Remember that stress is your body’s natural way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. It’s the body’s defence mechanism kicking in – the freeze, fight, and flight response. When it works properly it can help us enormously. But when it becomes too much it impacts negatively on our physical and mental health.

Stress is different for everyone and can creep up on us slowly. We may not realise how stressed we have been until after the event has passed or we collapse. Burnout is not a place you want to visit. So please get to know your stress as it could save your life.

Getting to know your stress triggers is vital. Knowing what or who triggers your stress is an important part of learning to manage your stress better. Stress triggers can come from many sources, both internally and externally. Usually though it is a combination of both that leads to our worsening stress levels. So what are your stress triggers?

Get To Know Your Stress Triggers.

So where do your stress triggers come from? Make a list of any that resonate with you below plus add any more you can think of. If you want some worksheets to help with this exercise then check out my workbook below.

External stressors.

External stressors are those that take place outside of us, our physical bodies. We may not have any control over them, such as a loved one’s addiction, job loss or a death in the family. Although we may not have control over what has or is happening we can manage our stress while dealing with them.

Our external stressor examples can include, but are not limited to:

1. Death of family or friends and the associated grief.
2. Other forms of grief from the loss of a job, marriage, etc.
3. Relationship problemswith your partner, child, family or friends.
4. Work related problems.
5. Getting the life/work balance right.
6. Financial problems.
7. Dealing with a loved one’s problems such as addiction, parent getting older, child or other loved one with a disability, serious illness, etc.
8. Natural life adjustments such as a child leaving homefor the first time or retirement.

All of the above seem like big external stressors that might occur in someone’s life. They can seem like we are dealing with bigger or once off issues. But external stressors can also be ongoing such as dealing with a negative family member or a toxic work environment. These are also stressful for us to deal with none the less.

Internal stressors.

Internal stressors like the name suggests are inside our physical bodies. We can control these responses. At first we may think that we cannot but with the help of some mental health tools we can. Internal ones can include our own internal physical responses thoughts, perceptions, emotions and behaviours.

Excessive worry, pessimism or negative irrational fears will give rise to an increase in stress levels. Our perception of events may, in fact, contribute to our increased stress levels. Our behavioural responses can make situations worse if we react rather than stop and think. These also add to our stress levels increasing. You get the idea, you can do something to manage all of these.

Micro stressors.

A small note on being mindful of your micro stressors. Micro stressors are small, seemingly insignificant events that occur all the time, all around us. We may hardly acknowledge that they are happening. But they can lead to burnout as they continually overwhelm us. These micro stressors can fall into a few categories. Micro stressors that drain our time and energy. Others that deplete our emotional reserves and then there are those that challenge our identity and values.

These can come from anywhere or anyone including, but not limited to:

• Reading social media posts, for each one you read that is negative for you, you add one micro stressor to your stress load.
• Listening to the news, usually negative items, again for each item you watch or hear it’s a micro stressor.
• Stubbing your toe as you tumble out of bed.
• Your alarm not going off.
• Kids forgetting their lunch, bag, book or training gear, etc.
• Being called in to your child’s school unexpectedly.
• The water running cold during your morning shower
• Traffic jams.
• Being cut off in traffic
• Forgetting something in the supermarket.
• Forgetting to respond to an email.
• Minor miscommunication with another – friend, family, partner, child or colleague.
• A minor confrontation with someone, even a stranger.
• Small attacks on your sense of self-esteem or self-worth. When is a compliment not a compliment?

Think very small incidents that we can easily forget about but they all add up throughout the day. They also add small amounts of stress that when they add up over the day can become overwhelming. We may not realize where this feeling of stress and overwhelm is originating from.  So be just as careful of micro stressors when looking into your triggers and don’t write them off.

Remember stress isn’t the same for everyone. For one person the same event may not even faze them but for another person it may become intolerable. Even that morning commute to work may leave you feeling hassled, uneasy, anxious and tense. But for others that same commute can be seen as an opportunity to relax, enjoy some music or read a book if not driving. When we know our triggers we can start to make a plan to manage with our stress levels.

My Book.

In my book, The Building Blocks Of Self-Care, I provide easy and quick strategies to get you back feeling rebalanced and more focus in your life. The book also includes all the worksheets you need to take you step by step through the process. You can purchase it on Amazon or through my website.