🖋️ The Lioness Journals | September 1, 2025
Do you ever feel like stress has become so normal, you don’t even notice it anymore? I used to wear my stress like a badge of honor—until I realized it was quietly wearing me down.
Stress shows up in everyday life—at work, in relationships, even online. If stress is ignored and left untreated, it can have a significant negative impact on health—both physical and mental.
I used to brag that I was so used to being stressed, that it no longer affected me—but in reality, I was in denial about the severe strain on my body stress was having. Stress can manifest itself physically in a variety of ways, including headaches, fatigue, high blood pressure, and even digestive problems. Studies have shown that there may be a causality between stress and cancer. Although I cannot prove this, I have to question if my own breast cancer diagnosis was somehow related to all the stress in my life several years ago.
Dr. Karl Albrecht, a world-renowned psychologist and stress-reduction specialist, defines four types of stress in his book Stress and the Manager:
Time Stress
Feels like: It exists when there are aggressive deadlines or not enough time to finish tasks.
Overcome it: Short-term fixes include prioritizing tasks and more effective time management. Long-term fixes require addressing the root of the problem. Do you have too much work assigned to you? Are you doing 80% of the “at home chores” compared to a partner or others in your home? Effectively communicating imbalanced workloads can seem conflictual, but may result in others recognizing the unfair burden placed upon you.
Anticipatory Stress
Feels like: This often presents as anxiety over a future event or a series of “what if” scenarios playing through your mind.
Overcome it: Contingency planning is the best remedy for addressing anxiety over the unknowns of a future event. Other tools include positive visualization—instead of “what if it fails”, flip your thinking to “what if it succeeds.”
Situational Stress
Feels like: This type of stress manifests in the present moment—when an event or situation triggers a fight-or-flight response due to perceived conflicts or threats.
Overcome it: This requires you to develop your “emotional intelligence”. Simply put, this means understanding your own emotional triggers and responses. When you begin to see patterns in how you emotionally react to similar situations, you can begin to avoid those types of situations, or be mentally prepared to handle the situation and avoid the stress.
Encounter Stress
Feels like: This type of stress is related to social encounters or future encounters with individuals that may cause conflict.
Overcome it: This type of stress can be managed by improving interpersonal skills, becoming more confident in your interactions with people, and being aware of and prepared to manage the emotional symptoms that may appear during the encounter.
In Summary
Stress may be inevitable, but how you respond is where your power lies. Every small choice to manage it is an act of reclaiming your energy.
I encourage you to take a few minutes today and think about what might be some of the stressors in your own life. Are you able to categorize it into one of Dr. Albrecht’s four categories?
✨ What’s one tool you can choose this week that will help you manage a specific stress in your life?
Share your thoughts in the comments below or send me a direct message—I will cheer you on and support you in your efforts!
— With Gratitude,
Ronda 💛
📖 Want More?
There are stressors everywhere in our lives, but when we build our confidence, drive with determination, and roar with resilience, we can manage any stress that comes our way.
There are 35 empowering words to explore in Roar Like A Woman—each one crafted to help you rise up and become a more enlightened, bold, and powerful individual.
👉 Order your signed copy of Roar Like A Woman here.