# From Stress to Success: 10 Steps to a Relaxed and Happy Life: a unique mind and body plan

Xandria Williams

Mental techniques and 10 step nutrition plan to transform your lifeAlthough we often feel that stress is caused by external factors, “… my boyfriend makes me stressed!” “… my sales targets are making me stressed!” – it’s actually more useful in the long term for us to recognise that stress is something that comes from within ourselves – it’s a Response.Each time we get stressed, it is the result of our own unique response to the situation we are in. If we want to eradicate stress, we must learn to discover the real causes of the way we feel. Xandria Williams’ wise and effective 10 step approach shows clearly how we can achieve this.Work out what you really mean by ‘stressed’ – are you worried? angry? resentful? guilty? dominated? out of control? – and get to the root of your responses.• Find out how to identify and face up to your worst case scenario.• Believe in a positive future.• Set yourself realistic goals.• Stop worrying about what other people will think of you.• Understand some of the physical causes of stress – and how to eliminate them.

## Copyright

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in 1993 by Charles Letts & Co Ltd Revised edition published by Thorsons 2001

© Xandria Williams 2001

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future edition of this book.

Xandria Williams asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780007117918

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2015 ISBN: 9780008162412

Version: 2015-07-23

Dedication

To Shelagh Riall, my aunt, my friend, my guide and my inspiration, in loving memory and positive anticipation

To friends, patients and workshop participants, for their trust in me and for giving freely of themselves, thereby offering the examples that are shared here with you, the reader

While the author of this work has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book is as accurate and up-to-date as possible at the time of publication, medical and pharmaceutical knowledge is constantly changing and the application of it to particular circumstances depends on many factors. Therefore it is recommended that readers always consult a qualified naturopathic or medical specialist for individual advice. This book should not be used an as alternative to seeking professional advice which should be sought before any action is taken. The author and publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text, or any actions that may be taken by a reader as a result of any reliance on the information contained in the text, which is taken entirely at the reader’s own risk.

## Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Preface

Introduction

Running a Phrase

Part I: The Emotional Aspects of Stress

1 Creative Thought

2 More Thoughts

3 Past Programming

4 Regression, Finding Your Past

5 Addictions and Preferences

6 Be Willing to Change

7 Get Clear on Your Outcome

8 Powerful Thought

9 Affirmations

10 Face the Worst and Know You Can Cope

11 Believe in a Positive Future

12 Proaction versus Reaction

13 Your Life Plan

14 You Are Terrific

15 Playing God and Being perfect

16 Summary

17 Conclusions to Part I

Part II: The Physical Aspects of Stress

18 Your Mind and Your Body

19 Stress and Overload

20 The Mental-Physical Connection

21 What Your Body Needs

22 Your 10-step Health Check and Stress-reducing Regime

Resources

List of Searchable Terms

Author Biography

About the Publisher

## Preface

This is a book about choices. Stress is not necessary; it can be eliminated. It is yours if you choose to experience it; equally, by the choices you make, you can avoid and eliminate stress from your experience.

You are only stressed if you think you are. You are only helpless if you think you are. You are only trapped in a situation from which you cannot escape if you think you are. By altering the way you think, your attitudes and your expectations you can choose to have a stress-free existence. In this book you will learn how to accomplish this. The changes you make in your life as a result will enable you to change the way you think and feel and will also bring about unexpected changes in the people and events around you.

There is no such entity as a stress, out there, waiting to get you. What stresses you depends on your response and says more about you than about the external factors that trigger your stress response. Learn about yourself. By developing a better understanding of yourself and your reactions, by being willing to take control of your life and your thoughts, by coming to terms with yourself and by giving yourself the respect, trust and love that you give to other people you can turn a stressful and worrying existence into days of peace and pleasure.

The aim of this book is to empower you to re-create your life. The future is yours: it can be similar to the present with its anxieties, fears and stresses, or it can be positive and peaceful.

Stress or peace, the choice is yours. This book will give you the tools and help you to make the choice and create the peace.

The following concepts and strategies are covered in Part I:

1 Stress is your own experience. It is personal to you and generated by you. It is not directly to do with things outside yourself; they are only the triggers to a response from within you, a response that is individual to you.

2 Feeling stressed is your choice and you can choose to continue or to stop. There is no such thing as a universal stress.

3 You can use the awareness of what stresses you to learn more about yourself and then use this knowledge for change (of yourself).

4 Be willing to change what you are doing – if what you have been doing has not been working, be willing to do something different.

5 You are responsible for, and have had some input into, all that happens, and has happened, in your life. Be willing to assume that you are in total control. Be willing to give up victim status.

6 Get clear on your outcome – what are you really trying to achieve? Are you trying to prove someone else wrong, to force someone else to be different, to have something to complain about, to get sympathy or attention? Do you really want to reduce your stress?

7 Know you can cope. Avoid the stress caused by fear of the unknown. Imagine the worst possible scenario. Find out how you would deal with it. Then get on with handling the present.

8 Believe in a positive future, that whatever happens is, and will be, for the best, but do this without ceasing to care and without developing a laissez-faire attitude.

9 Much stress is caused by your fear of other people’s opinions of you and your deeds. Decide who you are and who you want to be. Get a clear statement of purpose, develop your own Life Plan. Keep this plan clearly in your mind, live by it and many of your stresses will dissipate.

10 You are terrific. Most stress comes from your feelings of inadequacy. Develop full confidence in yourself, be willing to like, love and approve of yourself. If you don’t, who will?