This week, a client told me she hadn’t slept all night.
She was convinced she was going broke. Not because business had slowed down, or because sales had suddenly dropped, but because she’d received a letter from the ATO with a very big number on it.
By the time we met, she’d already played out every worst-case scenario in her head.
So, we spent ten minutes breaking it down.
That number included GST, PAYG withholding, and tax instalments. Once we separated it out and looked at what was actually due, it wasn’t what she thought it was at all.
It got me thinking about how often this happens in business.
We see a big bill, a difficult email, a quiet week in sales, or a number we don’t fully understand, and our mind starts filling in the blanks. More often than not, it fills them in with the worst possible version of the story.
The tricky thing is that uncertainty can feel more stressful than reality. When you don’t know what something means, your brain has plenty of room to imagine all the ways it could go wrong.
But once you understand what’s actually happening, you can make a plan.
You might not love the answer. You might still need to adjust, prioritise, or have a difficult conversation. But at least you’re dealing with the facts, not the fear you’ve built around them.
So, if something in your business is keeping you awake right now, don’t sit there guessing at 2am. Reach out, get the facts, and talk it through.
Clarity might not always change the outcome, but it almost always reduces the fear.
So maybe the question is: what are you worrying about right now that might feel lighter once you actually understand it?
Remember, small steps lead to big wins.
