Protecting Yourself Protects Others

While we’ve been discussing protecting ourselves from other people’s stress, our stress affects other people too. 

Just as we can pick up other people’s stress, they can pick up ours. When we talk about taking care of ourselves and putting measures in place to protect ourselves from stress, it’s not just for our benefit. It’s for ourselves and for everyone else around us. 

If you’ve ever wanted to start taking self-care more seriously, but have at times gotten the idea it’s a bit selfish or self-indulgent, I encourage you to to think about how your stress impacts everyone else as well. From your family to friends to coworkers and even mere acquaintances, our stress rubs off on those around us. By engaging in these strategies, we’re not only taking the time to care for ourselves, but taking the time to care for other people. 

Remember, we cannot control the world we live in. The world will always be a stressful place at times, and there are a myriad of things that remain outside our control. But we CAN empower ourselves by giving ourselves the right tools and resources to bring our best selves into the world.

Have you ever experienced secondhand stress? Tell me about it in the comments below!

If you are a stressed helping professional that spends your day serving others, you may need to spend extra care and attention filling your cup, and developing stress-management strategies. Check out our signature course The Cost of Care to learn how to prevent burnout and fall in love with helping again.