I’ve been quiet the last month. Only because I’ve been doing a lot of reading and studying on success. Even though I’ve been studying this topic for the last 15 years, I decided I was going to jump in both feet and get to the actual problems and solutions. It’s amazing how much information and opinions are written on this topic. And in just the last six months.
During this time I’ve made a lot of phone calls to people I knew, authors and non-authors, those who didn’t follow this topic, and those who claimed to be experts on the topic. I listened, and listened, and listened. And took an enormous amount of notes and crafted a huge mind map.
The biggest, the loudest, emotional response was, “Overwhelm.” Everyone felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in the amount they needed to read. Overwhelmed in their task list. Overwhelmed in 80% or more in their life.
And they pointed the problem to . . .
…the economy
…their company, boss, goals
…downsizing at work and now they are doing 2, 3, even 4 previously assigned jobs as theirs
…being asked to perform assignments they didn’t have the skills or knowledge for and had to learn on their own
That’s for employees.
Now, entrepreneurs responded but just slightly different. They pointed towards . . .
…the economy
…people and companies not knowing what they wanted or needed
…not having enough support (and money to pay for it) to get it all done
…and having to perform tasks that needed more learning curve than time in the day
Okay, you are probably saying internally right now, “Catherine, what’s your point. I’m overwhelmed and need to be focusing on something else right now.”
True. I’m sure you do. However, are some solutions and thoughts from the results to end this once and for all . . . Wouldn’t you like to live a life without overwhelm in every area? Wouldn’t you like to stop reading on the topic because you solved it and now you can move on to other things?
Everything in your life boils down to a few things. Yep, that simple. Everything you do, see, hear, feel, touch, want, need, desire, boils down to choices.
If you’re overwhelmed. It’s comes from your choices. And in order to change, that’s simple. Change your choices. Do you really need to read two books on a particular subject before you take action? Do you really need to do what you are doing or is there a simpler way of doing it without some of the steps in between? Where’s ego playing out causing you problems?
You see, I traced all the conversations and found 100% of the problem is denial. We are in denial of what’s really possible. We are in denial of what can be done. Generally, the population is living in denial. Why? Good question. And actually that would be taking this conversation to a psychologist’s couch. You don’t really need to know why. But I’ll give you a clue – society wants you in denial, they want you in overwhelm, it helps the economy. Yep, it’s a vicious circle.
So, what’s the real answer -- the bottom line, get out of this mess, space, place of overwhelm. The only answer is too simplify. Focus on what really matters and let go of everything else. Keep it to one, two or three things only. In actuality when I talked with those who have accomplished success they focused on one thing and only one thing. You see, the brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Yes, your brain may jump from one thing to the next fast to help you multitask but it still boils down to focusing on one thing at a time. Why else would you stay after hours at work, or hideout somewhere where you don’t have anything else to do but one thing?
Get real. If you are pushing things off, it’s because you don’t want to do it. Why? Doesn’t matter unless it’s really “your job” to do it. If so, find a simpler way of getting the same or better results. Stop the denial. If you’re pushing things off and it isn’t your job, then let it go. Especially if its a should (the strongest response I heard from entrepreneurs).
Why is it important to have three blogs, or two web sites, or even ten of anything? It’s because you want something bigger than what you already have and you’re frightened to let something go. It’s because you are in fear to let the past go. Get down to the bottom line. Overwhelming is fear based. If you are living in overwhelmed, you are living a fear-based life. Simple. Yes, I know, yuck. Who wants to admit that.
Re-evaluating your life, your beliefs, or even your closets isn’t hard. Yes, it takes time to eliminate the past muck. It’s about letting go. It’s not about cleaning out the garage once a year. It’s about keeping it clean all year long. Remember how you felt the first few times after opening the garage door and seeing how clean it was. It was a great feeling. Other people involved, doesn’t matter. If you need to focus every Saturday to cleaning out the garage, they will get the message. Focus on you and your desires. It’s not about tossing more into a closet. It’s about making choices about it before it ever reaches the closet. It’s about trusting in yourself that you will be alright without it. It’s about trusting you will be better because you allowed yourself to start seeing who you really can become on the other side of the overwhelm. You may be scared. Probably. You are over riding some old habits. Don’t run from the anxiety, embrace it. Sit with it. Feel it. It’s the way to burn out the anxiety so it never appears again.
Simplify your life. Get down to the bare bones and then build it the right way -- without overwhelm. And when overwhelm knocks at your door again, it’s so much easier to say “no.”
This is the result of my extensive 30 days of focused on one thing research.
When the building is old and doesn’t have the right plumbing, the windows are falling out, the electrical outlets can’t hold the new computer equipment, it’s time to demolish the building and build a new one. The only thing holding us back is the choice. The vision to see and trust. To allow the past, the memories, to be just that -- memories. To realize you only have the present. The past is gone. The future not yet made and will not become what you truly want unless you make the right choices – for you – today.
Today, be in the now. Get real with what’s overwhelming you. Stop and feel what’s really important for you now. Remember, burn out the overwhelm. Embrace it. Admit it. Feel it. And say no to it. Not last year (the past). Not the future (next year), but now. Strip yourself down. Focus on one book (not three). Focus on one web site, not three. Focus on what works and let go of the rest. Stop listening to the should’s others are telling you to do.
If you want to write a book, then write it now. Otherwise, let it go. And commitment and time is your judger. If you keep pushing it into the future, “I’ll work on my book this weekend.” Then you really don’t want to write the book. You think you do. But you’re in denial. Once the door of seeing denial opens up, I guarantee your life will change fast.
Simplify. Eliminate the overwhelm. Yes, you can, no matter where the strings are being pulled. It all begins with the choice to do so. And then you just need to begin to ask better questions. All the solutions will drop into place afterwards if the better questions are being asked.
If you ever hear yourself saying aloud or internally, “I’m overwhelmed” remember these words and see things from a new light.
