No — being overwhelmed is not a real thing, but rather a fantasy we create in our own minds.
Have you ever had that feeling there is just too many things to get done and nowhere near enough time? I know I certainly have felt this on many occasions.
What happened? Did I quit? Did the too many things list get smaller? Did I find someone that could clone me? NO!
Instead, I wanted to know what caused that feeling, was it a real physical thing or was it my thoughts. So I stepped back and asked many questions and reminded myself that many others have gone through this and in many cases in a massively bigger way (Elon Musk /Richard Branson). The most important thing I found to ask yourself is — have I been here before and did I get through it? The answer was indeed yes as it will be for all of you. In fact, I remembered my first driving lesson, it was stressful, full of pressure to do all these things at once to move the car and to top it off my instructor said us men can generally only do one thing at a time! However, I survived and even thrived passing my test after just 12 lessons.
So what happened — how, and why did something so hard and alien turn into something easy and enjoyable?
- Get instruction from an expert — like my driving instructor
- Break it down into smaller steps and put them into a logical order
- ACTION — the most important step
This is why all overwhelming situations are imagined and NOT due to real circumstances. What we do is start to think about all the tasks to achieve the goal all at once and this makes it too heavy a burden to carry so many people give up. Instead, think about the current step and the next few ahead. The current one is where you are at and must get right to go on to the next (just like when we walk) the next few is, so you can make sure you are on the right course.
This is how we can manage to do great things — bit by bit we can move so much more without any adverse effects, we just have to remember to do the same in our minds.
The best way I found to do this in business is to plan out as much as possible and basically get it out of my head!! Anytime I feel overwhelmed I get my calendar and start to fill it with the essential things I need to do.
I also say to myself, stop thinking about all those tasks and enjoy the journey asking — what’s next to do.
If we think about it logically (obviously not how we feel at the time) then by blanking our mind and taking action, we move further ahead and feel better more quickly rather than felling paralysed and getting nothing done and creating a cycle that makes it worse.
Everything starts in our minds and when we make anything possible in our mind, it also happens in real life. Even Superman struggles at times but when something is a MUST then it WILL happen — have you ever noticed that in your life too?
Many say there is just not enough time, however, when anyone says this to you, or you feel it yourself, just remember there are real life examples. I mentioned Elon Musk and Richard Branson earlier as these are just two people out of many, that prove it is all possible when you get out of your head and take action to find a way!
Enjoy the journey.
