Podcast Summary

Action Academy | Millionaire Mentorship For Your Life & Business

Host: Brian Luebben
Episode Title: How To Eliminate 90% of the Stress In Your Life (In 9 Minutes)
Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise and powerful solo episode, host Brian Luebben shares the single most impactful question he’s learned to instantly reduce stress and overwhelm—especially for entrepreneurs, business owners, and high performers. Drawing from personal burnout, mentorship, and the wisdom of thinkers like Tony Robbins, Brian reveals the key mental shift that can help you stop "fighting every fire" and start living with less anxiety and more focus.

The main takeaways center on reframing how we view and prioritize problems and introducing a simple but profound question: Is this problem a kitchen fire or a dumpster fire? This question, when applied consistently, has the capacity to eliminate up to 90% of daily stress.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Stress Isn’t About Quantity—It’s About Prioritization

• Brian’s Opening Realization (00:00–02:00):
  • Most people think their stress stems from the number of problems they have—inbox overload, work chaos, relationships.
  • Brian reframes: "Your stress doesn't come from problems. It comes from how you prioritize problems. It comes from treating every single issue like it's urgent, important, life or death. When in reality, only a tiny fraction actually deserve your attention." (01:15)

The Growth Trap: More Success, More Fires

• Personal Anecdote (01:45–03:00):
  • Brian describes scaling his business, assuming more income would lead to fewer problems.
  • "More growth meant more fires. More responsibility meant more decisions... Suddenly everything felt urgent... everything felt like I had to fix it right now or the business is going to completely disappear." (02:00)
  • High anxiety led to real physical consequences: "Literally got so bad that my hair started falling out and I had to go to Mexico for a full hair transplant." (02:40)

The Mentor's Clarity: Prioritize What Matters

• Mentor’s Advice (02:57):
  • "Brian, your stress isn't coming from the fires in your life. It's coming from the fact that you don't know what fires actually matter." (02:57)
  • Epiphany: Not all problems are equal—focus is key.

Problems Are a Fact of Life, Not a Sign You’re Broken

• Tony Robbins’ Insight (03:36):

  • "The number one problem that human beings have is thinking that we should not have problems. Problems are a part of life. If you do not have problems, that means that you are dead." (03:38)
  • Reframe: Don’t try to eliminate all problems; instead, change perception and prioritization.

• Dan Martell’s Perspective (04:32):

  • Problems as puzzles, not threats—solving them means you’re growing.

The Critical Question: Kitchen Fire or Dumpster Fire?

• Brian Shares the Question (05:27):

  • "What type of fire are we trying to fight today? Is this problem a dumpster fire or is it a kitchen fire?" (05:27)

  Definitions:

  • Kitchen Fire: A problem inside your "house"—urgent and dangerous if ignored. Neglecting it could "burn the house down" (e.g., a key employee quitting, a family emergency).
  • Dumpster Fire: A problem outside the house, in the figurative dumpster. It's unpleasant, but letting it burn won’t damage your core life or business.
  • "95% or more of all problems are dumpster fires, not kitchen fires." (06:38)

The Power to Let Fires Burn

• "The faster that you learn this as a business owner...the better your life is going to freaking be. Is just the ability to let a fire burn." (05:59)
• Many “fires” will burn out on their own or don’t need your direct intervention.

Examples of Fire Categorization (07:26)

• Kitchen Fires:

  • "If you have a key employee that is trying to quit, that is a kitchen fire." (07:27)
  • "If your significant other is in a car accident, that is a kitchen fire." (07:33)

• Dumpster Fires:

  • Most daily annoyances, minor business setbacks, non-critical issues.

• "Sometimes you can just let the fires burn and they'll just burn themselves out. So we want the fires to burn themselves out, not you to burn yourself out." (07:47)

The End Result: Permission to Focus and Breathe

• "Once you begin to classify these fires, you will let 80%, 90% of them burn in the background while you go focus on the one or two fires that actually need to be put out." (08:35)
• Control your reactions, not life's chaos:
  • "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. You guys get to have a choice each and every day, each and every minute, each and every fire that's put out." (08:55)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Stress Misconceptions:
  "Your stress doesn't come from problems. It comes from how you prioritize problems." — Brian Luebben (01:15)

• Mentor’s Reframe:
  "Your stress isn't coming from the fires in your life. It's coming from the fact that you don't know what fires actually matter." — Brian’s Mentor (02:57)

• Tony Robbins Wisdom:
  "The number one problem that human beings have is thinking that we should not have problems." — Tony Robbins, recalled by Brian (03:38)

• The Essential Question:
  "Is this problem a dumpster fire or is it a kitchen fire?" — Brian Luebben (05:31)

• The Permission Slip:
  "You feel like you need to solve every problem, but sometimes you can just let the fires burn and they'll just burn themselves out. So we want the fires to burn themselves out, not you to burn yourself out." — Brian Luebben (07:47)

• Growth and Suffering:
  "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." — Brian Luebben (08:55)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 — Introduction; Stress isn’t about number of problems, but prioritization
• 01:45 — Personal story: Business growth led to more stress, not less
• 02:57 — The mentor's game-changing advice
• 03:38 — Tony Robbins’ reframe on problems
• 04:32 — Dan Martell’s “problems as puzzles” analogy
• 05:27 — The core question: Kitchen fire or dumpster fire?
• 06:38 — Statistical insight: 95% of problems are outside the house
• 07:26 — Concrete examples: How to categorize real-life "fires"
• 08:35 — The outcome: Let the unimportant fires burn, focus on what matters
• 08:55 — Final reflection: You can’t control what happens, but you can control your reaction

Final Takeaway

Brian's message: Don’t let yourself be consumed by every issue that arises. Replace constant firefighting with purposeful prioritization by asking:
“Is this problem a kitchen fire or a dumpster fire?”
Give yourself permission to let most fires burn, and invest your energy in what truly matters.

For the full Action Academy experience, connect with Brian on YouTube for video episodes and check out more mentorship insights on the Action Academy Podcast.