2.3 Identifying additional stress factors

Although Holmes and Rahe identified a range of stress factors, there are many other issues that can cause stress in people’s lives.

Activity 4 Lightening the load

Timing:Allow about 10 minutes

• a.Are there other stress factors in your life that Holmes and Rahe didn’t take into account in their research? Note them down below.You might find it helpful to draw a picture or mind map to get key issues down on paper. Your thoughts can be private; you don’t need to share them with anyone else.
• b.Are there other pressures you can remove for now?

Now you’ve looked at your stress factors, are there pressures you can remove from yourself for now? For example, are there activities which you want to do, but can postpone for a few months? Are there roles that you used to take on, but which are less essential now, or which could be delegated to others? Try to identify at least one area where you can reduce the pressure.

Throughout this course you will consider the relationship between your personal resilience and career resilience. But what does career resilience mean?

In the next section, you’ll explore it in more detail.