5 things you can do to overcome overwhelm and take inspired action

These days my default setting is calm, grounded and at peace with myself and the world.🌍⁣⁣⁣⁣
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But for most of my life things were very different.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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My creative mind (read restless, overthinking and probably a little ADD!) had me chasing the latest butterfly in the beautiful garden of life.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Yet I could never truly enjoy the butterfly or the garden for long, worrying if I was missing out (big-time FOMO) or spending too much time with any one “butterfly” or “flower”.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Here are 5 things I did to start 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 while bringing my 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 closer with 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.💥⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝟏. 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞: 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Like the airline safety demonstration ingrained in my psyche, we cannot help others if we are struggling ourselves. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
Even 5 minutes, taken every day, can be the difference between losing it and staying calm.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Or rather, remaining in alignment and in touch with your true nature. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’ll go in depth into the importance of self-care soon!⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝟐. 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Here’s a little trick/example I’ve been teaching recently. If I say:⁣⁣⁣⁣
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“I have to do all these things!”⁣⁣⁣⁣
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How do you feel? ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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The mind will usually rebel against the obligation inherent in that and at least ask – why❓⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Make a tiny change, moving the “to”:⁣⁣⁣⁣
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“I have all these things TO do”.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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How does that feel?⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Freer, no doubt. I have all these things I could do – and actually, most of them I enjoy!😃⁣⁣⁣⁣
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(I won’t go into setting up your life to do what you love here…)⁣⁣⁣⁣
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But I will say that this shift allows you to see what’s really important, get out of your head and listen to your intuition so you can focus on Inspired Action.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝟑. 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 “𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫”: 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I used to regularly feel overwhelmed by my to-do list. 📝⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Not that I always had one. But I tried pretty much every task and time management tool and trick out there, with varying degrees of failure LOL.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Recently I started taking a different approach.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Yes there are tools involved and they underlie my day. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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But the key thing was the mind shift.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I like to think of it like the radar screen on a submarine, like in the old James Bond movies, with concentric circles and blips for nearby vessels.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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In the innermost circle I have the 2-3 key things that will move me towards my goals – “needle-movers”, if you like the idea of pedal to the metal ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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(I like to mix my metaphors! 😉)⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I can still see the rest – my global vision of the other things I have planned to do, ongoing tasks and habits, etc.⁣⁣⁣⁣
But during my focussed work time, I am only focussed on these 2-3 things (usually 2).⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I am so much more productive with this system and more importantly mindset.⁣⁣⁣⁣
And removing the clutter avoids overwhelm.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝟒. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I go through phases of obsessive observation. It is amazing what you can pick up by mindful awareness of your words, thoughts and behaviours.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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But you can only get so far.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Unless you have mastered transcendental meditation (and even then…), seeing yourself from the outside is, by definition, impossible.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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It can be a challenge hearing raw truths, but it is the only way to really learn.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Just remember that if it’s not true, it won’t hurt (more on that another time!).⁣⁣⁣⁣
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And if it does, it’s worth asking why.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Find a trusted friend who knows you well and loves you well enough to tell you honestly what they see.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I also highly recommend finding a mentor/s who have been on a similar journey and can understand.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I have invested thousands in personal growth and coaching & mentoring.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Especially when I am at a crossroads and need that external perspective and professional accountability that a friend may not be able to provide.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝟓. 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐋𝗪𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄!⁣⁣⁣⁣
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In early 2013, following an intense emotional low, during which I had looked for help in books, courses and meditations but found none of them quite helped, I realised I needed a simple solution to pull me out of the quagmire.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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What followed, what I discovered, did just that.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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A simple tool I used to power up my life again.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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You see I realised that it all boils to a simple choice: “do you want to be happy?” – and the overwhelming response was “YES!!” ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Now there is a lot behind it, like the need to find and affirm self-love and esteem, negotiating with our emotions, etc.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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(That turned into the beginning of a book, but that’s another story! It’s now in my programme.)⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I used that question and the affirmation “I choose happiness” in mirror work (again another story of overcoming almost physically sick-making cringe!) ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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It helped massively shift my mood, indeed my whole perspective and in writing about this shift I turned things around.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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More recently, this realisation of our infinite ability to choose led to my being able to finally lose the fear and make massive changes to my life, which I have been dealing with this summer.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’ve alluded to some of this experience, and will continue to share, but despite the unexpected challenges, I have been able to deal with them far better than in the past – all while feeling more alive than I have in years!⁣⁣⁣⁣
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And I am now renewing my application of these steps to get the new season and the last quarter of 2022 off to a flying start. 💪💯