The domino effect of stress

Happy new year my favorite people!

It’s the beginning of yet another cycle in life. On and on and on it goes – until one day, it won’t. Anyway, it is what it is, so we might as well make the best out of it.

As you contemplate making the best out of this new year, have you made any new year resolutions? Or, are you in the camp of those who have given up on new year resolutions because you’ve found out – from experience – that it takes much more than saying them to achieve them? If you’re in this camp, then good on you! According to clinical psychologist, Joseph Luciani, by the second week of February, about 80% of new year ‘resolutioners’ are back to the status quo¹. Like me, I’m sure you don’t find this surprising.

Whether you set your health goals via new year resolutions or not, becoming consistent with healthy living activities will become a must for you at one time of your life or another. And although self-control and taking baby steps are key aspects of achieving success with your goals, being mindful of the integrativeness of the different areas of your life is extremely useful in breaking the chain of unhealthy living that you may have been stuck in for a while. Here’s my story.

Some years ago, I was in a season of life in which I decided to become more consistent with my healthy habits. So, I created a healthy meal plan and started to exercise using YouTube videos of “badass Jillian Michaels”. I definitely wasn’t messing around! Six months later, I felt very proud of myself for still going strong. I would consistently get up at 6am every morning, exercise for 30 minutes, and then prepare for work. I completed this routine six days every week. In addition, I did quite a bit of walking during my lunch hours and in the evenings. Seeing how much more toned I was becoming and better-looking in my clothes, encouraged me to keep it going.

During this period I was in love with my work. I was fully engaged; I had a lot of autonomy and I was very productive. There was barely any toxicity in my work environment and I enjoyed excellent relationships with my co-workers. Although my work was quite tedious and intense, even occasionally breaking my sleep pattern to meet up with deliverables, I was still very fulfilled and happy. Life was good.

Then, one fateful day, I got a new manager who barely had any technical or managerial experience. Please don’t ask me how they got the job. I don’t know. And as you might be guessing right now, it went downhill from there. Long story short, I was stripped of most of my work autonomy. So, I naturally started to get frustrated, unhappy and stressed – from my increasing lack of fulfillment. Then, I succumbed to emotional eating – the “see food” diet. You know how it goes… whenever I saw food, I ate it. Why did anything matter anyway?

Not long after, I started to lack the motivation to do basic things. I was no longer excited to go to work, so I stopped getting up at 6am and of course, my morning exercise became a thing of the past. All these changes affected my sleep even more and I became more irritable in my relationships. I found myself almost back at square one regarding healthy living. The only thing that remained constant was my one-hour walk at lunchtime because it allowed me to take a break from my now toxic work environment. I soon started looking for another job and within a few months, I switched employers.

Although I didn’t quite make the connection at the time, this was a life experience that showed me how my work-related stress set off a chain reaction that affected my nutrition, exercise, sleep, and relationships – a domino effect. According to Havard health, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to respond to stress, and some of the unhealthy ways include: watching TV endlessly, withdrawing from people, overeating, undereating, sleeping excessively, drinking too much alcohol, lashing out at others emotionally or physically, taking illegal or unsafe drugs, taking up smoking or smoking more than usual².

I soon realized that until my stressful situation was changed, it would have been extremely hard – not impossible – for me to keep up with my healthy habits. My new job, at which I once more enjoyed autonomy, was the healthy choice I made in response to stress. I have since learned to use the domino effect of my life experiences, positively, to continuously incorporate healthier habits into my life.

Are you currently stuck in an unhealthy living cycle, with a lack of motivation to pursue healthier habits this new year? Being aware of what triggers your stress and how it affects your health habits takes attention and intention. You must become mindful of what’s going on in different areas of your life and be ready to take immediate action once you identify what will tip the leading domino that initiates the chain reaction towards better health.

As you start this new week, remember that the choice to respond to stress in healthy rather than unhealthy ways lies with you.

Have a great week!

References:

1. Why 80 Percent of New Year’s Resolutions Fail
2. Havard Health

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