Science shows us the more sustained our stress is the more we…

• Make poor decisions-reduce memory

• Affect sleep quality

• Reduce empathy for another

• Become more selfish

This is to name a few of a long list.

When I talk about sustained stress I’m of course not talking the ‘temporary’ out of control feeling that you get on a roller coaster.

Stress can be measured on how out of ‘control’ you feel and the associated risk attached.

So a rollercoaster hits both lack of control and slight risk but many find it FUN.

Yet, financial struggle in a struggling economy shoots many people off the scale of stress and how sustained it is.

When I work with professionals and clients I always want them to understand that we as humans have amazing abilities yet sustained stress makes us dumb.

Literally.

As with anything, the body will re-regulate, so if you have sustained stress over a long period you don’t just suffer the effect of the ‘event’, it’s affects the pathways in the body.

Some key areas would be lack of drive or contentment for life

Lowered sexual function and drive

Depression due to over stimulation of neurotransmitter pathways.

Again, just to name a few!

People try all sorts to combat stress but what we do most often which is kind of depressing is ‘project’ our stress on another.

As Dr R.Salposky said “We’d rather give another an ulcer than have our own’.

Stress over a long period doesn’t just contribute to every metabolic illness, it pushes away the people that you care about.

People think meditation or exercise is enough, yet look at stress rates, they just rise and rise.

I believe one of the key things we are missing is understanding of WHY we respond to stress in the way we do.

Whether Marta and I deal with corporate clients, pro athletes or professionals we always want them to understand their BEHAVIOUR and its triggers.

You don’t actually make a choice on behaviour in the moment, that’s just neurotransmitters firing,

You don’t even make it a few hours to days before, that’s just hormonal pathways…

Our behaviours around stress are patterned long before we can imagine.

Thus, simple ‘habit’ change work like ‘morning routine’ without letting someone know why they will likely give up is in my opinion fruitless.

When you can understand behaviours and what contributes to them, you take back power.

More importantly you can contextualise fear.

See it differently and EXPERIENCE it differently.

It’s TIME to step up to embrace all the parts that you hide from YOURSELF and the world.

You see, I know you hide desires from people close to you and friends alike.

I know you bite your tongue to think you are keeping the peace.

I know you people please in the hope that it will be reciprocated in the future.

I know.

Yet suppression is the leading manifestation of Depression.

We are shaped and squished into these perfect little boxes that we paint in society, thing is everyone hates the boxes lol.

If you are a creative then the idea of waking up to an alarm, driving to a building where you sit in a cubicle for 8 hours then go home…

Not to mention the fact that someone else decides whether they give you time off or not…FUCK THAT.

Now I’ve had some pretty dark spots on my entrepreneurial journey to date, wondering what’s the point, shall I give up, get a real job?

Then I think.

Are you INSANE CLIFF?!

Now I’m pretty sure society would label be me insane for the life I live and the path I take yet just because LOTS of people think a certain way, doesn’t make it fact.

I think everyone that goes to work 5 days a week and does 40 hours of a job they give zero fucks for is INSANE.

Literally watching life pass by with every tick of the clock.

Maybe you have been there or maybe you are there.

I’m not a fan of telling people HOW to live, I just chose my path to look this way.

I do ask people often to step back and ask themselves ‘hWy they do what they do’.

The most popular answer…‘I don’t know’

Often people start with goals and visions, over the years they get ground down and they put their soul on a cheese grater each day……..just so they can keep up with society’s expectation of how life should look.

Yet when we zoom out… I see an issue here.

If society, governments and religions have got it all so right…Why is suicide so high?

Why is disease so high?

Why is obesity so high?

Hardly signs of a world that is happy, fulfilled and content.

Now don’t for a moment think I’m saying every entrepreneur is happy, healthy and loving the dream.

Far from it.

All I’m saying that if YOU have unfulfilled desires, goals and dreams, don’t let society judge whether they are a good idea or not.

It’s better to start and realise it’s not for you than to never start and have guaranteed regret.

Many things I have done in life I have come to realise are not for me but how do I know, I gave it a go.

Don’t die with your song still inside you

Brain inflammation is often thought as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, when in reality it’s more complex.

When I screen new clients, I always do a neurological assessment.

People that are at most risk of brain inflammation are:

• People over 60 (sadly an increase in brain inflammation is associated with age _
• People who have experienced a TBI (traumatic brain injury)
• People that have blacked out and suffered concussions
• People with Autoimmune issues (especially IBD).

However, it gets a little more complex than that.

If you are in poor health (like high blood pressure / stressed / diabetes)

THEN bump your head…

…You become WAY more susceptible to inflammation issues.

Now, because the brain doesn’t have pain receptors, inflammation shows up in many different ways like…

… Brain Fog, Low mind endurance, unresponsive depression, poor motor skills (balance etc).

Furthermore, when we work with people, we want to know what stage someone falls into with brain inflammation.

First stage is ‘Transient’ Symptoms include:

• Brain fog
• Noticeable variations in mental speed
• Reduced brain endurance
• Brain fatigue after certain foods, smells or chemicals.

Then we move onto more moderate inflammation:

• Depression
• Inability to concentrate for long periods
• Sleepiness
• Lethargy
• Lack of motivation
• Loss of appetite
• Inability to be physically active

Then we have the most severe stage:

• Delirium / confusion
• Dementia
• Coma
• Seizures
• Difficulty speaking
• Trembling

You should notice that many of the symptom in the first category,

MANY people have on a day to day basis and learn to live with.

It’s not necessary.

That’s why myself and Marta have put together a 90 minute workshop to show you how identify your brain inflammation and reverse it with lifestyle changes.

Now of course, if you are stage three, go to your primary healthcare practitioner, but if you fall in the first 2 categories..

Our next workshop will blow your mind and give you a map to set yourself free.

To have the focus, the energy and happiness you miss.

And its all for just £47.

Yep, you read that right.

We want to reach as many people as possible with this workshop so we’d love to have you join us, and anyone you know.

I’ll make a BOLD promise right now…

If you attend and it doesn’t BLOW you away, I’ll refund your money on the spot.

No questions asked.

Join my 90 Minute Masterclass – January 19th – just 24 hours left to grab your early bird seat for less than £50 – join us here

If you have any questions and want to get in touch you can do so here

The lie many have been sold over and over is that depression is caused by an imbalance of the chemicals in the brain.

I’ll not go into detail here but there was some pretty sketchy science in the 60’s that laid the foundations for the multi-billion anti-depressant industry we see today.

I won’t stand here and tell you I have all the answers and know of a ‘better way’.

Yet facts are pretty clear, the drugs that are so happily handed out to people are poor at best.

The science shows us that the actual rate of effectiveness compared to placebo is minimal.

So why are they so readily given out?

That’s a long story, very long.

But as someone who has been in dark places and been around people that have been there too, I’d share this.

If you buy the story that you have a chemical imbalance in your brain and the only hope is a drug…

Here’s what happens…

You give your power away.

You essentially start a fight between you and your mind.

The fight is, body why are you doing this to me, why are you letting me down.

You become powerless, change will not happen from this place.

For me, depression is multifaceted and it’s not the same answer for everyone to move into a place where you feel happier and calm.

Yet, your physical health has a HUGE impact on how you feel..

Several GOOD studies back this up.

Emotional stress has been shown to affect parts of your brain that will reduce levels of serotonin.

Poor sleep will slow the creation of new tissue and keep low level inflammation higher.

Feeling unsure of your future and security will raise stress hormones which DO reduce your ability to feel good.

I can go on and on.

Yet I’ll finish up here.

Depression is real.

Medication can and does help people.

Yet, it’s not an answer long term.

The more you take, the more you become blunted from the effects.

In turn the more you need.

Sadly, the side affects associated with the higher doses far outweigh any possible benefits

(in my view).

There is another way, in fact there are lots.

Just some food for thought!