How to Handle Increased Stress From Career Success

You’ve poured time, effort, and maybe a few drops of blood, sweat, and tears into your job. Sacrifices have been made. You’ve probably experienced some emotional highs and lows. But you’ve reached a well-deserved point of success. This is what you’ve dreamed of and worked for.

Now that you’ve reached this new level of career success, you’ve realized your new responsibilities come with increased stress. In order to continue thriving, you need to make sure you’re adjusting your habits to manage this increased stress. Here are some ways that may be helpful for you.

Acknowledge Your Feelings

When you think of words like success and achievement, you don’t often associate stress and negative emotions with that. Unfortunately, these two often go hand in hand.

It’s okay to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Recognize and accept the emotions that you’re feeling. Understand that these are normal things. Allowing yourself to be aware of and sit with your stress will also allow you to process it.

Establish Boundaries

This one suggestion is vital. As you take on more responsibilities and experience success, there may be more demand for your time. The last thing you want to do is reach this level of success and then instantly burn out.

Setting and enforcing boundaries will help you draw the line for your work-life and personal life balance. Don’t be afraid to say no to things that don't add value or serve you, remaining within the lines of your role.

Make Self-Care a Priority

It’s an unfortunate truth that when people take on more responsibility, whether familial or professional, self-care habits are one of the first things that get pushed aside. This reduction in good habits can actually be fueling your stress and anxiety more.

Even if you have limited time, make it a priority to engage in healthy habits like exercise, good nutrition, and getting quality sleep. You don’t have to make it a grandiose effort, but every little bit will help. Go for a walk at lunch, spend some time outside on a break, bring your lunch packed with healthy options over ordering out, and turn off your work brain at a reasonable hour at night.

Incorporate Mindfulness Practices

While you can't engage in self-care practices that take you away from your work during the day, you can incorporate mindfulness. If your stress is rising, take a quick five-minute meditation break. Step away and do a short breathing exercise routine. Focus on progressive muscle relaxation. Any of these will help pull you back to a centered, grounded mindset so you can revisit your work more clearly.

Reframe Your Mindset

With new responsibilities, you may also face new challenges. You may find these challenges to be a newfound source of stress. Rather than view them negatively, change your mindset and embrace them as an opportunity for growth. It will help reduce stress and make you more resilient for future challenges or opportunities.

Also, take the time to celebrate your wins along the way. No matter how big or small, a win is a win. Acknowledging the positives that can come from feeling stressed can start to shift your focus a bit.

Seek Support

If you’re experiencing higher levels of stress from your career successes, don’t be afraid to lean on your friends and family. Share what you’re feeling with your coworkers. You never know when someone else will have had a similar experience and can provide helpful guidance.

If your stress is becoming constant and problematic, you can always explore professional help such as therapy for professionals. Trained professionals can help you develop healthy coping strategies and options for managing your stress.

Are you ready to take control of your stress? We’re here to help. Contact us today and schedule a consultation.