Being aware of your stress is the first step to being able to identify your stressors and correct your behavior or lifestyle to be less stressful. Your stress is what comes as a result of stressors, which are the things that cause you stress. Your stressor could be your annoying boss, the neighbor’s lawnmower at 6am on a Saturday, or even a tiny leak in your faucet, all of which have the potential to slowly chip away at your mental strength until the final straw breaks the donkeys back. It is vital that we identify the causes of our stress and then take action to combat those. Most of the time the stress comes from within, as humans we like to avoid uncomfortable conversations, as stress is usually the reason for undiscussed disagreements that’s are eating away at you. Addressing the issue and having a conversation about it is the best possible thing you can do to not only allow yourself to understand what the problem is but so others who want to help you can too. Many companies offer stress tests and surveys as ways to understand employees stress levels as an individual as well as within the company. After taking them I have come to the conclusion that while they may be helpful from time to time, you will never understand the true burden someone may be facing until you can talk and listen to them.