How Important Is Having A Plan For Stress?

Stress is often the result of not having a plan to address our internal struggles—those private, often unspoken experiences like unhelpful thoughts, difficult emotions, and uncomfortable body sensations or urges. When we lack the tools to cope with these challenges in the moment, stress takes hold.

Over the years, I’ve worked with individuals ranging from 14 to 70 years old, and one thing I’ve consistently observed is that most people don’t have a plan for managing stress in the heat of the moment. Many have post-stress plans—like going for a run or heading to the gym—but few know how to handle the pressure as it arises. This gap leaves them vulnerable to stress in real time.

When I work with athletes, I often ask them how they manage exercise-induced pain—the burning sensation in their muscles when they push their bodies. The uncomfortable truth is that no one really has a plan for it. Wouldn’t you agree then, that individuals would improve significantly more with a strategy?

This lack of preparedness extends beyond the physical; it impacts mental resilience and confidence as well. Without a plan, people feel exposed to uncertainty, which undermines their self-belief. Confidence grows when you know what to do if something unexpected happens, when you’ve prepared mentally for the discomforts that arise.

But when people don’t have a plan, they often develop avoidance strategies to escape their discomfort. This can take the form of unhealthy habits like substance abuse, emotional eating, or other behaviors that offer temporary relief but ultimately worsen the problem. Avoiding stress rather than confronting it only compounds the issue, leading to deeper struggles over time. Substance use, for example, might dull the emotional pain in the short term, but it can lead to dependence and more intense feelings of stress and anxiety when the effects wear off.

That’s where I come in. My goal is to help people develop practical, in-the-moment strategies for managing stress. With a plan, they can face challenges with greater ease, reduce their stress, improve performance, and build lasting confidence.