When understanding changes everything

I watched someone have a meltdown at the coffee shop this morning.

Spilled coffee, tense exchanges, throbbing neck veins.

Most people approach stress like this:

Deep breathing exercises. Positive affirmations. Meditation apps. Tapping techniques. Gratitude journals. The list goes on.

The more stressed they feel, the more likely they are to try and adopt some new technique to help them.

And what happens? They end up with a head full of techniques and more overthinking.

It's like adding more luggage to make your car go faster.

I know because I used to do the same thing. The more anxious I felt the more solutions I searched for.

Each new tactic brought temporary relief, followed by the inevitable return of stress.

The more I looked to fix the problem, the more self-conscious I became.

Eventually, I finally got it. Mental stress isn't something you need to manage.

It's something you need to understand.

When you get what's really happening in your mind, things click. Not because you do anything different but because you see things differently.

You don't need to take on more baggage to see things differently.

This starts by seeing how our stress comes from our thinking, not our circumstances.

Can you see how understanding this would make a difference in your life?

This also makes it far easier to enjoy a sense of meaning because you aren't distracted by a huge volume of thoughts.

This has been on my mind while developing my newest course for Ember subscribers - a deep dive into crafting a vivid purpose statement. That course is releasing this Friday.

When you combine peace of mind with the clarity of knowing where you want to go, you'll be in the butt-kicking business (in a good way).

btw, if you're interested in an approach to finding peace no one teaches - one that focuses on understanding rather than techniques, you might want to check out my Untethered Mind course.

It's helped students reduce their stress dramatically within a week.

You can learn more about it here.

Until next time,

Alex