​Today we’re going to talk about how to take your power back when you experience stress.  Not push through, not ignore, or taking care of stress after the fact.  This is about dialing it down by raising your awareness in a new way.

Why? Because Stress is Stealing from your business

Stealing your Joy, your concentration and motivation that you need to run a healthy business. 

Oh my goodness, there are so many things to be stressed out about.  I know these podcasts will last into years ahead but what is the deal about 2020 that is giving us so many situations and circumstances that are causing us stress?

So if you are feeling stuck in a lot of stress, you are not alone but I want to share with you the REALLY good news.  

You create stress in your own mind.  Your thoughts create the reaction in your body that you label as stress and anxiety. You can choose what to think, I can choose what to think, every single time.    

This is not a concept, this is the truth. Your mind works so fast that you can’t see the thoughts that you are thinking in between the event that happened in your day and the emotions that you experience afterward. Wicked Fast!!!

In our humanness, we crave comfort and we THINK that the only way to relieve stress is to take care of it AFTER it happens. I’m talking about creating some comfort by dialing down the thoughts we’re thinking, so we literally create less stress-like emotions.  I’m all for enjoying an adult beverage, winding down after a long day, taking time out with a hot bath, giving myself time to be on SM and even binging Netflix.   

But what would it be like to not FEEL stress as strongly, to dial it down before it shows up in your physical body? To not need to check out at the end of the day because of all of the stress? And to manage stress before it slows you down in frustration and robs you of the mental clarity that you need during the work day.

Yes, I could be a millionaire creating the cure to stress problem.  But what if you become a millionaire solving this problem for you in your own business.  For real.  Stress is robbing you of momentum, mental clarity and the success that you deserve for all of the long hours you work.  

Why am I being so dramatic, could stress really have this big of an effect?  I really think so.  Think about those days when you are stressed out, what does it cause? 

For you, what does your day look like when you’re stressed out?

I think it has several negative effects.  

• Distraction when you need clarity the most during your work day
• Agitation with others, even clients when you’re feeling stressed out.
• Tackling ‘busy’ tasks so you get something done but avoiding THE important revenue producing activities.

These actions that come as a result of stress are affecting your business outcomes, it may be one of the reasons that all of those long hours you’re working aren’t paying off in real growth. And my friends, it is robbing you from the joy you deserve doing the work that you actually love.  Stress is stealing joy and productivity when it is not managed.

So let’s get to work on solving it, for you, right now with 2 simple steps.  

Establishing Awareness of your thoughts and being intentionally curious about them.   That’s it.  

Awareness and Curiosity.  This interrupts the cycle and helps our brain to have insight instead into the thinking that is going on in your mind.  

The only reason we do not do this naturally is we were never taught how to manage our minds. Also, there is a natural resistance to looking at what’s stressing us out because we tend to believe it might get worse if we look at it.  From my experience, thankfully, the opposite is true. Awareness brings relief.

Another reason we don’t create awareness is because in your natural rush to feel better you try to think everything is ok, and try to turn around the stressful thoughts.  Rushing to think a better thought can work momentarily but to kick the stress cycle to the curb, staying in awareness is much more powerful.  

Awareness alone robs stressful thoughts of their power.

Awareness alone of their thinking robs our thoughts of their power.

So this week, raise your awareness. Become the watcher of your thinking.  Next week I’ll talk about turnarounds.  

This is the process:

When you feel stressed, ask what am I thinking here?  Why am I stressed out?  

Stay with this conversation in your mind, even pull out a piece of paper to write down what story or conversation is going on in your mind.  One way to get more insight is to follow up with and then what would happen?  Our mind works in stories, when we’re stressed out, it’s an ugly one.

Why am I stressed out? (as many as come to your mind)

And then what would happen?

And then what?

And what would be the result of that?

Beautiful example of this that I experienced in a workshop with Account Executives.

*Not make #’s, not pay mortgage and my spouse would leave me.

Notice if you have any common triggers.  

And ask these questions.  As you query and stay curious, this practice alone can unlock the pattern the mind is hanging onto.

Keep identifying the moments and the thoughts.  

What is a common trigger for you?

It can be your calendar, your email, a call from a client, news, looking at your revenue numbers.  Any of a matter of things can trigger stress.  If you take the time to slow your mind down here, and identify the literal thoughts. It interrupts the cycle. 

Let me share a classic example that 

Example:  We all have email but just looking at the red number on our inbox can cause stress.  Poor email, it is neutral, it didn’t do anything wrong.  But wow are thoughts are not neutral.  

Circumstance:  Email   

Thought: I can’t get it done, there’s too much.  I am behind. I don’t have enough time. I’m missing something. 

Feeling:  Stress

Action:  Avoid email; check email all day long vs getting real work done (interrupt)

Results:  There’s always a part of our belief and thinking in our result.  When we think there is too much email, we literally in our avoidance create too much email.

You can actually be adding to the stress because the reaction to stress is to avoid which creates the email pile up.  Vicious cycle.  Oh man, I wish this weren’t true.  The brain proves itself right, so if we’re thinking we can’t get it done, there’s too much. We literally are creating the inevitable by NOT opening it, by letting it pile up because of the feelings/experience of stress..  

So your mindset work this week is simple.

Notice the feeling of stress and ask why?  Get to the thoughts you are believing.  Dig in a few times this week and ask and then what…..and then what…..  Stay aware and watch the thoughts.  

Get curious about the triggers to those stressful moments and begin to slow down and interrupt them by identifying the thoughts.  The brain loves questions.

It’s a powerful first step, awareness is the power tool.  Many times when we see what our brain is up to, we don’t even have to try a different thought.  We can SEE why we’re feeling and acting the way we have been and release it with this awareness.  

Mindset starts with awareness, it becomes successful when you stay curious and intentional about asking your brain the right questions.  Have some fun with this, our brain comes up with some crazy thoughts. Don’t judge what comes up.  Your thoughts are not YOU, they are just sentences in your brain.