This month, I'll stray from my usual newsletter format and share some personal information with you.

While I normally follow what I preach and make time for relaxation on a daily basis, the last few months haven't been so easy for me. My stress levels had been increasing steadily to finally reach record highs this week.

The results?

I had let stress rule my life

Once my workload finally returned to normal levels, I ended up "shutting down" for a few days.

I didn't answer the phone.

I didn't check my email.

I didn't even bother getting dressed in the morning…

I probably ate about 5,000 calories/day in comfort food and felt pretty pathetic about every aspect of my life and where it was going.

After a couple of days of self-pity, I had a serious talk with myself (out loud, in the shower) to determine what was wrong with me.

Get a hold of yourself, girl!

I started with a simple question, but then kept digging deeper and deeper into each issue by asking, "But why?"

It's quite surprising what you can uncover about yourself when you ask out loud and force yourself to answer honestly with whatever your gut has to say.

After a long and enlightening shower, I finally got dressed in something other than my pajamas and used a mix of basil, lemon, peppermint, rosemary and neroli essential oils to improve my concentration levels.

A few whiffs later, I sat down with a notepad and a pencil. I thought about where my life was going and how I was spending my time. When it came down to it, what were my top 3 goals in life? I wrote these down.

I then thought about the activities I had been spending most of my time on over the last few months and I couldn't help but notice the large discrepancies between the two. Most of my time had been spent on stuff I didn't enjoy. These activities were causing undue stress and were NOT taking me any closer to achieving my goals.

When I got up this morning, I felt refreshed and energized. My stress levels were definitely a LOT lower than they have been in months.

The lesson I learned...

While my reaction to this latest stress peak was far from ideal, this "shut down and reboot" process has allowed me to re-consider my life's goals and priorities. I believe I'm now in a better position to avoid getting in a similar downward spiral of stress in the future. I have also made a conscious decision to re-direct some aspects of my life to help me achieve my goals.

If you've made it this far, I thank you for your time and I hope that reading about my experience will help you think about your own priorities in life.

Are you spending your time on something that is causing undue stress and that isn't bringing you any closer to your goals in life?

Would a two-hour "shut down and reboot" process help you put things in perspective?

After all, if you don't make yourself (and your goals) a priority, who else will?

Relaxation Tips Next Month

That's it for now.

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Remember to make time for relaxation on a daily basis and I'll be back next month with some relaxation tips.