Reducing Stress Is Worthwhile

The most effective way to reduce stress is to find an efficient way to deal with the problem or challenge that’s causing it.

If a new client is a royal pain, figure out how to handle him or pass him off to a competitor. If a new set of regulations is making your routine work difficult, master them.

It’s not the nature of the task or the length of it that creates stress. It’s the lack of knowing how to do it. Ultimately, stress is caused by ignorance and confusion.

That said, understand that a growing business will always create stress. That’s because growth means change and change means new and new means unfamiliarity. (And you know what unfamiliarity means: ignorance and confusion.)

There may come a time when you will want to run a zero-stress business. It will be when you…

• Have made all the money you want to make

• Have accomplished all the business objectives you’ve set for yourself

• And you are in a position to slow down a little bit and enjoy the world’s blessings.

But right now, you probably aren’t ready for that. You are more than likely still in the growth-and-acquisition phase, the wealth-building part of your life. If that’s the case, you need to accept the reality that stress will be with you for many years to come — and learn to handle it. All you have to do is realize that stress is caused by lack of knowledge and that lack of knowledge can be easily cured.

[Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]