How Convenient is Your “State of Overwhelm”?
Any chance you have felt overwhelmed at some point in the past 6 months? Do you feel as if there are not enough hours in the day? Perhaps you have no energy left to sort through the piles of work, and you are completely drained before your “second shift” begins at home each evening?
What causes your “state of overwhelm”?
Billing and financial targets;
Business development activities (or lack thereof);
Obligations outside work hours to clients, colleagues, and professional organizations;
Lack of quality time with your children and spouse;
Pressure at home to be more “present”;
Minimal time for exercise and healthy eating; or ALL OF THE ABOVE?
It may sound counter-intuitive, but a constant ticker through your brain with the message, “I don’t have enough time” or “there is too much on my plate” actually keeps you trapped in a comfort zone that allows you to maintain the status quo. Subconsciously, this “state of overwhelm” causes you to remain lost in your anxiety about the past and the future without being connected to what’s important right now.
Here is a new perspective for you: feeling overwhelmed is not a fact. It is your interpretation of your current situation. The effect? Paralysis. Within this “state of overwhelm”, action will not happen.
The good news is that interpretations can be challenged, deconstructed, and replaced (for lawyers, this is a familiar concept!). When presented with a difficult set of facts, what do you do? You analyze them from a different angle, in a way that is believable, reasonable, and favorable.
I challenge you to apply this approach (which is what you are already doing professionally) to your own set of difficult facts.
For one week, just notice your thoughts and feelings of being overwhelmed. Then, stop what you are doing, and ask yourself:
“How can I re-interpret my facts in a way that works to my advantage?”
“What would be possible for me right now if I refused to allow these negative thoughts into my mind?”
See what happens.
If you want help in sifting through your “state of overwhelm”, de-cluttering your mind, and getting yourself back on track, please contact me at valerie@cherneskicoaching.com.
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