Are you stressed out and overwhelmed? If so, you probably feel like there's no way out of the hamster wheel of your life. Not, at least, until the kids are grown, the mortgage paid, and your college loans paid off. Oh yes, and until climate change has been taken care of, the political situation has gotten better, and people stop killing each other. But there is one little thing you can do every day to help you get through these difficult times more easily.

I know too many people who put pressure on themselves to function at a high level all the time. Some of them are working parents who demand of themselves that they perform well at work while being active in their children’s lives. Some of these high achievers are also caregivers for their parents.

Some are starting high-pressure jobs and others are trying to maintain the success at work that they enjoy. Others are moms and dads who have chosen to stay home with their children and feel they have to parent even more perfectly than their peers who juggle parenting and work outside the home.

In every case, whether in my office or in conversations with friends, family, and colleagues, I hear about the unfair emotional and physical demands people place on themselves that leave them stretched thin, exhausted, and overwhelmed. These folks don’t give themselves a break, mentally, physically, or........

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