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| Meet Dr. Blonna |  | |
Hello,
I am Dr. Richard Blonna, the editor of the Healthy Stress Newsletter. I am a nationally certified Coach (CPC), Counselor (NCC), and Health Education Specialist (CHES) with over 25 years of experience helping people just like you manage their stress.
I am the author of a best-selling college textbook and two self-help books in the field of stress management.
Besides teaching stress management in college I work with people at-a-distance using telephone and web-based instruction and coaching.
In addition to stress management I specialize in motivational coaching; helping people get unstuck and live their lives based on their values, goals, and dreams.
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| What's New? | |
My new book, Stress Less, Live More: How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can Help You Live a Busy, Yet Balanced Life is available from New Harbinger Publications. Look for it at your favorite bookstore or order a copy online directly from the publisher.
www.newharbinger.com
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Dear Subscriber,
In this issue I will continue to discuss the principles and practices that make up my unique Five R's of Coping model of stress management. Volume 2010, issue # 10 discussed goal setting as a strategy to help you Rethink the Big Picture (your values and purpose in life).
In this issue I'll continue that discussion and describe how commitment factors into goal setting. If you remember from past newsletters and podcasts, commitment is a cornerstone of ACT and a key part of my approach to stress management.
I hope you enjoy this newsletter and look forward to sharing information and tips with you throughout 2011.
In the next couple of months I will be releasing my stresss management home study course. This course will guide you through my entire Five R's of Coping model and comprehensive stress management program.
Dr. Richard Blonna |
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| Committing to Goals |
As discussed in the last newsletter, the key to accomplishing your goals is basing them on your values. "Values-congruent" goals are much more likely to be met than other goals that spring from other people.
The key to meeting your goals is being fully committed to them. The traditional view of commitment is an obligation to carry out some action. People can feel obligated to act on a wide range of things. Goals are just one example of things that people commit to.
From an ACT perspective, commitment involves one additional step. Not only does it involve taking action, it also requires that you are willing to co-exist with whatever emotions this triggers. Commitment training teaches you that you do not have to control, avoid, or eliminate painful thoughts and feelings in order to take action steps to meet your goals.
Acceptance and willingness lay the foundation for taking committed action. The only way to learn that you can take action while co-existing with your pain and suffering is to do it and then assess the results when you are finished. In Stress BustersTip # 14 I'll show you how to put the acceptance, willingness, and commitment together.
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| StressBuster Tip # 14: Taking Committed Action |
1. The first step in taking committed action is understanding that your very active mind is going to come up with a limitless number of reasons why you should avoid the pain and suffering associated with taking action.
It will dig up past relational frames related to similar goals and extrapolate all of the things that could possibly go wrong with the action you want to take.
2. The second step in taking committed action is accepting that you cannot figure everything out in your mind before acting. Some aspects of meeting your goals will only come to light after you've taken action and assessed how things actually played out in real life (not in your head).
3. The third step in taking committed action is realizing that most goals that are worth accomplishing usually involve sacrifice, and suffering through painful thoughts and feelings.
4. The forth step in taking committed action is being willing to co-exist with the pain and suffering that is inherent in acting on your goals.
This takes courage. Some people are more courageous than others and have a greater ability to deal with sacrifice, delaying gratification, and co-existing with troubling thoughts and painful emotions.
The good news is that even if you are not very courageous, you can develop courage at any point in your life. The only way to become more courageous is to meet your fears in the real world and not in your head. |
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For more information about my stress management related products and services go to my website: For my latest free podcast go to the link below: http://www.healthystressdoctor.com/podcasts.html and click on the cast you want to view. Sincerely, Dr.Richard Blonna
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