Veterans Have the Skills to Manage Stress

There are very few professions that will put you in a life and death situation and expect you to perform as flawless as possible.
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Stressful situations are of no shortage in most people's lives. Turn on the news, read any social media platform, talk to various people or just get in your car, stressful situations will make themselves known. While in the Military you can be put in some of the most extreme situations that an average citizen will only see on TV or hear of. The Military teaches you how to handle yourself in those situations and take care of those in your charge at the same time. There are very few professions that will put you in a life and death situation and expect you to perform as flawless as possible. While this may seem like a daunting situation at the time, you can take this experience and provide yourself and others a new perspective on how to properly deal with stress.

Stress can be seen as the confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desires. Your mindset is critical to how you deal with situations, you must look for a positive mindset.

"Just because we are in a stressful situation doesn't mean that we have to get stressed out. You may be in a storm. The key is, don't let the storm get in you." - Joel Olsteen

There are many benefits to managing stress and having this as a core strength:

  • Your health will remain a priority
  • You will be able to lead others through the tough situations
  • The ultimate solution will be found and not lost in chaos
  • You have past experience very valuable to influencing the future

There are many examples in my life that I can refer to in how I have handled stress. I want to give one example that portrays how you can use the most stressful situation you've been in to make a huge positive for your future. Post 9/11 I was part of two Combating Terrorism teams for different federal agencies that were fighting the newest form of War at the time. As a federal contractor I was responsible for setting up and managing the information technology infrastructure in both situations that would be used to do real world combat missions. This 24x7 high availability environment required you to operate in the most stressful of situations 100% of the time. This required me to adapt and grow quickly in all of my skill sets to be the best I could to support the war fighter with boots on the ground in the theater. I found myself physically and mentally exhausted to the point of the verge of passing out at times due to the stress level and long hours. The mission was too important to succumb to the negative effects. I had to better manage myself to be in the fight for the long haul. In the end I served six years between the two teams receiving a continuous excellence award. This experience has shaped every aspect of my life since and will continue to for the rest of my life. I have been in various high stress situations since but have been even more successful due to leveraging my experiences of the past. Without having gone through these various high stress experiences I would not have the ability to put other experiences into perspective.

I recently had the honor of hearing Justin Constantine speak of his experience in Iraq. His message is very moving, humbling, inspirational and motivational. He talks to the fact that you are stronger than you think you are. I encourage you to check out his story in detail on his website as I can't do it justice in a brief overview, www.justinconstantine.com.

Landmark Life Coaching's Mission is to honorably and respectfully serve courageous groundbreakers and transitioning veterans to persevere in defining and executing their future by providing an atmosphere of comradery and trust that honors their dedication and commitment. This will empower our clients to feel whole, honored, respected and fulfilled in defining and living their life purpose.

Veterans Coach/Speaker/Writer Dwayne.paro@landmarklifecoaching.com

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