The purpose of my book, the ABC of Stress is an attempt to share the information and experiences I have encountered in my 25 years as a Clinical Psychologist and Management Consultant. The idea to put my experiences into writing received a kick start after receiving a book "Power of Positive Linking" by Pat Nicol, a motivational speaker in Australia.

The activities and stress management skills mentioned in this booklet are done assuming that you will be working on the advice by yourself. Obviously there are many more topics and much more detail that can be included, which hopefully I shall be addressing in the future.

Managing your stress levels is not just something that is going to happen but is something that has to be practised and needs to be made part of your everday life.

I have assisted many managers and clients to deal with stress and change by using one or more techniques mentioned in this book. I truly believe in Stephen Covey's "Abundance Mentality" where we must learn to share our ideas and skills in order to assist our clients. Don't keep it to yourself! Share this book with your colleagues in your office and with your family and friends.

My company name "Leverage and Growth" says it all. We are here to offer you a competitive advantage by giving you some much-needed "Leverage" and in the process you will also experience personal or business "Growth". If only one of your brain cells develops I have achieved what I set out to - start a process of "cerebral popcorn explosions".

I would like to say a few words about utilising my book. Read a letter of the alphabet and test your own knowlege about the topic being discussed. How well are you using this letter to deal with stress? Rate yourself where asked to do so.

The ABC of Stress is primarily a quick read to get your thoughts rolling and to stimulate you to take a look at your own life and how you are dealing with stress.

Stress is not there to be avoided at all costs. Each of us will or has experienced stress at some time our lives. Stress can however be controlled. Learning how to deal with stress can be made that much easier if you take the letters of the alphabet and work through them asking yourself if you are dealing with the particular letter in a positive or negative manner.

More often than not, it is not the stressful events that causes the trouble, but our response to it.