The Entrepreneurs Guide to STRESSFUL Times

Let’s face it: entrepreneurship is stressful. If you’re like me, you’ve probably tried to juggle being a parent, running a business, staying fit, and keeping it all together. I’ve been there. I was pushing myself hard—working a full-time job, raising a family, building a side hustle, training hard—and I thought I could just handle it. But I had no real stress management strategy in place, and eventually, it all started to catch up with me.

Then came the tension headaches.

I had never experienced anything like it. It felt like a giant rubber band wrapped around my skull, squeezing tighter with each passing day. I didn’t believe stress could do that to me, but it turns out I was dead wrong.

And that’s when I started taking stress management seriously. Not in a vague, “I should chill out more” kind of way, but with a real, trackable system. I call it the Stress Management Game, and today I want to show you how to play it.

Understanding the Game: Stress vs. Recovery

Every day, you start with a score of zero. From there, you’ll add stressors (which I call hormesis) and counterbalance them with recovery modalities. The goal? Never dig your stress hole so deep that you can’t recover.

Common Stressors (Hormesis)

These are all forms of physical or psychological stress. For each one, you subtract 2 points:

Training – Strength or endurance workouts
Fasting – 12+ hour fasts
Heat Exposure – Sauna, hot baths, etc.
Cold Exposure – Ice baths, cold showers
Plant Toxins – Like high garlic doses or other stress-inducing foods
Stressful Day – Business, parenting, etc.

Let’s say I trained and had a stressful workday. That’s -4.

Recovery Modalities

To neutralize stress, you need recovery practices. Each one adds +1:

Sleep: 7–9 hours
Hydration: At least 50% of your body weight in ounces
Nutrition: Protein plus micronutrients at each meal
Blood Flow: Walking, biking, light cardio (10–30 minutes)
Sun or Vitamin D: Outdoor exposure or supplements
Breath Work or Meditation: Intentional breathing or mindfulness sessions

So to balance my earlier -4, I’d need four of these: maybe sleep, hydration, nutrition, and a walk in the sun.

Why You Can’t Do It All

Here’s the harsh truth I had to learn the hard way: you can’t outwork chronic stress. You can’t train hard, fast, cold plunge, sauna, and then pile on a 12-hour workday and expect to be fine.

The stress stacks up fast, and most people aren’t doing enough to offset it.

This system taught me to be more mindful of the stress I accumulate. I track it every day in a simple note on my phone. And when I notice myself going into the negative for too many days in a row, I stop, recover, and reset.

That’s how I’ve been able to stay in the entrepreneurial game for 15+ years without burning out—and still be fully present for my family and consistent with my goals.

Stress Management Isn’t Optional

I didn’t take stress management seriously until my body forced me to. I hope you don’t wait that long. Gamify it now. Track your stress. Track your recovery. Build it into your lifestyle.

It’s not just about surviving this season—it’s about staying in the game for the long haul.

Try harder. Recover smarter. Live bigger.

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