Don't worry. It's already done.

Stress can seem like an inevitable part of life. We’ve almost always got a full plate, and it can really wear us down. It can be so hard to get out from under it all.

What’s worse, managing stress can seem like another task we’ve got to add to our to-do lists. It can be a vicious cycle that’s tough to break free from.

One of the most effective strategies I use myself and share with my clients is to tell yourself the task is already done.

Let me explain.

When I was in college, I was having a difficult time completing a story for a fiction writing course I was taking. I decided to tell myself that the story was already done, I simply had to get it from the non-physical “storyworld” on the page. I had to relax and let it come to me. “Whew, thank goodness this story is already done!” I told myself. The pressure was off and the story came to me. 

I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time, but this strategy definitely makes a lot of sense from a law of attraction standpoint. What you focus on expands. Once I focused on the work being done, that reality expanded. That’s the law of attraction at work. 

It also makes a lot of sense from a scientific perspective. When we’re stressed, our brains go into fight-or-flight mode, and this isn’t a great headspace for critical thinking. Fight-or-flight brain is triggered to get the body away from danger. It’s great for escaping bad guys or other genuine dangers, not so much deadlines.

When you tell yourself the project/task/event is already complete and allow yourself to relax into that knowing, you calm the fight-or-flight trigger so your brain can think critically. And, you align energetically to attract what you’re believing you already have. You engage your body’s rest-and-digest mechanism instead and are better able to receive inspired ideas.

Let’s put this stress-busting strategy to practice.

Ask yourself the following questions:

·   What’s eating you? What are you stressed, anxious, or worried about?

·   What’s your ideal outcome?

Now, imagine your ideal outcome has already occurred. It’s reality. Focus on how this makes you feel physically and emotionally, picking out each individual sensation.

Soak in those good vibes for at least 30 seconds. Roll around in the sensation of having checked that task off your to-do list. This feeling of contentment helps you think better, opening up your mind to creative thoughts. It also aligns you energetically with what you’re wanting to create. 

Anytime you feel stress creeping up on you, especially when you can pinpoint your stress to one specific event, take a few minutes to do the exercise above. Let your brain know you’ve got things handled and handling them becomes that much easier.