Feeling overwhelmed is paralyzing. The inertia that sets in can result in you feeling even more overwhelmed. This sets up a downward spiral that will sap
\nyou of your energy, creativity and productivity. Stop the spinning and reclaim a centering calm by following these 6 key strategies to STEADY your
\nself.<\/p>\n
S<\/span><\/strong>top fighting the truth<\/p>\n If you are overwhelmed and overextended . . . admit it. You will always lose the war against reality. Raise the white flag. Acknowledge that you feel Embrace your fatigue. Fully acknowledge the resentment you may feel towards the people\u2014including yourself\u2014who put you in this position. T<\/b>ransform how you feel<\/p>\n Step 2 is about reframing how you look at what is overwhelming you. Instead of looking at the endless emails in your inbox as an ocean that is going E<\/span><\/strong>rase it by facing it<\/p>\n One of the factors that makes us feel overwhelmed is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of the unknown. It takes courage, but if you Myth expert Joseph Campbell said: \u201cThe cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.\u201d What is the specific fear you must face in order to accomplish A<\/b>ct now!<\/p>\n Do what empowers you NOW. Procrastinate can\u2019t stand up to action. They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But it will Delay is the enemy.<\/p>\n Imagine seeing the famous Eckhart Tolle book, The Power of Now and saying, \u201cI\u2019ll read that later.\u201d Master motivator Danny Cox invented this classic D<\/span><\/strong>elegate what drains you<\/p>\n To get past your feelings of anxiety you need to understand that you are not responsible for other people. You are responsible to them. Delegating the right job to the wrong person will not alleviate your feelings of being overwhelmed; in fact it may increase them. So choose wisely. To stop feeling drained and overwhelmed it is important to lock into Key #5: Soar with your strengths by delegating around your weaknesses. <\/strong><\/p>\n Y<\/b>ou are the problem\u2026and the solution<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get real. Life is not fair. You can\u2019t wait for other people or the world to change. As Shari Barr once commented: \u201cExpecting life to treat you One of my favorite quotations of all time is an old Yiddish proverb; \u201cIf you are looking for a helping hand, there\u2019s one at the end of your arm.\u201d There Adam Christing is a popular Master of Ceremonies<\/a> and Keynote Comedian<\/a>. He is the author<\/a> of Your Life is a Joke: 12 Ways to Go from Ha Ha to AHA! (For more information go to AdamChristing.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 6 Tips to Move You from Chaos to Calm Feeling overwhelmed is paralyzing. The inertia that sets in can result in you feeling even more overwhelmed. This sets up a downward spiral that will sap…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-inspiration","8":"category-keynote-speaking"},"yoast_head":"\n
\nlike Barbara Johnson who said, I thought I had a handle on life, but it fell off. It\u2019s going to be OK. You can\u2019t put the handle back on until you accept
\nthat it\u2019s broke.<\/p>\n
\nUse the pain of the situation to your advantage. Pain can be a good thing if you listen to it. We all respect wisdom, but we obey pain! So let your
\nstress, fear, fatigue and resentment fuel your recovery. If you want to move from chaos to calm you need to take that first step. You need to . . .
\nKey #1: ACCEPT that you feel overwhelmed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nto drown you, see them as a rising wave that can catapult you to new horizons. This works. Here\u2019s why: Your energy doesn\u2019t come from what you do or
\ndon\u2019t do. Your energy comes from how you feel. When you feel overwhelmed it\u2019s because your energy is sapped. Shore up your energy by taking care of
\nyou. You\u2019ve heard it a hundred times because it\u2019s true . . . if you exercise, eat healthy, and take time to recharge, your mood will improve and your
\nproductivity will skyrocket. You won\u2019t feel anxious when you feel powerful. I do this experiment at the end of my keynote speeches. I have the
\nentire audience stand up and I say, \u201cOkay, everybody put a big smile on your face; even if it\u2019s an I\u2019m-at-work phony type of smile. Now, while you
\nare smiling, I want you to raise your hands up high toward the ceiling and look up.\u201d Then, when these 300 or so people are all standing up, looking
\nup, and smiling with their hands up, I ask them to try and feel down. They can\u2019t do it! It\u2019s hard to feel down (or overwhelmed) when you are physically
\nlooking up. The Tao has it right when it says: \u201cWhen you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.\u201d Don\u2019t be like the comedian
\nwho said, \u201cI turned my life around, I was miserable and depressed. Now I am depressed and miserable.\u201d Rather, be like 3M\u2019s Spencer Silver, who didn\u2019t
\nsee yet another failure in his attempt to create a new, highly adhesive glue, he saw what ultimately became Post-it notes. So, if you want to conquer
\nyour sense of being overwhelmed, follow Key #2: REFRAME what\u2019s overwhelming you. Things are not happening to you, but for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nface your biggest fear(s), you can overcome them. It\u2019s not uncommon for the fear inducing \u201cproblem\u201d to evaporate once you face it head on. After all,
\nF.E.A.R. is often \u201cfalse expectations appearing real.\u201d That monster under your bed doesn\u2019t exist. But you\u2019ll never know that unless you open your eyes
\nand take a look. You may be an incredible public speaker. But you won\u2019t know until you try.<\/p>\n
\nyour biggest dream? What action can you take immediately to face and erase that fear? You can get control of your situation and cease to be overwhelmed
\nif you obey Key #3: Put feared things first. <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nstill take you a lifetime to get there if you never take that first step. Get the ball rolling. Create momentum. With momentum, problems that may have
\nstumbled you in the past can be overcome. The finish line will greet you. And that feeling of overwhelm? It will be in your rear view mirror.<\/p>\n
\npiece of advice: “If you’ve got a frog to swallow, don’t look at it too long. And if you’ve got more than one to swallow, swallow the biggest one first.\u201d
\nDon\u2019t think about it. Do it. Swallow that frog you are facing. And when? Now! What is your frog? What should you act on first? Make a commitment to
\nyourself to start acting on that issue today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. Today! Because an important technique for not feeling overwhelmed
\nis Key #4: Create momentum by taking action today. <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOne of your biggest responsibilities to yourself, your employer and\/or your clients is to do your best work. So balance that checkbook, write that
\ninformative report, organize the next staff meeting. But to offer the best version of yourself, and to avoid feeling overwhelmed, you need to focus
\non your strengths and delegate to others what you do poorly. Delegate tasks to the right person. There is no advantage having Brittany call prospective
\nclients if Brittany is a texter and not a talker.<\/p>\n
\nWhen everyone on the team feels confident in what they do and valued for their contributions, the entire project will benefit. This all goes back to
\nyour energy and refueling it. Delegate things that are draining you. Working in your sweet spot and let others work in theirs. Are you an idea person?
\nDelegate the details you have been drowning in.<\/p>\n
\nwell because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.\u201d As we\u2019ve already seen, fear is
\na big component of being overwhelmed. So is a sense of unfairness. Carrying a 30-pound rock up a hill will overwhelm you if it is a task that has been
\nthrust upon you without your consent. But that same 30-pound rock can invigorate you if it is a link in a journey of your choosing. It\u2019s all about
\nperspective.<\/p>\n
\nare some things you simply cannot change in this life\u2014the weather, politicians, teenagers, or the stock market. But you can change you. Change
\none thing at a time. Start with your story. The quickest way to change your life is to change the story you have been telling yourself (and everybody
\nelse). If you have a victim story, change it to a victory story. Then focus on the one thing that will make you feel most empowered, and do it. Don\u2019t
\nlet feelings of being overwhelmed defeat you. Fight back with a new and improved version of yourself. All things are possible if you acknowledge and
\nembrace Key #6: For things to change, first you must change. <\/strong><\/p>\n