"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
--William James, American psychologist

A good friend sent me a great YouTube link recently -- a visual lecture titled: The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do To Manage Stress, by Dr. Mike Evans.

Any guesses as to what the single most important thing might be? Possible contenders:

• How much control you think you have in your life
• Your social network (in the traditional sense)
• Openness to change
• Self care choices such as physical exercise, optimism, and humor

Dr. Mike thinks the single most important factor in managing stress is:

Changing the Way You Think

Most people think that stress is something that happens to us, but really we create stories about what happens to us:

• My job is stressful.
• This conversation will be hard.
• I don't have a chance of passing this test.
• That guy hates me!

And those stories create stress.

Stress management is a skill that can be learned.

And Dr. Mike suggests some ways to do this:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) -- learning to watch the stories you tell yourself about the events in your life and to tell yourself a different story.
• Mindfulness Courses -- Breathing - Awareness - Meditation - Being in the moment - Letting go of worry.
• Attitude/Outlook on life -- Seeing challenges as stepping stones not stumbling blocks.
• Writing/Journaling -- writing your personal narrative.
• Keep it Simple -- regular sleep, eating well, exercise, altruism.

And remember the 90/10 rule:

10% of how we do in life is based on what happens to us, and 90% is how we respond.

But, hey, invest 11 minutes and watch the video. It's graphically beautiful and fun.

"Challenges will always be out there -- that's life -- but your thoughts and attitudes are the key holders for the stress you experience."  -- Dr. Mike Evans