Decreasing_Stress

Building Brain Power Life can be hard sometimes. There will be good days and bad days. You may have more bad days than good days, but the key to overcoming is how you choose to handle the circumstance. For my assignment; I will focus on ways to feel good and to decrease stress with reading so I can increase my brain power. I have also included a fact sheet of 21 ways for an individual to feel good about themselves. This would be very helpful to individuals dealing with stress. As a single mother of two children, who is going to school, and working fulltime I know all too well about stressful times. Although my life is crazy busy right now I know I will become a stronger, wiser, and better person in the end. Picking a technique was easy for me because I knew I wanted to use mental skills as well as visualization skills; so I decided to read a book. Reading a book requires active concentration. A person must put in a great deal of effort to look at the words, figure out the meaning, buildup images, thoughts and feelings within your mind. The title of the book is 60 minutes of wisdom. "Insight in and Instant" by Dr. Derek Grier. The book was just what I needed to fit my crazy schedule. I wanted a book I could read quickly and become enlightened at the same time. I wanted to have practical principles that I could implement into my everyday life. When I was reading the book I remember by the fourth day I couldn't wait to read what word of wisdom was on the next page. I would read several pages a day. A couple of times I had to stop myself from reading otherwise I would have read the entire book in two days. This book is truly encouraging and uplifting to read. It stimulated my mind and helped me to reduce stress. I noticed a change in my thinking by the fifth day. I was now thinking more positively during stressful situations. I must admit some of the reading material was life changing for me. For example, the book quoted Michael J. Fox when he stated; "I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for but perfection is God business." This statement allowed me to stop and realize I don't have to beat myself up if I am not perfect in a certain area. This book helped me to understand it is ok to make mistakes because nobody is perfect. I was surprised when I used some of the quotes from the book while giving personal advice to a friend. This is when I realized I was implementing what I had read from the book. I also have recommended this book to friends and coworkers. In the book, Dr. Grier provides valuable insightful quotes for everyday living. He gives you a straight forward perspective of sound wisdom for being victorious in your life. What I learned most from the book was that wisdom is gain most from the time spent thinking. Wisdom is not as simple as education, but is it more multifaceted because it can’t be taught. Wisdom comes from your life experiences and then knowledge is applied from these experiences. The quotes from this book will give you a quick pick me up on those sad or stressful days. It is truly a down to earth easy to read book. Furthermore, I found “ SQ3R” technique to be very helpful while reading the book. This helped me to create a good mental process of the reading material. “SQ3R is a method for active extension of material that you read it has five sequential techniques that should be used to read a book. “The following is the five techniques by (Robinson, 1970), but this can be adapted to almost anything. 1. Survey the book (1 minute): Before reading the book scan the contents, introduction, chapter introductions and summaries to pick up a shallow overview of the text. Resist reading at this point, but see if you can identify 3 to 6 major ideas in the chapter. 2. Question (usually less than 30 seconds): Ask yourself what this chapter is about: What is the question that this chapter is trying to answer' Repeat this process with each subsection of the chapter, as well, turning each heading into a question. 3. Read: Read one section at a time looking for the answer to the question proposed by the heading. This is active reading and requires concentration so find yourself a place and time where you can concentrate. 4 Recall: Once you have read appropriate sections of the book, run through it in your mind several times. Say it to yourself or write it down. Isolate the core facts or the essential processes behind the subject, and then see how other information fits around them. Research shows that we remember our own (active) connections better than ones given to us (passive), indeed that our own hierarchies are generally better than the best prefab hierarchies. 5. Review (less than 5 minutes): After repeating steps 2-4 for each section you will have a list of key phrase that provides a sort of outline for the chapter. Test yourself by covering up the key phrases that provides a sort of outline for the chapter and recall them. Make sure to do this right after you finish reading the chapter” (Robinson, 1970).