Feeling Overwhelmed?

When you’ve decided on an important goal or dream, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the steps you need to take to accomplish it. You may not know where or how to start. Feeling overwhelmed might make you think that your goal is out of reach.

The good news is, it’s all in your head. The bad news is, it’s all in your head. This makes it very easy to be caught up in too many thoughts at once. However, there is hope! Here are three tips to help you when you’re feeling overwhelmed:

Slow down your thoughts.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, your mind tumbles from one thought to the next, and it’s hard to slow down to realize what’s happening. That’s when it’s time to pause and take a deep breath. Bring yourself back to the present moment. Practicing meditation can help you build the skill of slowing down your thoughts. Once you’ve calmed your mind, you’ll be better able to decide on your priorities and what single task you’d like to focus on.

Ask yourself if you’re being too hard on yourself.

Are you expecting yourself to know everything or do everything related to your goal immediately? Are you setting unreasonable deadlines for yourself? Would you have the same expectations of someone you care about? When pressuring yourself results in you feeling overwhelmed, that’s too much pressure. It’s okay not to know how to do something. It’s okay to ask for help. You don’t have to do it all. You only need to do one small step, and you need to do it as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more time you’ll spend feeling overwhelmed.

Practice self-compassion.

You increase your stress level when you’re feeling overwhelmed. It’s neither pleasant nor healthy. This makes life harder for yourself, which in turn makes it even more difficult to accomplish your goal. Consider your journey to be a learning experience. Instead of being your worst critic, be your best cheerleader. Instead of belittling yourself, give yourself a boost by saying out loud: I can do this! You’ll feel more motivated to take action towards your goal when you are gentle on yourself.

Each journey begins with one step. What step will you take today?

Image by Valeriy_G (iStock)