I’m Nicholas, and I’ve spent years coaching high achievers who thought stress was the price of ambition. But here’s what I discovered: stress doesn’t come from your circumstances. It comes from the stories you tell yourself about those circumstances. It was the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world was filled with uncertainty, and I felt overwhelmed. Which, at the time, seemed like a pretty reasonable response to global plagues and toilet paper shortages.
I was on a weekly coaching call, and out of nowhere, I blurted out, “I’m stressed.”
My coach was silent for a moment. A long moment. The kind of silence where you start to wonder if your Zoom has frozen. Finally, he asked me the strangest question:
“Do you have a dictionary?”
Confused, I said yes. I mean, who doesn’t have a dictionary app? He told me to look up the word “stress.” I read him the clinical definition—something about physical, mental, or emotional strain. It was about as exciting as reading the ingredients on a cereal box.
Then he asked the question that changed everything:
“Is your picture next to that definition?”
It hit me like a ten-ton brick made of pure, unadulterated truth.
I had stopped experiencing stress and started being stress. I had woven a temporary feeling into my identity. I wasn’t just in the storm; I had become the storm.
The difference is everything.
When you say, “I am stressed,” you’re making a declaration about who you are. It’s like saying, “I am a carbon-based life form.” It feels permanent. But when you say, “I am experiencing stress,” you recognize it as a temporary state that can shift and pass. It’s like a bad haircut. It feels terrible right now, but it will grow out.
That single shift in perspective transformed how I understood myself. I realized that most of our suffering doesn’t come from our circumstances. It comes from the stories we tell ourselves about our circumstances, which are then reinforced by the language we use.
COVID didn’t disappear after that call. The uncertainty was still real. But my relationship with it had changed. I wasn’t a “stressed person” anymore. I was a person dealing with challenging circumstances.
Today, I’m more productive than ever. But more importantly, I’m present. I’m engaged. I actually enjoy the work I do. And I sleep at night.
That’s why I created Impactimum. Because I know there are others out there like me—driven, ambitious people who are tired of feeling tired. People who want to succeed without sacrificing their well-being. People who are ready to rewrite the rules.
If that’s you, I’m here to help. Not with quick fixes or empty promises, but with real strategies that work. Because you deserve to thrive, not just survive.
-Nicholas Lynch
Founder| IMPACTIMUM|The Stress Freedom Framework
To help high performers eliminate stress at its source—by recognizing and interrupting the thought patterns that create it—so they can thrive without burning out.
Authenticity. No buzzwords, no corporate jargon, no generic advice. Just real talk about what actually works.
Evidence. Every framework is grounded in research and tested through a decade of coaching high performers.
Compassion. Stress isn’t a character flaw. It’s a signal. And you deserve tools that actually help.
A world where ambition and well-being aren’t in conflict. Where high achievers can pursue their goals without sacrificing their health, relationships, or peace of mind. Where success is measured by impact and fulfillment.