If you notice I didn't say stress free relocation, only because I don't believe there is such a thing. But I do believe there are things that can help greatly reduce the amount of stress that a typical move to a new location can cause.

Harness the Right Frame of Mind

Nothing that I know of causes more stress in moving then the wrong kind of thinking. People make moves for all sorts of reasons. Some for want to and advancement reasons, and some for have to and forced to situations. Now it's easy to associate the larger amount of stress to the second category of movers but that's not necessarily true. Moving regardless of the reason involves an amount of and sometimes very unique set of stresses.

The "stressing" about a move in the most practical sense should be completed and dealt with prior to the actual move. The reasoning and self questioning about moving should to be handled separately and usually most effectively before the actual move. Please don't misunderstand that I am saying the decision to make a move is easy, or should be handled with any cavalier type of approach, it isn't and it shouldn't be. If there is uncertainty or self doubt concerning the reasons for relocation, the stresses of the entire remaining relocation process will be increased almost exponentially.

For what ever reasons you're moving handle them first. Be honest with yourself about the reasons to move. Then be resolute about your decision. When we have in our thinking, clear understanding of present, not future circumstances that the move will happen, and in our mind the issue is settled, we can then position ourselves to deal with the relocation process as nothing more then a series of tasks to be completed

Don't stop reading now because you think I am an idiot and that this is a big crock of something that smells really bad. Hear me out on this one. It might be just the kind of thing that makes lots of sense when all is said and done.

Who can know the future? No one say for God Himself. So why stress about it. Plan for it yes, but stress about it, it's not worth it. We all have plans. Plans for our marriage, plans for our career, plans for our children, or retirement and these are usually a good thing. Moving is or should be nothing more then a task to be completed in a greater plan, even if it's a detour in the course of any one of our major life plans.

Inability to trust in our decisions, or fear of the uncertainty of future events are the two things that cause the most stress during a relocation , not really anything to do with the move itself. Yet we let the act of moving be the focal point of indecision, stress and fear and then can't figure out why the issues that pop up during the actual move are so hard for us to resolve. I will give you some examples of what I mean.

"What if moving to the new town to take the new job doesn't work out? Or we might think, "I hope moving into the bigger house is the right thing to do, I know we need the space." From a different angle one might be dealing with a move in this manner. "I don't want to move the family but we need to economize because of all the downsizing and with all the new expenses, its something that has to be done."

Two of the above are examples of a stressful move waiting to happen because there is indecision or unresolved issues in each. The indecision stated in the first two examples have nothing to do with the act of moving but have placed the actual process of moving as the focal point of fear. The third also has nothing to do with the moving process but clearly sets up the move as a process extending from a conscious decision.

In the first example the person has made the process of moving the questionable focal point. "What if moving to the new town to take the new job doesn't work out?" Actually the questionable focal point should be this person's decision to take the new job in the new town. This is where the concern should be laid. If a move is instituted under indecisive circumstances such as this, invariably it will be a high stress move, in which any minor hiccup will be magnified into a monster obstacle.

Make the decision to take the new job, be resolved in your ability to deal with future circumstances at the new job. Remove the fear factor from the actual move so it can be come what it should be, a tool of your decision, a task to be completed to accomplish your plan. The same concept would hold true for the second statement.

However the third statement about the downsizing issue however is quite different. Even though it has the feel of a slightly negative situation, it sets up a move in a positive manner. The decision to relocate has been made. It might be not be a decision a person would liked to have make, but the fact stands, the decision in this instance is made which places the move in proper perspective, as a tool to accomplish the process set up by the persons very deliberate decision.

In all of this remember "Moving" or "Relocating" is a process begun from a decision made, it should not be the focal point of thinking in the decision process. Moving is a tool used to bring to fruition the life plans we make. No other moving tip I know of will be of more value. All the packing and sorting and loading tips won't be worth diddley doo if you are indecisive about your reason for moving in the first place.

So once you are clear on your reasoning for moving don't stress about the actual move. Let it be what it is, a series of tasks to be completed. God Bless and like Larry the Cable Guy says "Get er done".