I coach my Superabound clients and teach on overwhelm a lot.
The truth is, successful people are also usually very busy. They have multiple projects on the go and a lot of people who look to them for their advice and leadership.
And while many mindset coaches take the approach of trying to shift their client's thinking around overwhelm (hoping it cures the issue) it rarely does the job.
The truth for successful people is that overwhelm needs to be dealt at a level of both mindset and through addressing the truth that sometimes these folks have more on their plate than they have hours and energy to do it all.
Rather than telling our Superabound clients to "think positive thoughts about it", here is how we handle the Static and the practical challenges that create overwhelm.Step 1. Find the wisdom in the feeling
Overwhelm is a byproduct of having a lot to do. But rather than feeling annoyed when this comes up, I ask my clients to tune into the Static more deeply. To stay there for a moment and honor that there is a reason this particular inner alarm is going off and to take some time to feel it and see what it is trying to tell them. This is a practice we developed called H.E.A.L Static and it can be found inside Superabound: Live The Life The Universe Is Dreaming For You. If you prefer deeper guidance and step-by-step instruction (which I highly recommend) you can get it in our book companion course Light Your Next Lantern here.
2. Strengthen Your Inner Flame
Once you see where this is all coming from you might think the next step is to dive back in and attack your to-do list. But if you do, chances are you will just make the feeling of overwhelm worse.
This middle step will help you address something important that most people miss: Overwhelm comes up when you feel like you have less time or energy than the tasks in front of you.
Consider this: If you start the day energized knowing you can handle everything on your calendar easily in the time you have, do you feel overwhelmed?
No. In fact you probably feel invigorated and get things done without much internal drama.
How do you do this?
By tending your flame with the Superabound Tending Triad. We devoted a whole section of our book and our course to teaching you these essential tools, but in a nutshell you want to ensure you are practicing regular Sustaining Rituals, i.e. the things that keep you healthy and well in all the ways that matter to you.
You also need a strong Visionary Practice so that you can make sure that the activities in your life are lining up with the most important milestones and outcomes you want to create. This is where a mindset shift happens for many of our clients because it requires you to take a good hard look at all the tasks and activities you are doing to and find out which are and which are not bringing you closer to your big Vision.
And once you do that, you need to strengthen your Personal Filter. This is the hardest one for most successful people, many of whom got where they are by saying "yes" to opportunities. A strong Personal Filter means learning how to say no to things that aren't taking you closer to your Vision. *Hint: often (but not always) the first things that have to go are the very things that feel "overwhelming".
3. Navigate Your Challenges
Once you do the above, you will have a clearer mind and refreshed energy to work from. But instead of throwing yourself into a sea of to-do's, you can follow the 5R Method (get the full instructions here in the book).
Resolve- make a decision about what the highest priority is and how you want to work on it / delegate it / deal with it.
Respond- once the decision is made, get to work following your plan (hopefully one that is informed with Vision and your values).
Reflect- once you complete this task, spend a few minutes checking in with how it all went. Did this work out? Do you need to apporcach this differently next time?
Rest- take a little break & celebrate your progress.
Repeat- start with the next decision and respond from there.
Reducing activitities down into these smaller steps is a nice way to keep yourself away from overwhelm.
Bonus: Give yourself a "loose ends" day.
This is something I started doing that I am loving and wanted to share with you. Once a quarter or once a month, protect one full day on your calendar to do all the things you regularly put off. You can do one day for your business or professional life and one for you personally.
That project that never makes it on to the calendar? Do that.
Getting something fixed that is broken in your home? Do that.
Having a day to take care of (or delegate out) the little things that bug you or take up space in your mind but you feel aren't important to dedicate time in your week to deal with is a little gift that you absolutely deserve and will help keep you from feeling that constant, low grade overwhelm.
(We recorded a podcast on this episode too. You can listen to that here)