The Book of Answers for Stress Management

The Book of Answers for Stress Management

You can also listen to the podcast

The Book of Answers by Carol Bolt was originally published in 1999 and has since sold over one million copies worldwide. The best way to describe it is the book version of the eight ball. You know the black ball you ask a question and then shake it to get an answer. Except the book has pages and pages and pages of potential answers. All in all, it is a simple, lovely way to be encouraged to self-reflection.

The instructions are easy enough. Think or visualize your questions while holding the book until you sense it is the right time to open it, finding the answer to your closed-ended question. I would take it a step further and use it to help you journal your thoughts and feelings. Personally, there is nothing special about the book unless you are like me and find words to be beyond magical. In that sense, The Book of Answers is remarkable in its simplicity. 


This is a book of encouragement. When you get your “answers” take a moment to write your thoughts down about the words you opened up to. What do they mean to you? What do you think of when you read them in relation to not only the question you had in mind but to yourself as a whole. I do not even need to have a question in mind. I can open it up to a page and let the words pull from my mind what I need. 


The Book of Answers is a wonderful tool for self-reflection and what better way to bring it all together so that you may look back upon it than by writing it down. Self-reflection is an important tool in stress management. 


Healthline sites that studies show “turning inward” can strengthen our emotional intelligence, which can make it easier for us to cope with life’s challenges. 


Remember stress is our response to any changes that we have to go through in life and sometimes those changes can be more challenging than others. 


Harvard Business Law article also cites that “cognitive psychology research shows that one of the most effective methods for reducing stress is to engage in self-reflection directed toward appraising it as a challenge rather than a threat.” This is one of the main ideas that I promote in stress management. We have to shift the way we think about stress. Thinking of stress as a challenge that we have to successfully work through sets us up to better manage the situation at hand. 


Below are some brief online resources on self-reflection

Here’s How Self-reflection can strengthen your emotional Intelligence

Manage Stress by Knowing What You Value


Check out the pod cast below

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