You are feeling rushed to get out of the house.
There’s a big meeting at work today and you have to get in early to prepare.
The pressure is on to get your normal routine done so that you can head to the office. There’s getting dressed and grooming, eating breakfast, walking the dog, and getting the kids ready for school.
Even though you eventually get everything done, you still feel overwhelmed and even a little panicky.
This is where stress inoculation could really help with stress management and, over the long-turn, help you build resilience against stress.
What Is Stress Inoculation?
Stress inoculation occurs before you encounter a stressful situation. It is a process by which you purposely expose yourself to stress and then reflect on the experience afterward.
These situations are not meant to be overwhelming so that you become paralyzed with fear. But stress inoculation is meant to make you feel uncomfortable and experience some degree of stress. The idea is that, by practicing stress exposure now, you will be more capable of handling stressful events when they occur in the future.
This is called resilience.
How Resilience Is Important for Stress Inoculation
One of the concepts of resiliency is adaptability, especially when facing difficult situations. It allows you to be able to approach whatever is causing you stress more calmly and intentionally, rather than experiencing fear or panic.
Note that resiliency doesn’t make the stress disappear.
For instance, anyone who witnesses a car accident, even someone who is a trained first responder, will feel some level of stress. However, resiliency allows you to better control that stress and keep it in check, rather than letting it run out of control.
Thus, you are able to approach and cope with stressful situations better.
Why Stress Inoculation and Resiliency Matter
Think about it, do you want to live your life feeling stressed all the time? What happens if others are counting on you when things get rough?
We’re not necessarily talking about life-or-death situations here. Stress can occur from changing a diaper, managing household finances, or attending a party.
If you can manage your stress, you are better able to focus on not just the situation at hand, but also the people who are with you. Indeed, with stress management, you can improve your relationships with those whom you care about. Isn’t that more important than stress?
How to Build Resilience
The way that you build resilience and, in turn, stress inoculation is to put yourself in situations that are uncomfortable, even a little risky.
For example:
- Going on a challenging hike
- Learning a new skill
- Traveling to a different country and culture
- Writing a book
- Performing in front of strangers, such as open-mic night
- Signing up for a competition
- Volunteering
- Taking a class or enrolling in a degree program
The idea is to find ways to challenge and test yourself. That can include physical, intellectual, and even emotional challenges.
However, it’s also important to take times to step back and reflect on how you performed in those situations. What did you learn? How can you do better next time? In what ways can you transfer this experience to other aspects of your life?
Don’t Know Where to Start? Just Sign Up!
Don’t know how to create those experiences for yourself? Not to worry, there are plenty of organizations out there that can create the structure you need while challenging you at the same time.
Outward Bound is one example, as they provide courses that teach you new skills and challenge your abilities while outdoors. Another possibility is signing up for a volunteer vacation program.
Luckily, it’s possible to find both big and small ways to build resilience and create stress inoculation. Doing so can help you not just with stress management, but also build confidence in your abilities and capabilities. You can do this!
If you’d like to learn more about my approach to stress management and anxiety, please click HERE.
