Why Stress Is a Brain State Problem (And How I Learned to Coach Myself Out of It)

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In this episode, Dr. Jon Finn shares the single most important thing he’s learned about managing stress — not from theory, but from coaching himself over many years.

We live in a world of constant transition: post-COVID disruption, rising uncertainty, and the accelerating AI era. Yet most traditional approaches to stress were never designed around how the brain actually works. The brain doesn’t run on information — it runs in Brain States, driven by habits.

Dr. Finn explains why stress is fundamentally a disconnection of meaning in the brain, how these stress responses silently drain hours of cognitive energy every day, and why so many people become stuck in unhelpful thinking loops without even realising it.

He also shares why the real breakthrough came when he stopped trying to “think his way out” of stress and instead learned how to coach himself using the same approach he now uses with clients. The episode explores why focused reflection is one of the most powerful habits for reprocessing stress — and why learning to coach others is often the fastest route to mastering your own brain.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, distracted, or as though you don’t have time to work on stress, this episode may help you see why you don’t have time not to.