5 Daily Stress Hacks That Keep Me From Losing My Sh*t (Most Days)

today. Oh my gosh. Well, first up, I have had a week from hell, and so what I wanted to do on today's episode is really dive into those trenches of stress. And survival and some of those daily habits that I use that keep me from

totally combusting in the hope that it can help you in your weeks if you are having one of those, because I absolutely lost my shit this week.

No big drama, no catastrophe, just. An explosion of emotions. a snap tone at my husband getting shitty with the kids, and a general sense that I could burn it all down and move to a hut in the mountains if I wanted to. Does any of that sound familiar? The kicker here is that it wasn't anyone else's fault.

the ones that I need to actually be really focused on that will stop me spiraling and coming back to myself, and hopefully yourself too. So I thought this may help you. So let's just call it as it is. Life is bloody stressful right now. we're running our businesses, we're managing teams, we're launching offers, we're looking for clients, We are dealing with all of the weird politics and heavy news that goes on. And some of us might be dealing with unexpected bills. And all of the while you are trying to stay healthy and mindful and Instagramable inspirational, and some days it is too much. And I've been hearing lots of similar stories from so many of my clients over the last couple of weeks.

And I think it's because this mental load that we're all experiencing right now is relentless. You know, you've got to keep the marketing going. You've got to make those sales. We've got to deliver like pros. We've got to build the bills all while showing up with charisma and thought leadership and inspiration.

And all the while we've gotta keep breathing, right? So if you are feeling on edge, if you're feeling overwhelmed. Or if you're feeling anything like me last week, two minutes, two seconds, actually not even two minutes, two seconds. From a total utter a meltdown, I want you to know that you're not alone. so many of us that are running our own businesses right now, or so many of us that are in senior positions of leadership right now.

And my nervous system, quite honestly, was totally shot. I was overtired, I was under, I was overstimulated. I was completely disconnected from myself, and that's, that's when it hit me. I'd actually let my own stress rituals go. Not in like a big dramatic way, but slowly and sneakily. Those good habits that I'd had in place had slipped.

The support systems had failed, and suddenly I was surviving. I wasn't leading at all, and so I had to hit pause. I had to grab my journal and I did. A reset. there might have been a few phone calls to some very dear friends as well. To have that rant, have that rage to essentially realize that I had to reset, I had to recommit to the habits that I know enable me to survive.

Because here's the thing, the reset that was needed was me. I couldn't blame my clients. I couldn't blame my diary. I couldn't blame those phone calls that had come in. It was nobody else's fault but mine. It was time to reset those anti-stress habits. And so what I thought I'd do is share with you some of the real stress hacks that work for me and the things that I've actually got to really double down on, particularly during these tricky, challenging times.

So what I've had to do is really hack my day and I've had to work out how do I make sure that that meditation becomes part of my day. So what I do now, it's the first thing I do. I've set my alarm. I. 30 minutes earlier than what I was doing, and my alarm will now go off 30 minutes earlier. I nip to the bathroom and then I actually crawl back into bed, and I reach over and I grab my AirPods, which I've left beside my bed the night before.

I press play on my meditation. And lately what I've been loving is David G's deep healing meditation that you can find on Insight timer. I absolutely love it. it's 23 minutes of deep healing meditation. I listen to the same one. Every single day, the breathing, the centering, the visualization, all of it's setting the tone for my day, and it has to be this way to become a discipline.

Because what I've realized is meditation isn't a luxury. it's actually not a nice to have. It's a non-negotiable. There's a beautiful, client in my community, a lady called Louise Gibson, and I love the fact that every single Monday when we write down, what are we committing to for this week, what are the three non-negotiables for the last 18 months, every single week, her number one non-negotiable has been meditation.

Now the second thing for me is slow mornings. Yes, I start at the gym. I do, but they're part of my slow mornings and, and when I say slow mornings, I mean intentional. For me, it starts with F 45. That's my gym of choice. I absolutely love it. To make sure it becomes part of my slow morning habit. I lay out my gym gear the night before, you know, runners, leggings, socks, everything's there so that when my alarm goes off, when I've completed my meditation, I can literally go and put my gym gear on and off I go.

I don't have to negotiate with myself. I just have to get my sorry ass out of bed and go, and I love F 45. It works well for me because. Yes, it's cardio, yes, it's weight, using weights and strength exercises. But for me, it's the community. You know, part of my slow morning is turning up at the gym.

It's seeing those familiar faces. It's being greeted by my name. It's not having to. Think because someone else has done the thinking and the planning. For me, it's energizing, it's grounding, it's motivating, and for me it's a non-negotiable. And then how my slow morning continues is I head home, I grab a quiet coffee, hopefully before the rest of the house wakes up, and I try and spend a few minutes.

With my journal, nothing fancy, just checking in with myself, reflecting and setting my tone for the day. So that's my number two. And I reckon your challenge here, if you fancy doing this, is just lay the clothes out the night before. Commit to movement, any form of movement in the morning, whether it's the gym, whether it's yoga, whether it's walk, whether it's even a dance party in your kitchen, whatever it is, start the day with you.

It's absolute soul therapy. But here's the thing, I was recently working with a sports nutritionist who got me to start tracking my steps. And when I started tracking my steps, I realized I actually wasn't doing enough. 'cause it's easy to sit at my desk all day, to work all day without even noticing.

And she challenged me to first up hit 10,000 steps and then she even ramped it up to 14,000 steps. And guess what? When I was being held accountable, I found the time. I planned it into my calendar. But what I've realized. Particularly on the back of last week and losing my shit is that when that accountability goes, so did my walks, so did my steps.

And so this week I had the wake up call and I've realized that I've stopped doing the steps again. So this morning before I hit record on this podcast, I opened up my calendar and I scheduled my walks back in. It doesn't have to be long, even 30 minutes around the block, but it's there. I've looked at my calendar.

I've actually looked at what's ahead, and whilst the weeks ahead is still pretty crammed, I've actually blocked out the moment for those walks in my calendar, but I've also planned it ahead. So if you look, were to look at my calendar for September, October, November, December for six months, nine months ahead, they're all ready in there.

It's in there, it's booked, it's going to happen

Make a cup of coffee and be present whilst you're making that cup of coffee. Even watch a short episode of something. Read a chapter of a book. It doesn't matter. Open up your meditation app. Do 10 minutes deep breathe. Change the state. The thing here is. Part of this stress hack, whether it's walking, listening to music, reading something, is to change the energy and change the outcome.

So why don't you open your calendar up right now, you know, schedule that 10 minute walk between meetings, walk and voice note, take your meetings on the move, whatever it is, just get up. So movement through the day is my number three. stress hack. Number four. Oh my gosh. Boundaries. Boundaries are absolutely beautiful, but you've got to enforce them.

This has always been a hard one for me. It's a continuous learning exercise for me, and I was recently chatting with a mentor of mine about the definition of success. We got to the point that success is not just about the money, it's actually about energy, and it's about time. True success is having all three, it's having money.

It's having the time to do what you want to do, and it's having the energy to do what you want to do. And yet in so many of our. Lives we're chasing the money, we're chasing the business growth. We're chasing those new clients. And what we tend to do in that chase, in that hustle is we are sacrificing the time and our energy.

It's this, it's this rethink that I've got to do. I was talking to a really good mate of mine this weekend and we were saying that it's almost like we need to have a tattoo on ourself that says heal self first. Heal me first because of this childhood hard wiring to actually put yourself last. So. I don't know if you are experiencing the same, but for me, I'm an absolute work in progress here, and I'm so grateful that I've got so many people in my inner circle that hold me accountable to this because it does mean that I need help.

Now, this is where, for me, there's two things that come into play. One is my calendar is my boss, and I have a boss. Of my calendar and that is my incredible ea Vander. She is the boss of my calendar. So here's what I do. I put rules into my calendar. I time block. I have time to think. I have time when I'm doing deep work.

I have time when it's about clients. They can access my canor. I put in the time to travel. I put in time for holidays. I put in time to go to the beautician, to to run to exercise. I put in time to eat. I even put in time to stop. And all of this is color coded, like a glitter loving and ninja, and Vander is in charge of that.

My EA protects my time. She calls me on my crap, on my, Bullshit, essentially, and she enf enforces my own rules. I've given her permission to enforce my own rules, and she is in charge. She can call me on that when I'm tempted to overwrite them. She is allowed to call me on it.

And the final thing for me. For stress is stop. Rest, reset. And sleep. This one is so simple and yet it's the first thing again that I abandon, that I hear so many amazing women around me abandoning when we're stressed and I'm learning again and again. That rest. Is a business strategy. And when I rest, I know I, when I rest properly, I know I sleep better.

I can think better. I can lead like a boss. I can lead like a badass, rebel magician that I am. It requires me to be intentional about it. So at night I have my stop time of work. It's about having that time with the family. It is about sitting with the family and watching for me some UNN stuff on tv. I.

It's about reading. And for me, I read fiction books, not leadership books at night. I can't read business blogs. It's gotta be fantasy and dystopian fiction, you know, give me dragons and fairies and crumbling worlds and epic quests is absolute escapism for the soul. So my ritual, as I've said, is I have that shut off time.

I set my alarm of when I'm going to bed, when I'm in bed. I read. The dystopian, the escapism fiction for the soul, and I make sure that I'm giving my brain that chance. To say thank you so that I can actually rest. And by the way, I have recently got into the habit, which I'm loving of using my insight timely, actually a sleep music meditation.

And so my challenge for you this week is maybe choose either one of these things and make it your daily non-negotiable or have a think about. What makes you feel good? Because you know this stuff. You know this stuff intuitively for yourself. What are your five stress reduction habits? And anchor them.

Make them your non-negotiables. Let these nourish you. Let's let these things remind you that you matter just as much as your clients, as your kids, as your calendar, as your cash flow. Make sure that you put yourself first so that you can serve. Those people around you in the best way possible. Now, if you love this episode, please share it with someone who you think needs this reminder.

Leave me a review, a comment, tag me on the socials, uh, or send me a pic of your favorite stress free habit, because we are in this together, and the more that we prioritize ourselves, the more brilliance we can unleash. And the world needs you, my friend. The world needs you to do your awesome work right now.

Until next time, I want you to be kind to yourself, breathe deeply, and please go and reset that nervous system like the glorious rebel queen that you are.