Today I want to talk to you about feeling overwhelmed.
Why do you say this so much and where does it actually come from?
But most importantly,
What can you do about it?
And I'm someone,
I used to tell this to myself all the time.
Oh,
I'm feeling so overwhelmed.
And it almost became this habit or this pattern until I started recognizing and started catching myself and asking myself.
Okay,
Why am I actually feeling overwhelmed?
What is actually going on to really create that awareness?
Because I feel like sometimes it's just something we say.
The same like,
Oh,
I'm feeling stuck without actually realizing what is going on.
So if you're feeling overwhelmed,
Is it because there are too many things on your plate or are you just saying it because you're having a busy day?
What is actually going on?
So I think the first thing when you say that,
That can be helpful to do,
Is to notice what are you actually carrying?
Are you having too many things on your plate?
What is actually going on?
To really take a break and see,
Okay,
I'm saying that I'm overwhelmed.
So let me have a look.
Why am I overwhelmed?
What is happening?
And sometimes when I do this,
I realize,
OK,
Actually,
It's just my state of mind.
There's actually not that much going on.
Or I just see it in front of me and I realize,
Okay,
I have some steps to take,
But I don't need to feel overwhelmed about it.
So noticing what's going on can be really helpful as the first step.
And besides that,
What had really helped me is to also acknowledge What is going on?
What takes up time?
That might be unfamiliar.
So,
For example,
To give you an example in my own situation,
When I moved abroad,
There were many unfamiliar things that I had to figure out.
So that became busy in my mind.
For example,
Even going to the supermarket and finding the groceries that I wanted was sometimes already a challenge in itself,
Because everything was new and I didn't know where to find anything.
So then I could easily say,
Oh,
I'm overwhelmed.
But basically what was just happening is that there were so many unfamiliar things going on at the same time that I just had to adjust to it.
So maybe it's not really overwhelmed.
Maybe there's just something unfamiliar happening in your life that you're really not completely sure how to handle.
Another thing that I've realized as well,
Also with working with my coaching clients,
Is that sometimes we want to figure out our whole future all at once.
We have this vision and we feel like we have to make it happen right away.
Way,
Especially when you're someone Maybe like me as well,
Who likes to dream big and you have this vision and you're like,
Oh yes,
I want to make this happen.
And then it becomes this huge thing.
And before you know it,
You get overwhelmed because you're like,
Okay,
Where do I even start?
This feels like so big.
Comparing it with where I'm at right now,
It just becomes too overwhelming.
And there's the overwhelm again because it just becomes too big in our minds and we feel like we have to figure everything out right away instead of realizing,
Okay.
This is just a journey in itself and I just have to take it.
One step after another and then another step and then I will get there.
But I cannot expect myself to be on top of the ladder while I haven't even taken the first step yet.
So perhaps you recognize this as well in your own life.
Sometimes another thing that happens as well is that we just take in too much information at once to process.
And this is definitely true for me and perhaps for you as well on social media.
Especially,
You know,
When you're scrolling and you get a lot of input in a very short amount of time,
You can get overwhelmed very easily because there's just too much to process in your mind all at once.
And there's like triggers from different things you perhaps reflect on something then before you know it you see another video you read something else and it's just too much and your system just doesn't know what to do with all of that information so fast.
So this can leave you drained and overwhelmed as well.
So sometimes all you need to do is just put your phone away or your laptop,
Just take a break from all the input that you get and to actually sit down with yourself and to realize,
Okay,
Wow,
What is going on right now?
What is actually happening?
Instead of getting all of this input all the time.
And besides that,
Another thing that can be helpful is also to notice and to make sure that your expectations Fit your current circumstances.
So what do I mean with that?
What I mean is that.
.
.
Sometimes we're expecting too much of ourselves in the current situation that we're in.
For example,
In my own life,
I went through a challenging time a few months ago and it left me in survival mode for a while.
My nervous system was deregulated and I had to give myself time to process everything that had happened and to feel like,
Basically feel normal again,
Feel like stable again.
And at the same time,
I had all these business goals and all these.
Fitness goals that I wanted to work on and it just didn't match with the current situation that I was living in,
I had to give myself time to process one thing first and to slowly build up the other things I wanted to focus on,
Instead of throwing all of those goals in there all at the same time.
It just didn't work and it made me feel overwhelmed because my body and my nervous system just couldn't handle it at that time.
So it's also good for you to assess,
Okay,
What is actually happening in my life right now?
What are my priorities?
What do I need to focus on?
And is it realistic?
Are the expectations that I have of myself.
.
.
Are they realistic right now?
Or is it okay to take a step back and take one step at a time?
And that can really help with overwhelm as well.
And with having said that,
With taking one step at a time,
It can really be helpful to make your steps smaller as well.
As I just said,
Sometimes we have this big vision or we have too many expectations and we want to take a lot of steps.
But what can be more helpful is to really take one step at a time and make those steps very small.
Because the smaller you make the steps,
The easier it becomes to take the next step,
The easier it becomes to take the next one.
It's like taking mini steps all the time that create that momentum and that keeps you in action mode.
And also make sure that you don't feel overwhelmed.
Instead of having this big chunks,
This big projects and moving from one to the next,
It can feel much heavier and it can become more overwhelming because you lose the overview and you lose the momentum in that sense.
And the final thing that I want to mention with this is that it can be helpful to look what is around you.
And to realize,
Okay,
Is the environment that I'm in actually supporting me right now?
Because sometimes it's not so much about the things we do,
But also the place we are in.
I share about this a lot,
That your environment really impacts.
Your life,
And that it really makes a difference whether you live in a place that supports you or drains you.
And that is,
For example,
Also one of the reasons why I moved back to Australia last year again,
Because when I was living in the Netherlands,
I didn't feel like that environment was supporting me and it was actually draining my energy.
And now that I'm back here,
I feel much more energized most of the time and much more in a better energy to work on my goals without or at least with less overwhelm.
So it can be interesting.
And I'm not saying you have to move countries right away.
I mean,
If that's a dream,
It might be interesting to explore that.
But perhaps it can be also something simpler to start with.
Whether you want to update your office space.
Have some sort of sprinkling in your house or whatever it might be,
Something that can already make your existing environment more supportive for you.
And with that,
Besides the environment,
You can also think about,
Okay,
Are there any demands in my life right now that are just too demanding?
Maybe you're focusing your energy on things that are actually not really supporting you and are draining you.
Of course,
Sometimes we have to do things that we don't really want to do or,
You know,
Some things in life,
Like let's say admin or things like that.
It's not the most energizing,
But,
You know,
Those tasks happen.
But more in general,
Perhaps there are things that are actually part of your life that you're like,
I don't really have to do those things.
Why am I saying yes to that?
And this can also help to really assess and to feel like,
Oh,
I'm creating something.
Overwhelmed for myself by doing all of those things that I don't really want to do.
So I hope these points that I gave you give you some space to reflect on,
To feel like OK,
Where does this overwhelm come from and how can I change it?
For me,
It really has made a big difference because,
As I said in the beginning,
I've always been someone,
Or as long as I can remember,
That's me.
Would easily get overwhelmed and overthink and feel like,
Oh,
There's so much I want to do and have to do and just hard to take it one step at a time because I wanted to do so many things at the same time.
So what I shared with you today has really helped me to get my focus back,
To let go of some of the expectations I put on myself.
And to really focus on,
Okay,
What energizes me and how can I make sure that I take small steps and keep that momentum going instead of focusing on the big picture and getting overwhelmed in this whole vision that I have.
So let me know if this resonates.
Thank you for listening and I will see you in the next one.
