"R u awake?" My phone buzzed with blue light. 

For young people, that kind of text means something else, but I never got those kinds of texts. For me, it’s just one thing: my clients are the kind of people who only have enough time to really sit back and think (aka worry) late at night.  

By the glory of Mountain Time, it was only 9pm for me. 

"Still early here, what's up?" I replied. 

"I think I'm going to get fired."  

Ah yep, Melissa finally had 5 minutes of peace and instead of pouring a wine and watching trash TV, she's thinking about office politics. 

And—come to think of it—these ARE the kinds of texts I got when I was younger! From speechwriter up to strategist, there's always a little bit of therapist.  

The difference is when I was younger, I didn't know the right response.

My client is prone to imposter syndrome. We all are. But I think the popular wisdom on rationalizing our way out of imposter feelings is all popular and no wisdom.

This is what the books say, and what younger me would have replied:

“It's okay. You’re not getting fired. We got five analysts to write about your specific projects in the last month, and the stock is up 12%. You are literally the best thing that has happened to your company in the last 18 months.” 

Sure that’s true, and maybe even helpful. But it is not useful.

Older Jesse has more perspective after a few dozen rodeos, plus my own backend method of stress-typing I'm going to share below. Why?

Over the years I’ve noticed two things. One, stress is a powerful force. Two, I think there’s three different types of it. 

Let's think about the first. If stress is a powerful force (sounds obvious), then what else is it powering in your life? After 18 years of working with ultra-high-achieving people, it's clearer to me that your stress is actually responsible for some of your success.  

When you look at it this way, stress isn’t a symptom of too much going on or proof you need a vacation. Instead, your success itself is a symptom of your stress.

In other words, stress is a force for good, with a small handful of annoying side effects like ceiling-staring.

Now the second: there's different types of stress?  Maybe! I’m more of a hobby woodworker than hobby psychologist. If there are, then how you USE your stress would be different depending on what kind you have. 

That’s why I care about the stress type.

For instance, in Melissa's case (not her real name, and I do have her permission), this late-night existential worry isn't a cry for help. It's a signal of what we need to do. 

She has Type 1 stress (imposter, more on that below).

But the reason I've built a mental model of stress types is not so I can pontificate to my clients about it. In fact, I've never mentioned this at all to anyone except you, right now. Incoming pontification! 

Instead, the value of judging my clients' stress types behind their backs is it helps me build solutions that work. Because that’s the only category of solutions I get paid for, plus for each type of stress that powers you forward, there’s a blindspot that comes with it.

Addressing that blindspot is almost always the key to keeping your stress levels both:

A: high-enough-to-be-helpful
B: low-enough-to-be-happy.

Since we're diving head-first into some Grade-A frameworkery, I'll spare you the psuedo-academic coachspeak and just tell you what I know.

Your job: see if one of these summaries resonates with you, then fix your ulcer-inducing blindspot. 

To keep it brief, I’ll focus on Type 1 stress this week, and we’ll cover the other two in the next issue.

At the end of each, I can make a pretty educated guess at what you probably need to be doing right now. The blindspot, and your key to a little better sleep.

Let's dive in. 

Type One: Imposter Stress

A more diplomatic name: Reflective Stress

(I've never needed diplomatic names until this thing we are doing now, where I tell you about my system).

Like all types, Imposter Stress is cyclical. Here’s how.

Anxiety about your inadequacy pushes you forward. In turn, you try to reduce this stress by ignoring it and working harder. Feeling like your peers are more advanced than you? You rush to catch up.

All of that leads to more high-performing output, yet again, which inevitably leads to another fast-tracked promotion or bigger responsibility for you. (Noticing a theme in your career?)

And on and on it goes. This never ends, especially if you think it will. Even in retirement this kind of stress will hunt you down. 

The upside is Imposter Stress usually comes with an edge in one big skill: self-awareness.

That gives you a natural instinct for personal growth, which has compounding outcomes over time. (And you should be thinking about “things-that-compound” the way my toddler thinks about easter eggs in April).

Also, you're not alone. Almost 90% of executives experience imposter stress.

Now here’s your blindspot: people who have imposter stress are hesitant to communicate a clear vision.

So you're probably already too late on that, and this is a weakness that actually can get you fired. Work on it now. Think about it more. Speak at more all-hands and offsites. Talk to your people. Tell them the future you see in any forum you can find.

Because what is leadership but helping others proceed through uncertainty?

But there’s a bigger play here for you. Forcing yourself to articulate and share a bold vision (before you think you need to) does more than inspire and engage your teams. It’s also going to help you sleep better.

How?

Doing this work will naturally shift your self-reflective time away from thinking critically about yourself to thinking about what you think. Productive over destructive. No wine or trash TV required. 

In fact, that's exactly what we did for Melissa. By developing and evangelizing a vision for her work, we changed the narrative from Wall Street's version to her version in under 6 months.

It went from: "She has helped the company do some good things,"

And became:  "The way she thinks and operates is beneficial to any company that can get access to her."

You can see how one narrative invites a lot more calls from recruiters. And a lot fewer nighttime texts!

Next week: Type 2 and Type 3.

Type 3 is Burnout Stress, a big one that a whole lot of you are going to be feeling before the Halloween candy is even a stomachache.

In the meantime, trick or treat!

-Jesse

PS: Speaking of “defining a vision and narrative for yourself,” (and because it came up with an old friend this week), check out this 2019 conversation between Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel. 

In addition to some good comms lessons, that email thread also makes a little more sense of the Gold-Chain-Zuck strategy we're seeing right now. And as always, there's tons else to notice. I put a few of my own notes in the document for you.

PSS: Share this newsletter with your friends who don’t like losing. One reason I’m writing it is over 18 years, too many of my clients have called me their “secret weapon.” Which is flattering, but it’s also kind of the way people talk about Ozempic. So I see Novo Nordisk as proof there’s room to scale!

Another reason I started this letter is Publera is not currently accepting new clients (except referrals in a crisis, please do feel free to reach out). And there are no ads in this email. So all I have to sell you is a more successful, less-stressed, version of yourself. And your friends.

Finally, thanks again as always. All of your replies and input are making this funner than ever—keep hitting me up!

Jesse