1. Overschedule ! This is a way
to produce inordinate amounts of stress. By planning to
do twice as much as can humanly be achieved in a single
day, you have assured yourself of failure, with the
feelings of stress, worthlessness and frustration that
accompany it.
2. Worry ! It really doesn’t
matter what you select, so worry about anything and
everything. By worrying about those things that are
beyond your control, you have generously contributed to
your stress.
3. Personalize ! That’s right.
Take every mistake or negative occurrence personally.
React as if any error in judgment was aimed at you. If
you are caught in a traffic jam, consider it an
intentional effort to make you late. If it begins to
rain while you are out shopping and you are without an
umbrella, take this as an act of nature personally
directed at you. By the day’s end, you will have
experienced the required amount of stress so as to
trigger your next great binge.
4. Be Inflexible ! Remember that
everyone must do things your way. Demand it! Insist that
things must go your way. And since thisis simply not
possible, you have guaranteed yourself a profound sense
of frustration, powerlessness and stress.
5. Demand Perfectionism ! Demand
and expect that nothing ever goes wrong. Expect an
error-free world. Since an error-free day is rare, and
even for the best of us things go wrong, you will find
it easy to feel miserable. Even on a day in which things
go well ninety percent of the time, there is still
enough reason for you to feel stressed-out and
frustrated.
6. Be Humorless ! Treat a small
negative occurrence, failure, or error, no matter how
minor, as a terrible tragedy. Do not laugh off trivial
infractions and mistakes, whether they are yours or
others’. Be grim, unhappy, and frustrated and, by day’s
end, you will be filled with great stress (stress that
you have created with virtually no help from others).
