We’re burning time, energy, and money firefighting the very thing we could eliminate at the root.
Isn’t it time for a radical shift.
Let’s be blunt.
Businesses are spending obscene amounts of money managing something they don’t even want.
Stress.
Money is being spent everywhere on stress management.
- Stress in leadership.
- Stress in teams.
- Stress in customers.
- Stress in systems.
Over the years, I’ve watched companies funnel six- and seven-figure budgets into managing all the things they don’t want. They do it intelligently, with a strategy and a team of people working to succeed at something they don’t want.
Teams of people managing complaints, inefficiencies, errors, resignations, miscommunication, rework, drama, health issues, and disengagement. The list is endless, costly and demotivating.
But here’s the hard truth:
Most of those ‘costs’ are symptoms of what we now refer to as “stress”. They are not strategic problems.
And what’s even worse is we’ve normalised them. It’s just the way it is.
There is a more efficient way – Dismantle the Stress System Instead
The Hidden Economic Drain
Stress is costing UK businesses over £56 billion a year — that’s 2.2% of GDP.
(Source: Deloitte, “Mental Health and Employers” Report, 2022)
If we cut that by just half – and I believe that’s very doable – we’d release £28 billion back into the economy — that’s an average of £20,000 per employer business.
Twenty thousand – just by solving what’s silently draining it.
We hire HR to “handle the people stuff.”
We invest in Free Pizza Friday’s as a bribe to improve productivity (I’ve seen that so many times), promote well-being perks that barely scratch the surface. Don’t get me wrong I’m 100% pro-wellbeing!
We spend days — DAYS — in meetings trying to figure out what went wrong. We tolerate dysfunction and build systems to fix another symptom of a previously created problem based on flawed decision making and ego, because it’s “just part of business as usual.”
But all of that is simply managing the fallout of unaddressed stress.
It’s the same logic as building a team to handle customer complaints instead of fixing the thing that caused the complaint in the first place.
Madness.
And that £56 billion figure?
It doesn’t even include:
- The missed growth opportunities
- The brilliance never actioned
- The ideas lost in foggy minds
- The deals missed because someone couldn’t focus
- The team member who left because their nervous system couldn’t cope and we’ve all seen it – the best people leave first.
This isn’t fluffy. It’s financially stupid.
Dismantling Stress = Unleashing Growth
Here’s a question:
“What if we stopped managing stress and instead you discover how to dismantle it at the root?
What if you engineered a business that doesn’t rely on cortisol? One that’s not addicted to pressure. That doesn’t create burnout, exhaustion and loss of enjoyment? One that doesn’t need urgency and chaos to perform, but is peaceful, purposeful and profitable? I call that a business full of Joyful Profits.
Because the reality is you can.
It’s what I’ve been doing quietly with founders, execs, and high-performing teams..
The Process is Straightforward
We analyse in minutes what takes most data analysts months to do.
We reverse-engineer the real root cause.
Not just more silo wellbeing to go to do before going back to the place and work that caused the stress in the first place.
Not just another layer of mindset to learn and remember amidst the stress.
Not just breathe more, do more yoga or meditation (and I can say that with love and experience!)
Not adding yet another app or one-hour webinar on resilience.
I’m talking about building natural human level neurological safety into your operations and energetic clarity into your leadership. These are precision systems that stabilise nervous systems without ever needing to name them – which of course supports people who are too stressed and overwhelmed to even consider spending a minute on themselves.
This is what I call Stress Dismantling.
Not stress management because management is what you do when you don’t plan to change anything, when everything is working well and needs to be kept on track.
Why This Matters Now
If you’re still investing in band-aids, you’re paying to keep the wound open.
If your team is brilliant but fried…
If you’re scaling but shaky…
If you’re feeling foggy even after a full night’s sleep…
Is now the time to stop managing what you don’t want.
Dismantle the stress system.
Reclaim the energy.
Grow from a place of peace, not pressure.
Because stressed leaders make noisy decisions.
But focused founders?
They make money.
Ready to stop the madness of spending money on what you don’t want?
Let’s find the hidden stress-drivers in your business. You’ll be shocked how quickly clarity — and profit — returns.
Profit without peace is pressure. And pressure has a cost.
Always.
— Gail
If you’re circling the same problem, idea, or decision — and you know it’s not a surface-level thing — let’s talk. Because once you see the pattern, you’re free to choose something else.