Baby Steps to Conquer Overwhelm
Being overwhelmed is something we all experience at one point or another in our lives. It’s part of life. We may feel like everything is hitting us at the same time, and it just makes you stuck, not knowing where to start to tackle life.
That is part of the problem and also part of the solution. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, if you will. It’s thrown out in the middle of the floor and you have all the pieces. The question is where to start.
Everyone has a certain system in regard to how to start that jigsaw puzzle. A lot of people will start with a corner. Some will start with a right hand corner, left hand corner or another corner. That is where they start. For them, that’s step 1. When feeling overwhelmed, it’s a matter of picking that point of where to start.
My Success Leaves Traces concept is designed around a list. One of the first things we do early on in this process is to put things in a chronological order, by putting what goes first, second, third, etc.
Being overwhelmed is just part of life, but it’s knowing where to start that is the key, then going step-by-step. The first step for this process is to put things in a chronological order.
Once we’ve figured out what that order is, start in the beginning. When talking about a sequence, things in life and in nature have to be done in a certain sequence. A baby is a great example of this. They don’t learn to jump up and take off running. They go through a certain process, which you’ve probably all seen at one point in your life.
You sometimes hear it referred to as “baby steps.”
A baby usually leans and twists back and forth on it’s back at first. He or she builds up enough strength or momentum to flip themselves over on their stomach. Eventually, they starts pushing themselves up with their hands.
Once they’ve built enough strength to push the upper body onto their hands, they push themselves back onto their knees and start rocking. From there, they go through several processes to get up and start walking.
It’s the same thing with overwhelm. You must go through a sequence. Many people screw this up. They may be at step number 1, but they’re looking at steps 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. This is where overwhelm takes over.
Focus on one singular task, meaning one piece of the project the one that needs to be done right now. I believe that success in life and in anything that we do revolves around being able to stay focused on the task, at hand rather than thinking forward to step 5 and 6. Focus on that initial step.
By putting together a chronological list of the things we need to get done on a particular task or project, it allows us to think more clearly about things. It allows us to focus our attention, creativity and energy toward that one thing till it’s done. That is where you need to start with this.
Being overwhelmed is natural. I feel overwhelmed sometimes on a daily basis, but then I step back for a moment and make my list, and that’s where I start.
I tell you that because many times, people feel inferior or guilty when they are overwhelmed. Don’t do that! You’re not doing any good for others and certainly not yourself by putting yourself down thinking no one else experiences this. Everybody does. Even the most together person you know experiences overwhelm and if they tell you they don’t, they are lying.
To get rid of overwhelm, use this very simplistic process of putting what you need to do in a chronological order and start at step 1…it’s all in the baby steps!