Worthy, Focused, and Connected
Chronic stress and anxiety often find their roots in negative thoughts or from feeling worthless, unfocused, and disconnected.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: our generation is, arguably, the most prosperous, well-fed, cared-for, medically and technologically advanced to ever live. In spite of this, depression, anxiety, and other diseases related to chronic stress have been at all-time highs. Why?
Chronic stress and anxiety often find their roots in negative thoughts or from feeling worthless, unfocused, and disconnected.
How do we combat these negative emotions in order to reverse stress and its negative health impacts? I believe there are a few common things that all people need to improve their happiness and longevity — not just the number years we live, but the quality of life in the years we’ve been given.
First, we need to do meaningful work. People who find and focus on feeling worth in their work and personal lives feel happier and less stressed. Research has shown that those who feel their work holds meaning and purpose live longer, have better physical and mental health, and have a higher quality of life than those who do not.
9 out of 10 people reported they would be willing to earn less money to do more meaningful work.
But what if you’re stuck in a dead-end job, just trying to make it through the daily grind? Studies show that feelings of worth in any job can come from feeling challenged.
Even if your job seems as ordinary as dropping off packages, getting cars through a toll booth, or making widgets, challenge yourself to be the best at what you do — feeling a sense of accomplishment at setting a high standard for yourself and striving to achieve it.
To further the challenge (and your sense of personal reward), look for ways at work to build relationships and to get involved in areas you feel passionate about.
You can also find purpose in other ways outside of work — like volunteering at church or a food bank, mentoring youth, helping with community improvement projects, or serving on your local fire department.
Second, we need to maximize our health and wellness. Sitting around for too long makes you feel sluggish, fuzzy, and unfocused. Our bodies were made to move! The negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle on the brain are well-documented, and include increased risks of depression, anxiety, dementia and Alzheimer’s.
More recent research shows sitting in a chair for hours every day literally shrinks your brain.
Exercise improves mental well-being and fights the effects of stress. It doesn’t take much, either: as little as ten minutes of movement — a walk around the block — helps your body and your brain by increasing production of endorphins, your body’s natural mood-boosting chemicals that reduce pain, calm your mind, and make you feel good.
Of course, more is better: a 30-minute exercise session has been shown to improve focus, concentration, and reaction times for hours afterward. And research out of Japan suggests that consistent daily exercise causes the brain to store more fuel in areas that affect thinking, memory, and movement.
To help combat the stress of feeling unfocused, find ways to move more: park farther away from the store entrance, stand up and walk around during TV commercials or while you’re on the phone, and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Those little bits of extra movement throughout the day add up, and will pay big dividends in your mental well-being.
Third, we need to experience community. Loneliness is a powerful stressor. Living a life disconnected from others speeds aging and cognitive decline, weakens the immune system, and increases the chance of premature death.
People reporting strong social relationships have sharper mental skills, and are better able cope with levels of stress that would debilitate someone with no regular social interaction.
These social interactions with others — eye contact, body language, and the back-and-forth mental exercise of carrying on a conversation — continuously create new neural pathways that help strengthen thinking and memory, and can slow or prevent diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Even “micro-contacts” — the brief interactions we have at the gym, in line at the coffee shop or grocery store, and during greeting time at church — exercise the brain in a way that keeps your cognitive skills sharper, improves your mood, and reduces feelings of being disconnected.
To help combat disconnected feelings, be around people and interact with them. Put the phone down in the grocery store line and chit-chat about the weather. Get together with a friend and play checkers, or just sit on your porch and say hello to passersby. You’ll be doing everyone’s brains a favor!
You don’t have to live with the stress of feeling worthless, unfocused and disconnected, but you may have to take charge of your situation to change it. Change doesn’t happen automatically — it’s a product of habit.
Remember that we don’t decide our futures — we decide our habits, and our habits determine our futures.