Welcome.
Go ahead and take a few moments to disconnect from what's going on around you.
Let your surroundings fade so you can fully direct your attention to this visualization.
Relax your body and take a deep breath or two and drop your gaze or close your eyes,
Whichever feels better to you.
In today's visualization,
We'll take a look at how to maintain motivation and how to reduce stress by letting go of some of the mental overwhelm.
First,
Bring your awareness to the breath and let your mind settle.
An easy way to do this is as you focus on your breath,
Inhale deeply for a count of four,
Pause for a count of four,
Exhale for a count of four,
And pause for a count of four.
Let's follow that cycle a couple of times.
You can count in your own head and if you find that you're able to take long,
Slow breaths counting,
You can release the count.
Throughout this visualization,
Continue breathing deeply,
Slowly,
And fully.
Now,
Imagine in front of you a whiteboard.
It's blank and empty and has a sense of spaciousness to it.
In fact,
That open spaciousness in itself can feel a little overwhelming.
Now,
Imagine writing your to-do list on that board.
It could be a to-do list for a particular project.
It could be a to-do list that encompasses absolutely everything you can possibly think of.
Just imagine the words flowing easily onto the board.
And now as we look at that board again with all of those words,
We also feel overwhelmed.
Whether the board is blank,
Whether the board is filled with to-do lists,
Either one can feel overwhelming.
Go back to the breath,
Long,
Deep,
Slow.
And now as you look at that board,
Imagine that three things pop off that list.
They suddenly transform into a different color.
Perhaps it's purple or green or orange.
So now as you visualize that board in front of you filled with a long list of to-dos all written in black,
Three of them pop out.
And as you continue breathing slowly,
Deeply,
And fully,
All of the words written in black begin to dissolve.
They'll magically appear on a different board at a different time.
And now all that's left are three items in that color that you chose sitting on this white space.
Take a moment to look at those three items.
Rearrange them.
And as you look at those three,
Consider whether or not they're manageable to do in a day or a week.
And if they're not,
Begin to break those down into their own to-do lists.
Continue breathing slowly,
Deeply,
And fully.
And again,
Take a look at the board.
Have you created new to-do lists under those three headers?
If you have,
Use the same exercise and pick three.
Imagine those words popping out with their own color.
Visualize the rest of the black writing dissolving away.
The goal is to move towards having three items on your to-do list that you can accomplish in one day.
This may be only a fraction of your entire to-do list,
But this exercise of creating three doable tasks in one day allows you to maintain that motivation to continue moving forward.
It allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment as you check things off your list.
The rest of the to-do list will always be there,
But if you follow this idea of taking only three things a day that you know you can get done,
Each day you'll end with a feeling of accomplishment rather than a feeling of overwhelm.
If you get those three things done before the end of the day,
You can choose to add something else,
Or you can choose to go for a walk,
Spend time in the garden,
Spend time with your children or your family or your pets.
And throughout the day,
As you're working on those three items,
Remember to continue breathing slowly,
Deeply,
And fully.
At the end of the day,
Do this exercise again to highlight the three things that you'll work on tomorrow.
And then when tomorrow comes,
Accomplish those three things and be proud.
Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
And at the end of tomorrow,
Choose three more things to work on the following day.
With this methodical and intentional pattern,
You'll be able to maintain your motivation and you'll be able to reduce some of your mental overwhelm.
Release any imagery that you may be carrying still.
And for a moment,
Just go back to the breath.
And then move into the rest of your day knowing that you have a new tool to help you maintain your motivation.
