A waking nightmare

“After a routine review of your business, we need more information. Please respond by the 12th or we will stop payouts.”

Sincerely, Stripe.

What. The. Actual-

I checked the sender details, and the email had indeed come from Stripe.

I logged into my account and saw a big, threatening yellow announcement bar across the top of my dashboard.

“Your account is at risk. Blah blah blah something something.”

The sensation that washed over me was a combination of mental clarity and nausea.

If something happened to my Stripe account, my cashflow would vanish.

No way to collect payments from customers and clients.

All of the recurring billing would be gone in a snap.

Even my affiliate payouts were set up through Stripe…

I sat down and tried to think.

I had just seen some posts from other marketers on Facebook about problems with their Stripe accounts.

There was blood in the streets, and I was probably one of the victims.

I looked again at the list of things Stripe wanted me to submit to them for review…

…and in another tab, I started Googling “Stripe alternatives.”

I didn’t actually take action on either for several days, instead soaking up more and more stories from others about the Stripocalypse.

I knew I could either stand and fight, collecting and submitting the info they requested, but would that even matter? They could terminate my account anyways at their sole discretion.

Or, I could bail and find a new processor.

Which one was safer? Not sure? Better not decide just yet…

Intense fear triggers the stress response.

The stress response triggers fight or flight.

But pay attention.

It’s fight OR flight.

That means there’s a decision to be made.

And if the threat does not have immediate urgency, it’s a decision we might put off until later.

But this causes a big problem.

It means that the physiological stress response (increased adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones) is never quite shut off.

Which means the normal functions of your body and brain are perpetually put on hold or standby…

Can you imagine what this does to you if it lasts for days, weeks, or longer instead of just minutes or hours?

I bet you don’t have to imagine. Most people have experienced this.

And when the decision is finally made and the “threat” resolved, it often feels like a giant weight has been lifted from your body and mind.

And regardless of the outcome, you often think to yourself, “Wow, this isn’t that bad. The anxiety beforehand was far worse.”

Yesterday, I pulled myself together enough to begin setting up a new payment processor, AND submitting the info that Stripe had requested.

The new processor told me, “You’re in!”

And Stripe told me, “Thanks for that, you’re good to go!”

A win and a win! Better than I was expecting.

But the best part was how free and energized I felt afterwards.

I’ve written more emails for you and for some clients in the last 24 hours than I was able to do in the last 5 days.

The mental fog of war has lifted.

For those of you facing a big decision, or faced with a terrifying obstacle (like maybe posting about what you’re doing on social media to build an audience?) you MUST make that decision or do the terrifying thing if you want your normally functioning body and brain back.

Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in a low-level fight or flight forever.

(This is really unhealthy.)

So just do it. Move forward. You’ll feel much better.

I’m rooting for you.

Greg