Better Ways to Manage Stress in 2026, Part 2

Ever since we partied like it was 1999, stress levels have risen in response to local and global forces and trends.  AI, social media, politics, technology, and about a dozen other instantaneous influences have made life’s demands more demanding.  Almost everyone is experiencing heightened levels of stress, and that seems to be a trend without end.

This is the third installment of a three-part series exploring the causes of stress, how our behaviors reflect stress, what it does to our personal and professional relationships, and dozens of practical tips useful in lowering stress:

• In Part One we examined the new world of stressors and considered several diagnostic tools to help us better understand how people manifest stress and respond to it.
• In Part Two we looked at the first two of the Four A’s of Stress Management, AVOID the unnecessary stresses in your life and ALTER the situations where you encounter stress.
• In Part Three we will explore the third and fourth of the Four A’s of Stress Management, ADAPT to the stressors of life and ACCEPT what you cannot change.

ADAPT to the Stressors of Life

Man is unique in the ability to adapt to almost any environment. Consider the wide range of environments in which human beings can live and work.  From the extreme cold of the poles to heat of the tropics and everwhere in between, man has found ways to learn from experience and modify his surroundings and behavior.  Consider using some of the following adaptation techniques to manage the stresses in your life.

1. Meet the Changeable You. Recognize that stess in part is driven by the difference between what you want and expect to happen, versus what actually does happen.  How many times have you had to adapt and change your plans because of the weather?  By adapting to what you cannot change you regain some degree of control over the situation.  An unexpectedly heavy snow fouls up your commute to work or something you planned to do outdoors.  Instead of stressing about it, adapt your attitudes and expectations to the reality of being snowed in.  By the way, note how joyous your children are about having a day off ti play in the snow… and count your blessings!
2. 
   Develop a Flexible Mindset. Zig Ziglar used to talk about how an attitude of  stinking thinking robs people of both opportunity and joy. I think our anticipation of stress causes us a lot of stinking thinking that leads to an inflexible mindset. A shoutout to Business Infographics and Litvak Executive Solutions for their excellent graphic on how a fixed mindset limits adaptability, curbs resilience, blocks creativity, and a few other nasties.  Conversely, a flexible mindset creates situational adaptability.  Consider a few of the nine attitude choices which characterize a flexible mindset:
   
   a. How can this situation help me learn, grow, and get better?
   b. How can I tailor my approach to the person and the situation in order to optimize outcomes?
   c. How can I get better at reading the room before I speak or act?
   d. How open to new thinking and ideas am I willing to be?
3. Keep Things in Perspective. Right now, whatever is stressing you out is right in front of you.  It may seem big and important in the moment, but will it really matter in a month, year, or decade from now?  Ask yourself: is this stressful thing really worth all the energy I could spend getting stressed out?  By reframing the stess in its proper big picture perspective, your realize it’s not important, so it’s much easier to let it go graciously.  No need to die on the hill of unimportant today!
4. Find the Humor. According to experts like the Mayo Clinic, laughter is the best medicine when it comes to managing stress.  Not only does it provide an almost immediate relief from stress, but its long-term benefits also reduce stress.  You can find humor almost everywhere you look. Instead of allowing the newscast causing you to stress over things you cannot do anything about, watch a Seinfeld rerun.  Or Bugs Bunny.  Even the most stressful situations have oddities that can be humorous. So, if you are willing, choose humor!
5. Seize the Day’s Problem! Look, I’m sure you hate being stuck in traffic as much as I do.  Who likes waiting in this age of instant gratification?  Instead of stewing about it, sieze the opportunity that a problem causes, and turn wait time into music time… or podcast time… or call grandma time.  Practice your 5-5-5 breathing. Visualize your Happy Place. These are all choices you can make instead of giving place to stress. 
6. Embrace the Imperfect. Some of us are wired to be perfectionists. This does not mean we have to be  While there is a benefit to SOME perfectionism, too much of anything is never a good thing. Remember to keep things in balance. Stop setting perfectionist standards for others and yourself.  Perfectionism causes stress!  Remember, we consider the Mona Lisa a masterpeice because of her imperfect smile. 
7. Avoid the Monkey Trap and Let it Go. Do you know how to catch a monkey? You won’t out-agile one, or out-clever one, or win a wrestling contest with one.  You’ll need a monkey trap that exposes the monkey’s fatal flaw.  Falls for it every time.  A monkey trap is a stong cage that has the monkey’s favorite fruit hanging in the center of the trap, and holes just large enough to get the monkey’s hand through to grasp the fruit. Problem is, the monkey cannot pull its hand out with the fruit in it because the hole is too small.  But it won’t let go, so the trapper catches the monkey. You and I have things that we won’t let go of, either. Lesson: let go of the things that keep you trapped.  Just let ‘em go!
8. Practice Gratitude. This is a biggie.  Ungrateful people are miserable and stressed.  Sadly, they choose to be that way.  We live in a big, beautiful world that we didn’t make, but we get to enjoy.  Take a moment and list your life’s blessings. What special talents and skills do you have? What were the best moments of the day so far? Who made your day better today?  Today’s a gift… that’s why it is called the present. 

Accept What You Cannot Change

Whenever you find yourself struggling with something you cannot change, remember Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer. Powerful, powerful guidance! “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  

1. Accept the Unavoidable. In life, sometimes bad things happen, and happen without warning. And they invariably cause stress and pain.  As Niebuhr’s words express, we simply must accept those things.  You will make things worse if you choose to allow yourself to get stressed. Don’t get caught in the monkey trap of stressing over what you cannot control.
2. Learn to Become a Matador. You are not responsible for the behavior of others. But you can choose how you respond to others. There are things that people do that can be utterly inappropriate, hurtful, harmful, unlawful, immoral, and just plain stupid.  Consider the case of the matador.  A bull weighs 1,000 to 1,300 pounds; the matador usually under 200 pounds.  The matador does not take the bull charging head on. Instead, the matador uses a cape to gracefully let the bull get completely tired out before dispatching the bull.  The bad behavior of others is like that 1,000 to 1,300 pounds of bull.  Don’t take them head-on.  They may be having the worst day of their lives. Extend grace.
3. Practice Forgiveness. Emotional intelligence helps us self-regulate when others behave badly.  When we hold grudges against someone for a wrong they have done, we become prisoners of that grudge and resentment.  Over the long term a lack of forgiveness will be a cancer to your soul.  It’s so much better to accept what has happened, forgive, and let it go. 
4. Talk About It. The process of verbalizing how you feel is therapeutic and stress-relieving. Your have several choices of people to whom you can speak.  A trusted friend or confidant can lend a sympathetic ear and may help you see things from a different perspective. You and your friend should keep things completely confidential so that you don’t start a gossip chain. Another choice is to speak to the person who offended you, in order to work things out. Best wait until emotions are no longer running high.  Extend others grace, show respect, and practice empathy.  You may repair the relationship and even strengthen it.  
5. Look for The Opportunity. Every situation that might cause you stress comes with a built-in opportunity to respond with a positive approach, a flexible mindset, and something to learn or practice.  What could you do differently (if anything) to help the situation?  Did you do anything that exacerbated the situation that you want to avoid in the future?  What did you learn through the experience? 

Managing Stress is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

You may be asking yourself, ‘now that I can better understand stressor and how to manage them, will something that stresses me today always stress me?’  In other words, are stressors habitual and when they arise, will they always stress you out? 

The answer is an emphatic, not necessarily. Once you begin to implement the stress reduction activities outlined in Parts 2 and 3 of this article, you’ll establish your own go-to strategy, which over time, will become habitual.  You’ll become sensitized to your chronic stressors and be able to reduce your susceptibility to them, and sometimes even avoid them altogether.

Because there will always be stress in life, managing that stress will be a lifelong marathon. 

Bottom Line

Now that you better understand stress, its causes, and its remedies, you need never be held a prisoner to the things that cause you stress.  Remember to AVOID unnecessary stress in your life, ALTER the situations where you encounter stress, ADAPT to the stressors of life, and ACCEPT what you cannot change. 

Next Up: The World’s Most Powerful Self-Development Tool, which will help you quickly master all the guidance in this series on stress, as well as virtualy any area in which you want to build new habits to replace old habits you no longer want.