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Stress is a term that describes a situation that makes a person feel uncomfortable due to people or factors that take them out of their comfort zone. Examples of this include demanding work environments, balancing work and life demands, even something as simple as being stuck in a traffic jam.

There is good and bad news regarding stress. The bad news is that stress will always exist. The good news is that stress is in the eye of the beholder. You can choose whether or not you acknowledge a situation as stressful or just a situation that requires a different solution or reaction on your part. While you may not be able to control the primary cause of stressful situations, you have to acknowledge your ability to be in control of your response to them. The existence of stress itself is not a bad thing. It is the perception that one is powerless to handle the situation that causes problems such as physical and emotional health issues.

One type of stressful situation involves dealing with a difficult co-worker in the work place. A difficult co-worker always has time to engage you in conversation that will irritate and or distract you from your work. You can either allow this individual to upset you by his/her actions or you can focus on your work and very calmly ignore this person. You can deal with the stress of this situation by setting boundaries with how much time you spend interacting with this person and not allowing this person to think that they can disrupt your focus.

Another type of stressful situation is caused by a difficult boss. Sometimes a difficult boss can operate on either ends of a spectrum. One type is the micro-manager who does not give the employee authority and creativity to handle the work with their own methods. The opposite type of boss is one who rules by a sink or swim philosophy. He or she does not offer any support or resources for handling challenging situations. Many times there is a personality clash between the boss and employee. Many supervisors become frustrated with workers who may not share their same style or approach to handling issues. There are even cases when supervisors play out personal power issues with their employees. In a case like this, you must detach emotionally from the situation. You have to be crystal clear about the fact that you actually want to work in this kind of setting. If so, you should focus on what the expectations are for performance and and how those expectations can be met. At this point you have to

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