There are so many different things that make us feel overwhelmed. Most people blame the ‘outer’ stuff for their stress.
By outer stuff, I mean:
1) Your never ending To-Do list
2) Your different roles and responsibilities
3) Traffic, people, individual circumstances
Because many people blame others or their circumstances for their stress and overwhelm, they believe they need to just live with it. “That’s they way it has to be.”
But it’s not true.
Through the Law of Attraction, we’ve established that what we put out there is we get back. So, that ‘outer’ stuff is just stuff that we’ve created for ourselves. Our circumstances are just symptoms of the vibes (our ‘inner’ stuff) we’ve been putting out; these are the patterns we’ve established for ourselves up until now.
When we look at our ‘inner’ stuff, we can become aware of the belief systems that are creating your never ending to-do list? We see what belief systems make you choose to work all the time; that keep you feeling stuck and confused and afraid to take the next step.
These are the things that people don’t stop to feel or think. Most don’t even know to stop and think that this is what’s creating the stress and overwhelm.
Once we acknowledge what our patterns/habits are, we can then very easily change them. Changing our habits changes the energy we put out which then changes our circumstances.
So, then, the question we need to ask ourselves is,
“How do I create stress and overwhelm for myself?”
Let’s look at 3 different ways you might feel more stressed and overwhelmed:
#1 – You repeatedly say (and feel) that you don’t have time – “I’m too busy”
When you repeatedly say and feel like you don’t have time, you create more of the same. You will attract more things to do to fill up your time. You may even be really good at attracting unexpected situations that eat up your time, like long lines at the store, traffic, interruptions at work, people who just want to chat, etc.
If you notice that you’re repeatedly saying you don’t have time, know that this is really a cry for change. What you’re actually saying is that you don’t have time for yourself. You’re too busy doing stuff that you think is more important.
This is a good opportunity to re-evaluate your priorities and see how you can fit “Me-time” into your schedule. Find time to do nothing but take care of you – meditate, take a walk, exercise, sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, get a massage.
#2 – You keep thinking about what you have left to do, what you haven’t done yet, how much more you need to do and how little time you have to do it all
You can’t win with this one. You’re trying to fit a lot in a little.
By focusing on everything you think you need to do, you split your focus and become scattered. By continuously checking how much time you have left, thinking you don’t have enough time, you waste even more time.
Your attention moves from one thing to the next, to the next, and so on, until your mind and emotions are spinning out of control. In the end, you may or may not get it all completed but in either case, you felt terribly stressed.
There are a couple of beliefs/habits that often contribute this type of scenario.
o You procrastinate and wait until the last minute to do things
o You believe you need to do more to get the results you want
o You believe you haven’t done enough
o You make up stories in your head about what bad things will happen if you don’t do something
Thinking about the Law of Attraction, what do you create more of as a result of the above habits?
#3 – You have unreasonably high expectations of yourself; you are overly self-critical and hard on yourself.
As a result of this pattern, nothing you do is good enough. And yet you keep on trying, never really being satisfied. You believe that if you just did a little more, you would be happier. But that day never comes. You’re aiming for perfection but it never comes because you keep on moving the target.
Many things you do take a long time to do because you’re perfecting the process. Or you have projects you never complete because they’re not good enough or you’ve made it too hard to complete.
Because of your high expectations, you sabotage yourself by piling on more than any human could possibly do and then beat yourself up when you don’t follow through.
You may also put a lot pressure on yourself to get things done or do it right.
As a result, you will also attract people into your life who are overly self-critical of themselves and you. You may attract a boss who is never satisfied and continually asks you to revise your work. You may attract high-pressure situations that never really allow you to relax or breathe deeply. You find yourself always on the go.
To change this pattern, you need to appreciate yourself more. Be happy for what you have accomplished. Break down projects into baby steps that you can follow through on. Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to finish projects. Make it okay if you don’t finish something by your self-imposed due date.
For additional help in moving beyond your overwhelm, check out our upcoming Beyond the Overwhelm group coaching program.
