I’m thrilled to announce that I was selected by Modern Luxury as one of three speakers for Best Motivational Success Story at the EmpowHER Conference on June 28th. This two-day conference brought together female entrepreneurs, business experts and community leaders to support and celebrate women thriving in business. I’m incredibly honored to have participated as a panelist alongside Elizabeth Morrison, owner of The Fit Atlanta, and wanted to share with you key points from our discussion on how to fight stress.

I believe that stress is a choice. Every single day, we have the choice to set up our lives for success. Ask yourself a bigger question: who am I? Why do I make these decisions? Define your ultimate path and then say no to anything that doesn’t align with your journey. Organize your tasks for the day, but do not dwell on your to-do lists, or you will live in stress. Your stress management is a personalized process. When stress enters our brains, we can make the choice to interpret this stress and stay in the present moment. Take control of your internal landscape. Compartmentalize your life in a new way to avoid this feeling again. When we are pulled in too many directions, we lose sight of what brings us joy. 

The five aspects of well-being are emotional, physical, spiritual, financial and social well-being. Instead of trying to live up to the unrealistic expectation of remaining perfectly balanced in each department, give 100% to whatever area you’re actively working within. For example, when I’m in the office, I try to give my professional duties 100% of my attention. When I’m at home with my children, I give them 100% of my love and attention, and so forth. We now know from research that we can control stress in our brains. The steps for success based off of my experience is to:

a.) Recognize stress when it forms

b.) Understand the power that our minds hold over our reality

c.) Control our external environment by creating a calm space, lighting candles and diffusing essential oils, investing in a high-quality mattress for better sleep, etc. Our environment is conducive to how we physically feel, so let’s make it relaxing as a harbinger for our success!

We underestimate the power of visualization in our lives. Create a vision board. Whenever you have a spare moment, write down in a journal your goals and intentions. This will grant your dreams an exponentially greater chance of being achieved. When you’re in a stressful moment, return to this journal and reflect on your personal pathway again. This will keep you focused and able to say no to the elements in your life that distract you or dim your inner light. 

Give yourself permission to restore when you need to restore. Set yourself up to be the most beautiful, successful version of yourself every single day. You got this! 

Happy Independence Day to you and your family! As we celebrate the freedom of our nation this week, let’s also take active steps to free our minds from the daily burdens of stress.

Sincerely,
Ilana Craig Alberico
Founding Partner, Chief Executive Officer of ISM Spa