Stress can be your greatest ally or your biggest enemy. At its best, stress can push you forward to perform at your personal best; at its worst, it can cripple and prevent you from reaching your full potential. Fortunately, there are ways to combat stress and prevent it from taking over your plans for success. Just like flossing, dealing effectively with stress takes practice and patience.

One of the simplest ways to decrease the negative stress in your life is learning to say no. We often equate doing more to being successful, but actually, overextending your time and energy can leave you drained and ineffective.

Take care of your body and your body will take care of you. Eat healthy, nutritious foods that will give you the natural energy and stamina needed to deal with stress. Also, find an exercise that you can regularly enjoy in order to be in stress-busting shape.

Another useful tip is to avoid trying to be perfect. Don't mentally beat yourself up if things don't turn out the way you expected - acknowledge that we all make mistakes and move on. Succumbing to shame or guilt over a disappointing situation can paralyze you from making future progress.

Be realistic with your expectations, don't set yourself up for frustration and disappointments when they don't happen. It's great to shoot for the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.

Lastly, make a plan for your future. There is nothing more stressful than worrying about whether or not you will find a great job or be successful. Now is the time to enroll in a training program that will give you the necessary skills to land a rewarding and promising career in the dental field. Start using these tips today to guarantee future successes tomorrow.

Cathy Warschaw, Director of the Warschaw Learning Institute provides an online multicultural dental front office course, HIPAA, telephone training and eBooks on team building, managerial, customer service, and marketing at www.WarschawLearningInstitute.com © 2006

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