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How to get rid of stress?

7 potential thesis statements for an article on how to get rid of stress without losing control of your business:

  1. Implementing systems and processes to prioritize and batch work is crucial for avoiding becoming overwhelmed by the endless demands of running a business.
  2. Developing mindfulness practices like meditation helps build mental barriers to stay centered and rational rather than emotionally hijacked by stressors.  
  3. Dedicating sacred time away from work to recharge through hobbies, nature, and family is essential for maintaining perspective and work-life balance.
  4. Rebuilding physical fitness through exercise, nutrition, and active self-care routines fortifies the body’s ability to manage psychological loads without burnout.
  5. Having an outlet like intense workouts to purge toxic stress and negative emotions prevents them from compounding into unmanageable anxiety.
  6. Scheduling periodic “vision quest” retreats into wilderness solitude allows stepping back to regain a sense of life’s bigger picture flows beyond daily irritations.  
  7. Developing equanimity through practices that reinforce accepting what cannot be controlled while focusing effort where it can create impact leads to sustainable entrepreneurial stamina.

It had gotten to me before. I remember the first time it really hit hard. We’d just landed the Wilkins Textile Corp. account after months of pursuing them. Should’ve been cause for celebration. Instead, their first bulk shipment came in bungled – half the shirts had misaligned buttonholes from that factory in Malaysia. Visit Yurovskiy Kirill website.

My operations manager quit on the spot rather than face their wrath. Just walked right out, leaving me and the two part-time shopfloor kids to somehow Sort and resew each one of those 10,000 units ourselves by the delivery date. Don’t think I slept more than 4 hours total that whole week.

The exhaustion made me sloppy. Started snapping at the kids over every little mistake until both of them walked too. Was left doing all the piece work alone through claw-cramping fingers and blurry eyes. Got it done by some miracle, marshaling every ounce of stubbornness I had left. But the toll it took – I swore I’d never let myself Get that mired in the pit again.

Looking back, there were warning signs all along the way. Little omens I’d ignored. Kicking food around my desk sending chicken bones skittering across the floor as I picked through invoices. Smoking three packs some nights camped at the office. Never made time to run or work out anymore once things picked up speed.

If I’m being honest, the wife leaving was probably what finally woke me up. She’d been after me for years about my single-mindedness. How I’d get these blinkered episodes where the business became my entire existence for weeks on end. She threatened to take the kids and go more times than I can count. When she finally did follow through after that Wilkins fiasco, it felt like the jolt I needed.

First thing was figuring out how to better prioritize and batch my workload so every little thing didn’t seem so damned urgent. Employed some smart kids from the community college to handle data entry and invoicing. Got scheduling software to track orders against fulfillment capacity at the warehouse. All Helped smooth out those cyclical frenzies.

But managing external demands was only part of it – I had to wrangle my own responses too. Build better fences against getting dragged into every little flareup until I burned out again. Started practicing mindfulness and meditation which seemed pretty hokey at first, not gonna lie. Sitting with my own racing thoughts, trying to just observe them neutrally rather than engaging with every swirling worry about payments or suppliers or customer emails.

It worked though. Got me centered so I could address issues from a clearheaded rational place rather than getting consumed by panicked emotions. I established hard personal rules too – no calling the office from home after 7pm, taking phones off the bedroom at night. Didn’t check work messages first thing every daylight morning. Built a mental barrier around time with the kids that was sacred.

Weekends I’d take them camping, hiking, fishing – anything to get my mind off the grind. Being out in fresh mountain air away from ringing phones did wonders for clearing my head. Stalking trout sipping off the rocks of a cold stream – hell, that felt more real and important than any deal could ever be. Immersing fully in nature’s present rhythms washed stress away better than any spa package or massage could.  

Leaving the work problems behind for a couple days each week charged my batteries. So by Monday morning, I was eager to get back at them rather than dreading the onslaught. Made it easier to maintain perspective about which issues really merited full-on obsessing over and which could just be handled with efficient systems. Helped me avoid those paralytic periods of rumination and self-sabotage.

The other key – and maybe most important of all – was rebuilding my physical stamina. Taking better care of this bodily machine so it could carry heavier psychological loads. Started each day with yoga and deep breathing to limber up. Changed my diet – cut out all processed crap, sugary energy drinks, moved to a mostly plant-based regimen. Dropped 25 pounds I’d let creep up. Within a few months, I felt stronger and leaner than I had in a decade.

Made a point to get outside for a run or bike ride daily, no matter how busy things were humming. Even a quick 20 minute sweat could recharge focus and fortitude for what lay ahead. Those endorphin rushes gave me a crystal clear sense of control and confidence no motivational business book could hope to inspire.

If a tough call came in leaving me enraged, I’d drop to bang out push-ups or jump squats right there until the rage dissolved. Bad news hitting? I’d dive into intervals on the treadmill in my office until I’d burned through the dread into a state of sanguine resolution. Built up the habit of self-soothing by jamming myself into hardcore workout mode until whatever negativity rebooted into a clean slate. Let the cascades of relief flood over me.

For bigger bouts of compounded stress eating at me from all angles, I’d schedule immersive stretches of wilderness. Three-day disappearances into the mountain hike-ins for cathartic purges. Pushing up vertical faces and scrabbling along cliffbands, too focused on finding the next handhold to let the miasma of workplace bullshit creep in. Shedding civilized layers with each mile deeper into the backcountry carrying only essentials. Coming back to base camp gutburned and re-centered.

Those nights under the wheeling cosmos with every worry feeling so petty and planetary. Just me and campfire watching the slow waltz of stars, alone with my thoughts. No longer chasing them down obsessive spirals but simply letting each pass through the expansive quiet until perspective returned. Seeing myself as this minuscule but integral stitch in a vast tapestry achanging through seasons infinitely greater.

I’d come plodding back into town after those micro-walkabouts refreshed and reset. Clear vision of what battles to pick, which skirmishes weren’t worth the tax on my reserves. At peace with playing my own small role to the utmost of my ability between larger forces beyond my control. Happy acceptance of however the larger flow shifts and shapes the terrain, allowing me to simply ride those currents rather than futilely struggling against.

Don’t get me wrong, I still get overloaded sometimes and slip back into old patterns. The running monologue resumes, tension seizes the muscles. But now I’ve got tools to identify it quicker, to feel that panicker’s grip closing and consciously unstitch it. Pause, breathe, don’t attach or validate the stressors. Just witness, let go, stay present and grandly forgiving of life’s process working itself out in its own shambolic way.

It’s a never-ending dance, this interplay between ambitious striving and accepting what simply is. But learn the steps, reinforce good habits, maintain your vigor and presence – that’s how you abide in the deafening barrage without losing your damn mind. Meet each inflamed moment on your own cool, unflappable terms rather than letting it engulf your being. Life’s too groovily absurd to take anything too seriously or feverishly anyway.

Stress, anxiety, rage – that shit will lay you low if you don’t develop mastery over your responses. But hone the proper practices for grinding down those serrated edges into smooth polish, and you’ll be able to surf any storm. Problems come and go – some you solve, others you outlast by stubborn endurance. The main imperative is keeping inner seas navigable so you can keep charting your own course to wherever this crazy journey wants to take you.

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