As I’m sitting here in my study on this beautiful Saturday morning drinking my tea, I was thinking about a decision I made this week.  I even alluded to it in a recent Facebook post!  Many years ago — in fact, it almost feels like a lifetime ago, I would have obsessed about whether I had made the right decision or not, but that’s not how I am now.  Today, I am confident — and even a little happy — about the decision I made!

One of the strategies I share in my Stress Less Blueprint program is about decision making.  Sometimes making decisions can be tough, but it’s all the worry we create about having to live with the decisions we’ve made that ends up gnawing at us after the fact.  Well, I’ve got great news for you:  It doesn’t have to be that way!

Today, I want to share with you a brief summary of one of the strategies from my Stress Less Blueprint …

One of the most important skills to further develop is your ability to hear that still, small, inner voice that resides deep within each of us.  Some call it the voice of God.  Others call it your gut instinct.  It’s been referred to as the voice of Spirit, Angels, Source, and the Universe.  Some even call it each of those names depending on the situation!  For the purpose of this lesson, I’ll just stick with “gut instinct.”

Learning to listen to my gut instinct is one of the most important skills I’ve mastered in my life and when I listen to it, things have this strange tendency to work out beautifully.  I think “listening” to your gut instinct is really more about “feeling” than actually hearing something audibly.  For example:  You are driving home from the grocery store following the same path you’ve taken for years and today — for some unknown reason — you decide to take a different path.  You just listened to your gut instinct.  You might ask, “What would have happened if I’d taken my normal route home that day?”  The answer is simple:  Who knows and who cares?  The point is learning to follow your gut instinct.

Years ago I was supposed to fly to Kentucky for a business meeting.  About two weeks before I was supposed to go, I had a very strong “feeling” that I should not go … nothing concrete — just a feeling.  I mustered up the courage to go tell my boss that I couldn’t go.  Fortunately, he knew me pretty well and knew that I based all my decisions off my gut instinct.  So, he looked at me and asked, “Gut instinct?”  I said, “Yup!”  That was the end of the conversation and nothing more was said about it because he had learned over the years how reliable my gut instinct had been.  So, even he trusted my intuition!  When I share this story, most people jump straight ahead and ask, “Well what happened on the trip?”  Again, the answer is simple:  Who knows and who cares?  For whatever reason, I wasn’t supposed to be there and that’s all that mattered.

I think that still, small, often whisper quiet, inner voice — gut instinct — knows things that have not yet been revealed to my conscious mind.  That’s why I say, “Who knows and who cares?”  I don’t have to know the “why” or understand the details.  I simply trust in my gut instinct and allow my life to unfold in it’s natural state of less stress.

The next time you have to make a decision — big or small, I encourage you to try following where your gut instinct leads you.

I wish you Peace, Less Stress, and Abundant Success …

Chad

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or health care practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or health care regimen without first checking with your physician.

In the News …

A new study of office workers in England found that employees working eleven hour days or longer were 67% more likely to develop heart disease than those working seven or eight hour days.  The study was published in the April 5, 2011, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

My Take on the Information …

This is not all that surprising to me.  We know that working longer hours is likely more stressful and does not allow for as much time to participate in stress relieving activities like exercise and meditating.  With 70 – 90% of all visits to primary care physicians being for stress related illnesses, we can fairly conclude that stress is the root of most illness.  The results are disturbing, but certainly not shocking.

Is this preventable?

Life has few guarantees, but I’d say you would be better off in the long run if you follow these two strategies:

1.  Find a job that does not require you to work more than seven to eight hours per shift.

2.  Do not compromise the daily stress management tools I teach in my coaching program and in my lectures.

Wishing you less stress and abundant success in your life,

Chad

Source:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/651527.html

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or health care practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or health care regimen without first checking with your physician.

This post is just for fun because having fun is a great way to stress less … especially on April Fools’ Day!  Here is a super easy and fun April Fools’ Day prank that I had loads of success with today:

1.  Cut a small square off from the sticky part of a “sticky  note”.

2.  Write “April Fools!” on it.

3.  Stick it over the red light sensor on your Fools’ mouse.

4.  Sit back and see how long it takes before they figure out why their mouse isn’t working!

Here’s to you having fun and stressing less … Be well – Chad

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or health care practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or health care regimen without first checking with your physician.

Law librarian, Blair Kauffman, hopes the free three day pilot program is a “positive addition to current services offered by the library.”

My take on Monty the Stress Therapy Dog …

MTV and the Associated Press recently teamed up and studied over 2000 students from 40 randomly selected colleges across the nation.  Their results showed that 85% of students are stressed out on a daily basis.  In my career as a hospital pharmacist, I’ve seen therapy dogs make a positive impact in the lives of patients with various medical conditions and suspect those benefits would carry over to stressed out students as well.  As a pharmacist and wellness advocate who specializes in showing students, professionals, and entrepreneurs medication-free strategies to minimize stress and maximize success, I’m ecstatic to see such a program for the students at Yale Law School and hope their trial run is a huge success.

To less stress and abundant success,

Chad

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or health care practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or health care regimen without first checking with your physician.

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or health care practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or health care regimen without first checking with your physician.

Andrea Adams-Miller, founder of SexualityTutor.com, recently invited me to appear on her radio talk show, Sex Talk Live!  So of course, I said, “I’d love to be on your show.”  Then it hit me:  What is a pharmacist who specializes in showing students, professionals, and entrepreneurs medication-free strategies to Minimize Stress & Maximize Success going to talk about on Sex Talk Live?

Hmmm … did I just commit to the wrong project?  No way!  Let’s face facts.  Sex may be an embarrassing topic to ‘discuss’ (especially on the radio), but we all pretty much dig it right?  The fact is that stress carries over into so many aspects of our lives … school, work, home, the boardroom and, yes, even the bedroom!  My head was instantly flooded with topic ideas:  sexual side effects of medications, how chronic stress decreases sex drive, medications used to treat sexual issues, safer sex options, sexually transmitted diseases, herbal products for sexual enhancement, ways couples can de-stress together, funny sex related stories from my retail pharmacy career, and ways to Minimize Stress in the Bedroom to Maximize Your Success in the Bed!

Andrea’s show originates live on 88.1 FM in Bowling Green, Ohio; however, I was on the road traveling, so I called in and did the show from my hotel room in Los Angeles.  One word:  AWESOME!  I had such a great time.  Andrea is such a great host with an amazing, fun personality.  If you are so inclined and live outside the Ohio area, you can also listen to her show live via the internet by visiting her website and clicking on “Listen To.”

Andrea and I have been discussing joining forces to put together a fantastic offering from the two of us …  Andrea: The Sexuality Tutor and Me: The Stress Management Mentor!  Look for this amazing product later this year.

Be well –

Chad

Although we all know that worrying about what other people think about us, can send our stress levels through the roof, it can be difficult to “stop” caring about what everybody else thinks of us!

I recently spent time with my awesome nieces, 11-year old Emileigh and 12-year old Ryleigh, who reminded me that we should not be concerned with what others think … that we should just be our own amazing self … no matter what!

Emileigh recently went shopping and found a pair of neon orange shoe laces that according to her, she “just fell in love with.”  Ryleigh, her big sister tried with all her might to talk Emileigh out of buying the bright orange laces explaining that Emileigh would be the laughing stock of the school if she wore them.

Happy New Semester!  It’s that time again to kick off a brand new semester with a fresh start. When I speak to college students about minimizing stress,  I give them a blueprint that shows how to build a solid core foundation that prepares them to stress less and maximize success. Once you lay a foundation with my core principals, you can build on it as much or as little as you like.  It’s completely up to you.

Below are three essentials for starting a “Stress-Less” Semester.  Use these tips to build onto the core foundation you learned in my keynote presentation, seminar, or workshop to help minimize stress and maximize your success!

1.  Get Organized

My favorite way to stay organized is with the incredible online information management tool, Evernote.  I am in no way affiliated with Evernote.  I don’t get paid or compensated by them in any fashion.  It’s just a great product that I personally use to help organize my own stuff.  A few super, cool things you can do with Evernote as a student:

- Take notes in class

- Use tags and notebooks to organize

- Scan documents into Evernote

- Email notes and information directly into Evernote

- Make “To Do” lists

- Use their web based app, desktop app, smart phone app, or iPad app … or use ALL of them and they all sync nicely to make sure your information is always accessible.

2.  Be Well

With the hectic demands of classes, work, labs, study groups, organizations, friends and family, it’s easy to forget about taking care of yourself.  Stick with the basics:

- Get enough (but not too much) rest

- Stay well hydrated

- Get plenty of exercise

- Eat right

- Consider taking a good vitamin supplement

- Stress less

3.  Get Unstuck

Have you ever felt “stuck”?  Sometimes school gets so chaotic that you can feel paralyzed or stuck without a clear idea for what to do next.  My best advice for that overwhelming sense of paralysis is simple:  Take Action.  Make a plan (usually a To Do List) and immediately start taking action.  The cool thing is that action builds on itself and the faster you get the things on your list accomplished the less stuck you’ll feel.

Get Organized …  Be Well …  Get Unstuck …  Three things that are sure to start off your semester a little more smoothly.

Wishing you all a fantastic semester — Chad

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Chad Simpson is a professional speaker and pharmacist specializing in stress management, wellness, and peak performance.  Chad shows students nationwide how to stop living a life paralyzed by stress.  For information on how to bring Chad to your school, just contact our office.

The opinions and information provided by Chad Simpson and/or The Chad Simpson Group are for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or render medical advice.  They are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment from your physician or healthcare practitioner.  Always check with your physician before starting any exercise or physical therapy program.  Never start, stop, or make changes to your medication or healthcare regimen without first checking with your physician.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were being “attacked” based on what you believe?  I recently had someone try to strongly convince me how right they were about spirituality and how wrong I was!  In these very stressful situations when we are under fire, it’s best to remember that being right is not always the right thing to be.  I’ve written a few quick thoughts regarding the spiritual journey that can help all of us remember that we will not always see eye-to-eye on every spiritual issue — and that’s okay!

Two people can be on the same spiritual journey, but be at two separate places along the journey.  Neither place is wrong, right, or better than the other.  In fact, most people probably are at differing places in the journey since we progress on our journey at varying paces.

Think of two trains going toward the same destination on parallel tracks … the spiritual journey.  The only way the drivers of those two trains are ever going to see eye-to-eye is if they are right next to each other so they can turn and physically see each other eye-to-eye.  Since every train is leaving its station at a different time, seeing eye-to-eye is not likely to happen … which is absolutely fine because most spiritual journeys evolve at different rates.  Don’t be mislead by my analogy of parallel tracks … although I’m using that as an easy to understand visual example, the spiritual path is far from linear.

We aren’t on our spiritual journey to prove right and wrong or to tell others how things should be — to force everybody to see eye-to-eye.  Most spiritual journeys begin and even progress for some time as black and white, but there is a turning point in a person’s path where the journey evolves into lovely shades of gray.  At some point in that gray zone, one begins to realize that being right is most often not the right thing to be.

How can we possibly love anyone else unconditionally if we don’t even love ourself unconditionally — truly loving ourself with all of our baggage, our bad habits, our pasts, our body image issues, etc…?

The bottom line for any spiritual journey is simple:  unconditional love.

Back from L.A. … Just a quick post to show everyone a super cool photo with the awesome Jonathan Sprinkles — one of America’s best speakers and one of my amazing mentors!

Be well –

Chad