Life isn't an emergency. Most people seem to think otherwise.

Take my boss for example. EVERYTHING at work seems to be some sort of emergency. I swear he works at least 70 hours per week, staying way past the end of the day.

I can't imagine why.

Out of my 19 working years, this is the second easiest place I have worked. And the easiest one I worked for only 2 years!

I have worked at my current location for 4 years and have maybe seen only 2 or 3 real emergencies in that time. Nothing else would require a person to work later than normal, but not for my boss.

He's married and has a kid or two. Working so long has to come at a cost elsewhere, like in neglecting his family as well as his own dreams because he thinks everything at work is an emergency. Instead of being with them, he is at work. He is at work because he believes if he doesn't work for eighty hours per week he won't get everything done.

I would like to remind him that the emails will never stop but he should. He wouldn't listen though, I know his type.

It's not just him either.

My wife was telling me about a conversation she had with one of her friends. Her friend told her that she wasn't able to get the house cleaned up after breakfast for her and her kids and before she left for work in the morning.

This lady was so upset about it that she recently began taking Xanax (an anti-anxiety drug) after talking to a doctor. She felt that she had to clean up every dish, every countertop, and have everything put back – or else! It was as if she was taken hostage and had a gun pointed towards her head.

Of course, this was all in her head. There was no gun. But her mind still told her that even this little thing was an emergency! But it simply is that she, alone, created the pressure of perfection that she was experiencing.

While this may be extreme, I have met and seen (myself included) plenty of people turn something small into a great emergency in their mind.

On the path towards our goals, we can take everything as a serious emergency. That if we don't work towards our goal as much or as best that we can that the imaginary gun pointed towards our head will go off.

This is all just in our head. We have to remember that each day is not an emergency. We can't forget to have fun along the way.

So cut yourself a little bit of slack and stop beating yourself up over not reaching perfection on our self-enforced conditions and deadlines.

Besides, just doing ANYTHING to advance towards your goal is more than the vast majority of people are doing with their time.

Become at peace with your imperfection.

Have you ever noticed how quickly negative thoughts can lead you down a path into the darkness? You think of one thing that you could have done better then you think of it leading to something even worse and that thought leads to another and then down you go.

All this thinking is getting caught up in the thing that is bothering you and you start to feel worse and worse.

Maybe it isn't even something you've done yet. Often it can be about something you are going to do in the future. You might struggle to sleep the night before you have a big presentation at work. You start thinking about your slides or graphs and wonder if you have made a mistake in them. You might think about being nervous in front of the group and how badly they are going to think of you then.

(This is just one example, it could be an important test at school or Black Friday if you work in retail.)

You rehearse all this in your mind and get even more upset.

ABOUT THINGS THAT HAVEN'T EVEN HAPPENED - and probably won't. How silly is that?

Some people live like this every day. Always thinking about the worst thing that can happen. How are you supposed to feel at peace when you have all these thoughts moving around in your head?

To combat this you have to realize when you are starting down the negative spiral.

For example, when you think about a possible error in your presentation, make a mental note to check them again before the presentation. But don't let yourself think about it any further. Stop that train of thought before it has a chance to leave the station with your sanity on board.

You could then focus on remembering those tips you watched on YouTube about how to project confidence via body language.

By stopping the negative thought spiral as soon as you notice it starting and turning it around will make you feel better about yourself.

The presentation might be very important but filling your head with negative thoughts will only make you feel even more stressed about it.

The next time you find yourself starting down this path consciously end it before it begins. You might be astounded by how well it works.