it might not be the best when the situation you’re dealing with is a stressful one.

Caffeine can cause you to feel more overwhelmed, maybe even more so than you originally were in the first place.

So reach for another drink that can help you feel refreshed and focused, like strawberry and mint flavored water for example.

3. Make a Plan

One of your Unit members is throwing a party, but she’s worried. She’s called you panicked that she won’t have enough products, or that she won’t have enough help to do demos. She’s stressed and it’s making you stressed.

What do you do?

When a stressful situation creeps up on you, it’s always best to have a plan. You can tackle the issue and work toward a goal by having a plan of action in place. So let the planner in you come out!

4. Ask for Help

Sometimes when something gets too stressful, remember that you always have your fellow Mary Kay Directors and NSDs to lean on for support.

Ask them your questions, voice your concerns, and get their advice.

When you’re facing a stressful situation it’s OK (and useful) to ask for help. The best in the business always do!  

Besides, isn’t that what this whole organization is about? Helping each other reach their goals and make their dreams come true? We sure think so!

5. Look at the Big Picture

Say a situation has come up where one of your Unit members wants to throw a party her own way.

It goes against the typical way your Unit usually hosts parties and demos. You talk to her about it, but it’s only causing more tension.

So how do you fix it?

Our advice is to look at the bigger picture. Will this situation affect what happens to you (and your Unit) in a week, in a month, by next year?

When you look at a specific situation from the bigger picture, it helps you rationalize whether this is something worth raising your stress level over.

6. Practice Patience

At the end of the day, you can have all the plans and help in the world, but you have to have patience.

When you practice patience, you’ll be amazed at how well you’ll be able to stay calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations.

How in the world do you practice patience though? Isn’t that just a natural ability? Nope! You can practice patience every single day. Here’s how:

1. Stand in the longest line each time you go to the store.
2. Instead of using the drive-thru for your bank, fast food, etc., park your car and go inside.
3. Exercise! When you take walks or runs, it releases hormones that not only help your mood, but your patience as well.

Work on these steps every day and watch the difference they make in your patience level.

So Directors, are you ready to keep your cool in stressful situations? We believe in you and know that you can!

Tell us, what’s an instance when you had to stay calm? How did you do it? Let us know in the comment section below or share with us on our Facebook page.