How to Manage Stress in a Declining Economy
“Am I Okay Today, This Week, This Month?”
_ Jim Porter, CEO, StressStop.com
I recently interviewed Jim Porter, CEO of StressStop.com on my video podcast show, Boom Baby Boom. He and I not only talked about managing stress, we also delved into these topics:
Career Transition: We discussed how he transitioned from the film industry into being one of the countries leading experts on Stress Management.
Personal Stress Management: We talked about how he manages his own stress and Jim shared the story about the people who were instrumental in his life; the mentors who introduced him to stress management techniques.
The Great Recession and the Negative Business Impact: I was especially intrigued and impressed when I learned how Jim put his stress management training to the test in his own life. Jim’s business went through the Great Recession (2008). To add to the adversity, StressStop.com was impacted for a longer period of time. Jim had secured many government contracts and most of those clients contracted with him 1 year ahead of time. Because of this, initially the funding was available.
However, when government policy changed his customers were afraid to purchase. His clients weren’t sure how their business would be impacted by the government’s decisions and new laws so they stopped spending money. Jim’s business took a big hit. For example, he normally sold BCBS over 100 K copies of his Stress Profilers but they put a halt on purchasing.
To make things more difficult, Jim’s business was also transitioning into the digital world. He and his team were ready for the transition. Unfortunately, customers no longer wanted workbooks, but they also weren’t ready to consume the content digitally.
The 2 challenges put together created the perfect economic storm in Jim’s business. How did he get through it? One day at the time. He said he checked in with himself asking, “Am I okay today? Do I have enough money today, this week, this month?” His day to day approach helped him manage the stress of his touch and go business.
The great news is, Jim’s business recovered, and today some of his clients include some well known names. He has secured contracts with MIT, the National Space and Air Museum, the Senate and House of Representatives as well as Amica insurance. Jim’s resilience truly paid off!
As we continued the interview, Jim shared a quote that I think is worth repeating:
“The present moment is a refuge from the anxiety of the future. It is also a refuge from anger because we aren’t re-living the past.” — Jim Porter, CEO StressStop.com
He explained his statement simply by saying anxiety is caused by thinking about things in the future that haven’t even happened. Anger is often the side effect of reviewing things that have already occurred, yet we can’t change the past.
Simply stated, yet profound.
It was a pleasure to learn from Jim and I hope this short blog offers you some clarity about living in the moment. I also hope you find encouragement if your business is going through tough times now. Like I said in the interview, “you’ll get to the other side of it.”
Jim is the author of Stop Stress This Minute. He is the President and CEO of StressStop.com where he and his team have created tools to help businesses and individual learn how to better manage stress.
Today Jim’s business is thriving. He has even created an app, My Stress Tools. Originally, Jim intended for the app to be used in businesses, but he received many requests for individual use. So, now he is making it available for individual usage.
My Stress Tools includes his book, Stop Stress This Minute and the Stress Profiler as well as lessons from the likes of Dan Goleman. You can learn how to:
Measure Stress
Practice Mindfulness
Learn about Resilience
Track Your Progress
If you want to learn how to better manage your stress tune in! Check out Jim’s website and try out his new app, My Stress Tools.
Key Topics & Time Stamps -video
Introduction — Getting to know Jim — 4:22–5:51
Mindfulness — how the term and practice has been turned into something everyone can digest & funny story about how he and his wife get along– 7::03–9:54 minutes
Exercise — another stress buster 10:22–11:35 minutes
Career Transition — something already good at & building biz/content (teaching him how to launch his biz/his job) -9 minutes — 14:11/35
Business Recovery — Getting to the good side of his business after the Great Recession 14:35–1740 to today 18:57
App (My Stress Tools) — 20:35–23:40
Wrap up — Where to access free tools, StressStop.com & Blog
List of resources included in episode:
If you liked the show and would like to see the full version pop over to my YouTube Channel. If you like this content and want to be notified when I release new shows then please subscribe to Boom Baby Boom!
You can also follow me @ kimsheldahl.com/blog
Thanks for watching!
Kim Sheldahl is an Amazon # 1 Best Selling Author of Hack into Oz, and Get the Most Out of Life. Her book takes you down a familiar yellow brick road but this time you discover something new, Operational Zones.
She is the host of Boom Baby Boom, a coach and certified Kolbe consultant.
Kim is on a mission to help others understand their instinctive way they solve problems, their Operational Zones. She wants people to feel great about their natural instinctive problem solving abilities, encounter less stress and live fuller lives.
