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Grant Thornton's International Business Owners Survey, carried out with business owners in 30 countries, has showed that out of the 7,000 business owners across the globe surveyed, 57 per cent said stress levels had gone up, while only six per cent of respondents said levels had decreased.
The global survey suggested things are worst in emerging nations, such as Taiwan, where 89 per cent said they had experienced higher stress levels. There were increases of 87 per cent in China and 76 per cent in the Philippines.
The research also suggests there is a direct link between increased stress and the number of days holiday people take, as eight out of the 10 countries with low levels of annual vacations appeared in the top 10 "most stressed" list.
Over the past few years, I have addressed thousands and thousands of people and what has shocked me most is not the increase in stress levels, but the complete lack of knowledge on how to deal with same.
People appear stuck in their pain or may have chosen to enter the insanity loop - where they keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
Here is a great exercise that if used for a minimum of five minutes a day for a month will help reduce stress levels, increase clarity, improve your problem solving ability, help you to sleep better and more...
Buy a CD with nature music or songs with positive uplifting lyrics.
During your five minute timeouts, focus on the lyrics or sounds.
Immediately thoughts will enter your mind.
Acknowledge and go back to focusing on the music. In Tibet, they say "Welcome - Welgo" to uninvited thoughts.
Again, more thoughts will drown your consciousness and yet again return your focus to the music.
Over time, you will find that the space between your thoughts will increase.
The more this space increases the more benefits you will enjoy in the "real world."
Most people enjoy this timeout so much, they increase it to ten/fifteen minutes a day.
Commit to the process today. This exercise can be done in your house or in the car while stopped!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at
March 20, 2006 09:38 AM