This article was first seen on NateAnglin.com. To see original article, click here. You lay in bed, heart pumping, blood boiling and your stomach is in a knot. There’s a slight sensation of a headache brewing. But it’s time for bed. You and your stressed out self.

30 minutes ago you were chowing down on a big box of chocolate ice cream, reminiscing on the day that just passed.

You had 3 aircraft with AOG (Aircraft On Ground) situations and you only were able to resolve 1 of them. So now 2 aircraft that are in your stress portfolio. They each lose $15,000 a day they're not in the air.

After your stressful day, you then go home to personal bills, screaming children, and possibly doggy doo doo that has to be cleaned up.

It seems never ending and when you look in the mirror, neither does your weight gain. You have clear symptoms of stress.

In order to get your life back on track you need to know how to define stress but then you must get good at identifying stress.

Identifying Stress

Stress lurks it’s head everywhere. Sometimes it’s natural (good stress) but most of the time it’s life threatening, cortisol spiking, fat inducing stress.

Over the years you’ve got use to what stress feels like and today it’s just another day in the office for you.

You’ve got “smushy” (fat), your blood work is terrible, you can’t sleep, you have psoriasis, heartburn is normal, you have low self-esteem, anxiety is like a routine morning breakfast and your spark for life is non-existent.

If this sounds like you, I just identified your symptoms of stress. You have 4 classic signs: psychological, emotional, physical and behavioral.

Here are 4 categories to identify the symptoms of stress.

Psychological signs

From the moment you get up in the morning you have a deep inability to concentrate. You have a myriad of excuses but every day it’s the same ole’ thing. You have memory lapses and are easily distracted. As a dog would say “ball, ball, biscuit, toy, ball, ball.” Focusing has become hard for you. You use to have such a creative mind, but now it’s full of negative thinking and worrying.

Emotional signs

For most, identifying stress is hard because you think of it as a natural part of your life. Sadly that is far from the truth.

If you feel angry, irritable, defensive and frustrated, that’s not life. Those are symptoms of stress. Pouncing out of bed with a big smile on your face ready to take on the day is how you should be acting. Instead you go through the day with no confidence, a lack of motivation and are incredibly sensitive to criticism.

Physical signs

A study out of Yale University looked at how stress may cause excess abdominal fat in otherwise slender woman. Their study stated "Everyone is exposed to stress, but some people may secrete more cortisol than others, and may secrete cortisol each time they face the same stressor," Epel adds. "We predicted that reacting to the same stressors consistently by secreting cortisol would be related to greater visceral fat."

They are more physical signs than just adding on abdominal fat. You frequently call in sick because again, you have another cold. Or maybe you have frequent infections, high blood pressure, acne, allergies, physical tiredness and the list goes on and on.

Listen to your body. It’ll tell you that something isn’t right.

Behavioral signs

Do you ever go home, sit on your back porch and watch the sunset? Or do you sit outside, anywhere, and take in a breath of air and dissect the smell of nature?

If you don’t take the time for relaxation or pleasurable activities it’s a clear symptom of stress.

Think hard about your relationships.

Do you constantly have social withdrawal? Has your relationships with important people in your life become difficult?

Identifying stress could even be you noticing insomnia or you've become reckless, aggressive and nervous. Or you're now more prone to accidents and are increasingly careless.

Stress can become a combination of psychological, emotional, physical, and behavioral signs.

Identifying stress is to effectively defeat it. Once you can define and recognize the symptoms of stress you can take action on managing it.