We all know how harmful stress can be for the overall health of a person. Stress can be of various kinds and their type depends upon their source. For instance, stress can be physical, emotional and professional. One of the growing kinds of stress in today’s fast paced world is that of lifestyle stress.

As the name suggests, lifestyle stress is that which stems out from the regular lifestyle of a person. This kind of stress is increasing rapidly due to growing amount of personal and professional stress in today’s world of cut-throat competition. A person has forgotten the meaning of peace and relaxation as in the race for professional success, health has taken a backseat. Not only is a person bombarded with professional stress, but also with growing stress and strain in personal

Changing bad habits is very challenging because most behaviors supporting them are automatic (unconscious). To change a habit you must first become consciously aware of it.

Irrationality is responsible for the economic mess we find ourselves in right now plus greed and a substantial dose of ignorance.

Humans are hard-wired for optimism (although other researchers say we’re hard-wired for pessimism to keep us alert to possible threats) so we’re convinced that our incomes will always cover our oversized mortgages, home equity will always finance our overspending, or our bad health habits won’t catch up with us.

Along with personal and professional stress, lifestyle stress includes the unhealthy lifestyle of a person too which is witnessed by unhealthy eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of sleep and peace of mind. The entire lifestyle of a person plays an important role in adding to the stress levels of a person.

Since lifestyle stress has its roots in the lifestyle of a person, the way to manage it effectively also depends upon the change of lifestyle. Remember, health is wealth and you need to respect your body and give it its due rest and peace of mind. Do not neglect your health for professional success and thus, follow a healthy lifestyle which includes having nutritious and timely meals, exercising regularly and getting adequate sound sleep. Including yoga and meditation in your daily lifestyle can further help you to ward off unnecessary stress and its related problems.

As social beings we also judge decisions against what others are doing. If your neighbors can afford to remodel their kitchen with a home equity loan, maybe you should, too. Financial institutions see their competitors making huge profits on risky loans, so why not them?

To improve health and well-being, Ubel recommends taking into account your own irrationality and limited willpower. We know exercise is good for us and junk food is bad. But how many limit the bad and increase the good habits? He says “you need to act as if each super-sized meal matters and each decision has important consequences.”

Select an area or two in your life where you simply must self-correct. Don’t try to fix everything. Then establish appropriate rules to curb your behavior. Like toss your credit cards and pay off your balances. Then move on and commit to weight loss through no candy or desserts except on Sundays. Or only drink on weekends. Or whatever rules would put you back into the driver’s seat of your own life.

- By Robert Burien