Business coach, counsellor and psychotherapist Tony Warren is encouraging businesses to start thinking differently.

Mr Warren, whose Burgess Hill-based company Balance is aiming to take the stress out of business, said people needed to think about why they acted.

Mr Warren, a register-ed counsellor with the British Association for Counselling and Psycho-therapy, said: "Just because a task has been carried out in a particular way for a number of years, it doesn't mean the procedure is right. There should always be a reason for the routine. This also applies to the way we think."

As workloads grew and people had difficulty fitting everything into their day and meeting deadlines, they became more and more stressed but did not know how to deal with it.

Mr Warren said: "Life can be seen as a series of demands which require a response from us. However, our ability to cope is variable.

"There are times in our lives when it seems we can cope with anything, think positively and feel so full of energy that the demands are taken in our stride.

"There are also times when the opposite seems true. We cannot think clearly, the same problems go round and round in our heads, our sleep is poor, as is our appetite, not only for food but also for the other good things in life."

The former human resources manager with multi-national Lever Brothers has studied the harmful effects of stress on people and relationships.

He said: "Increasingly, whether personally, in business or in sport, people are finding the help and support they need through neurolinguistic programming (NLP).

"It has been described as an operating manual for your mind. A series of techniques and tools which enable you to adjust your behaviour, beliefs and attitudes, if that is what you want to do.

"It enables you to put yourself back in control of your thinking pro-cesses. As Henry Ford once said: 'Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.'

"Coping with constant change is both stressful and unavoidable and continued stress affects us physically and mentally, so if you feel you need to get back in control and to find those resources again, then this can be made easier with external help and support."

Mr Warren can be contacted on 0800 6190172.