Instant Stress Management Principle Number 2 – Imagination is Stronger Than Knowledge
This article series covers 4 basic skills for stress management. My contention is that learning and mastering these 4 principles will enable anyone to manage their stress whenever they need it, i.e. instantly. This article covers principle number two for stress management.
We all know that ghosts do not exist, at least most of us do. Yet when sitting around a campfire and listening to ghost stories most of us, even strong unbelievers in the supernatural, will get spooked. This is not because the people around the campfire suddenly became believers in ghosts but because our imagination overcame our knowledge and released the chemicals in our body that goes with fear. Our imagination trumped our knowledge.
Most of our stress occurs before the actual event that is supposed to cause stress. For example, if there is a presentation that you have to give to your office or class, it will cause most people a good deal of stress way before the actual presentation.
However, if you suddenly discover that you are moving to a different office or school and your upcoming presentation doesn’t matter anymore, then suddenly the stress you were feeling will decrease tremendously. This means that your experience of stress before the actual event was dictated by your perception. i.e. by your imagination.
In dealing with any event, how you imagine it to be will influence your levels of stress. You may know there is nothing to worry about when the boss or principal calls you to his or her office. Yet your imagination will often provide you with reasons to feel stressed.
Imagination always trumps knowledge.
You can use this knowledge about the power of your imagination to your advantage. If your imagination can create imagery in your head that creates a stress response, you can also do the opposite.
Imagine your presentation going smoothly or that the audience is indifferent to you and will forget you as soon as you leave the stage, then your stress will decrease. If you enjoy talking to a crowd then just imagine yourself having fun and being in tune with your audience without being too caught up in their reaction(takes some of the pressure off).
Imagine yourself relaxing on the beach while you are waiting to talk to your boss and this will help you stay relaxed. You will also have more of your mental resources available to you to tackle a problem if that is that you have been called for.