We are addicted to drama.

We are constantly running grammy-award-winning story lines in our heads.

Stories about our finances.

Stories about what the client thinks of us simply because the tone of the email we received is not as friendly as usual.

Stories about how our competitors are so much better than us. Stories about the massive amount of hours we work and how it is all for nothing.

Anxiety and stress at plague proportions in the business world and everyone is scrambling for ways to resolve it. Stress management has now become entrenched in our company cultures and as entrepreneurs we are seeking out the next best top 10 article for ways to overcome the tied up knots that sit in our gut morning, noon and night.

The physical sensations that we experience that are associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, discouragement and so on all begin with the patterns or stories we are running in our mind (both conscious and unconscious). There is a series of triggers that set off the hormonal and nervous system responses that then create the racing heart, the twisted gut (that is your digestive system going into shut down), the headaches, the sleeplessness, the tight muscles, the grinding of your teeth, sweat, and many other associated symptoms.

The stories we create are unwarranted.

They are not an objective view that is monitoring the facts. They are always exaggerated. The fish is always five times the size in our story than that one we actually caught (metaphorically speaking…).

Here is an example:

Let’s say you get an email that says your client needs to postpone your meeting until next week due to some situations that have arisen that need immediate attention.

I bet some of you immediately bring this ‘situation’ back to somehow being about you. You take that as ‘she doesn’t really want to meet with me, she has found someone better but just doesn’t want to communicate that to me right now. She can just forget it. I will find another lead I can follow up. Maybe she really doesn’t appreciate my time. She doesn’t think I am good at my job….’ blah blah.

Seriously – look at the stuff you come up with each time you feel the stress, the worry, the frustration, the anxiety start to arise just from a simple email or phone call. It is AMAZING how creative we can become in our minds over the smallest comment.

What would happen if we took a step back and looked at each of these situations objectively.

In third-person.

Without any emotion attached and in the present moment (not referencing the past or the unwritten future).

What is the truth of this matter? What are the facts to the best of your knowledge? Does any of it directly relate to you? If so, how can you confront or solve this situation quickly and effectively without running a million self-destructive stories through your head.

Another way to being recognising how much drama you have going on in your head is listen to the way you re-tell situations that happen to a colleague, partner or friend… “yeh, and she said.. and it was so frustrating… next time she ring me… etc etc.”

You get the point.

Stop yourself.

Catch your words.

Catch the thoughts before the words.

Recognise that the drama drama drama is not serving your business success at all.

It is only robbing your focus, potentially ruining some of your beneficial connections, and stealing your success.

More than that it is a MASSIVE drain of energy and time.

Step into the simplicity of accepting what is. Right now. In this moment. As it stands at face value.