“Stress is anything that makes your body work overtime.”
– Nicole Porter –

How do you define stress? If you’re like most, you would likely say that stress can happen as a result of situations like tight deadlines, traffic jams, financial commitments, or a conflict with a family member or colleague. You might also say it can be stressful when your kids don’t go to bed on time, when your colleagues don’t do what you need them to, or if your wifi doesn’t connect as quickly as you’d like. And if you’re reading this after March 2020, you’d likely also include a global pandemic in the category of stress.

If this is your list, you’re right. All of these factors are legitimate stressors.

But stress is more than just credit card bills, mortgage payments, difficult conversations and struggling to find work life balance. And if you’re a typical working professional, you’re likely exposing your body and mind to more stress than you know.

THE TOP TEN UNHEALTHY HABITS

We are all different, but many of have the same habits as a result of repeating the same behaviours. As a Stress Coach and Wellness Educator for busy professionals, I’ve defined 10 unhealthy habits that today’s working adults typically repeat everyday.

How many of these habits do you repeat on a daily basis? If you’re like most, you repeat at least seven of these habits every single day.

1. Poor Nutrition
2. Poor Sleep
3. Excessive Screen Time
4. Imbalanced Exercise Programs (too much or too little)
5. Poor Breathing (did you know you hold your breath when you’re under stress and tight muscles can keep you from breathing properly?)
6. Overthinking
7. Multi-Tasking
8. Lack of Social Connection
9. Negative Mindset
10. Feeling a Lack of Control

The result of these repeated behaviours is an accumulation of chronic stress that can activate The Stress Response, overstimulating the nervous system, leading to hormone imbalance, and contributing to common complaints like weight gain, low energy, digestive issues, sugar cravings, anxiety, poor sleep quality, pain and inflammation, high blood pressure, depression, headaches, skin conditions, and much more serious illness.

When the body has to constantly rebalance itself due to chronic stress, it’s like forcing the body to work overtime – every single day.

And how would you feel if you had to work overtime – every single day? Probably not so awesome, right?

And this is why I define stress as ‘anything that makes your body work overtime’. Because when you put your body under stress from these Top 10 Unhealthy Habits, you are forcing it to work extra to regain the balance necessary for optimal health.

And now here’s the great news…

Firstly, you don’t need to master every habit perfectly in order to see change, even substantial transformation like my clients. Once these habits are even slightly under control, and the cumulative effect of stress on the brain and body is reduced, clients can experience positive results in their physical and mental health, motivation, performance, and overall happiness with themselves and with life.

Secondly, when you learn to control the stress caused by The Top 10 Unhealthy Habits, it means you can better manage the day to day stress – like credit card bills, tight deadlines, and a pandemic. Less stress on the body = less stress in life.

The underlying goal of the NPW programs – Wellness Seminars, Corporate Wellness Coaching, Private Coaching, and Online Courses is to reduce stress on your cells (in your body and brain) by reducing the cumulative stress caused by The Top 10 Unhealthy Habits. When this stress load is reduced, your body has less work to do, giving it (and you) an opportunity to function at its best.

Not sure which program is right for you or your workplace? Contact us today to find the best solution.