Are you one of those people who think stress is just part of life?  I sure used to be.  Back in the late nineties when my stress was at its manic worse, my friends used to say to me, “John, you’re really stressed!”  I would always shout back, “NO I’M NOT!  I’M JUST EFFICIENT!”

Whilst I was screaming around fooling myself into thinking I was just being efficient, I was working twelve hour days without any breaks; rushing around at the speed of light, too scared to stop or slow down for anything; losing my temper five or six times a day if anything did slow me down; Scratching my legs until they bled because I was so tense all the time; and doing everything myself because I didn’t trust anyone else to help.

This was the worst of it, but I lived, more or less, like that for about thirty years.  Crazy, right?

At what point in my life did I come to believe that any of that was normal?

Nowadays, more than two decades later, with a hypnotherapy qualification and twenty years of therapy and coaching behind me, helping hundreds of people thrive under pressure, I can honestly tell you this:

All that struggle, all that stress, all that pain and hardship could have been gotten rid of in just six weeks.  Just like that, I could have been calm and contented.  Happy and joyful. 

But for anyone to achieve that, stress and anxiety have to become unacceptable to them!

The problem is that far too many people don’t find it unacceptable.  Twenty years ago when I first qualified as a Stress Management Counsellor, everybody thought stress was something to be laughed at.  Everyone I spoke to thought is was “Just part of life.”

The sad fact is that today, I see no change in that.  There are more people suffering unnecessary stress and anxiety now than there ever has been.  And for something so easy to get rid of it that’s a ridiculous state of affairs.

Stress is indeed the enemy of all good things.  It is addictive and insidious.  It starts off small and then the neglectful habit of putting our spiritual & emotional well-being at the bottom of our To-Do list ensures it creeps into every area of our lives.

The stress chemicals that surge through our body are as addictive as heroin – so we subconsciously hold ourselves in a Stress Cycle.  Blaming outside events for the stress that our own negativity is causing.

The Flight Or Fight Response protects us by giving us tunnel vision to fight off the saber tooth tiger.  But in this day and age all that really does is cause us to lose our perspective (our mole hill problems seem like mountains), and that in turn simply ensures we become so focused on our problems that we can’t see the solutions.

Think about it.  Tunnel vision keeping you focused on your problems.  A conscious mind so busy trying to find a solution that it can’t hear it being fed to it by your subconscious (your inner wisdom).  An addiction as strong as class A drugs. 

It’s no wonder we struggle.  Once we get caught in that Stress Cycle it takes an intervention to get us out again!

Unfortunately, like myself back in the day, people think stress is normal.  They don’t even recognise the stress that is causing their hardships. 

Stress isn’t funny.  Far from it.  It costs us way too much.  Every problem you have is either caused by, or exasperated by stress.  I have proved time and time again that dissipating the stress chemicals as a priority leads to all manner of good things.

Stress Busting is the ultimate shortcut!

It breaks us free from the Stress Cycle, allows us to access our subconscious powerhouse of solutions, brings us peace, frees us up to feel joy, lets us fall in love with ourselves, as well as the life we live. 

Most of all, instead of struggling to cope with everything life throws at us, it gives us back the ability to actually thrive under pressure.

No matter what you’re striving for in life, stress won’t help you get there quicker.  In fact, if you accept stress as part of your journey, you won’t even enjoy reaching your goals either, because you’ll be stuck in the Stress Cycle when you get there.

You won’t know how to stop and enjoy your success!

Nothing you want, nothing you work for, nothing you gain, nothing – is worth being stressed.  If it costs you your spiritual & emotional well-being, it just isn’t worth having.

Stress, is indeed, the enemy of all good things.