Navigating Overwhelm: Building Resilience

Do you ever find yourself so driven only to become disillusioned or burn yourself out? Sometimes we get an idea and just go with it without giving it any real thought or development. It might have seemed like a great idea at the time, then you come to realize that there were several things you wish you had thought about sooner. Sound familiar?

For some it’s about the “shiny object syndrome” where you get excited about one thing, only long enough until the next exciting thing comes along.

For others it’s a legit inspired idea, only they get so focused on it that they don’t take a break and keep at it until they reach the point of exhaustion. Even ignoring any body signals that you have to go to the bathroom or close your eyes for a bit.

In all of these cases the energy and excitement wanes, you become less motivated, and quite deeply overwhelmed by all the unfinished projects you started. It can also be stressful to discover all the other tasks on your to-do list were neglected do to this latest focus and pull on your attention, and create conflict in relationships with all the time you spent on a project at the expense of time with loved ones. And time for yourself? That might feel like a pipe dream.

Managing Overwhelm

Executive coach Rebecca Zucker suggested that, “Our typical response to ever-growing workloads is to work harder and put in longer hours, rather than to step back and examine what makes us do this and find a new way of operating.”

Here is what she suggests when you are constantly feeling overwhelmed:

• Pinpoint the primary source of overwhelm.
• Set boundaries on your time and workload.
• Challenge your perfectionism by know when good is good enough.
• Ask yourself, “What is the highest and best use of my time?”
• Challenge your assumptions

There are many pressures entrepreneurs face, and quite interestingly, you might come to learn that they mostly come from you. The good news is, it also gives you the power to change the way you spend your time and energy so that you get a much better return on your investment.

Rather than become depleted or buried under the rubble of what you were trying to build before you realized the foundation wasn’t very solid, you can make sure you have a solid structure in place and one that won’t decay.

The solid structure I’m talking about is YOU. As an entrepreneur you are your business and so taking care of business means taking care of you. Let that sink in for a moment.

Becoming Solid

Now that that’s settled, let’s look at how you can build that strength so you become solid in who you are and what you are trying to birth into the world. One clear way to do this is establish a morning routine.

Make sure your routine addresses all of your needs. Some things you might do for physical health (exercise, eat right) while others benefit you spiritually (meditate, pray), mentally (learn, self-talk), or emotionally (journal, affirmations). The goal is to bring yourself into harmonious balance every day so you can stay centred and not get easily sidetracked by distractions, or lost in what you are doing that you neglect other important tasks and people in your life.

Other practices include using discernment and making conscious choices. Living in alignment with your values also ensures you are living well and staying solid. Remembering your why (your true source of motivation), can keep you on track and help you stay true to yourself.

Notice when you start to fall apart and give yourself some time to restore your energy reserves and take a mental break. This ensures you keep a solid foundational sense of self so you can become and serve from the best version of yourself.

Learn to manage the overwhelm and take the time to reflect and create some space around things so you can experience more freedom, grace, and ease in your pursuits.

Release the pressure valve a bit and keep yourself from becoming too overheated and exhausted. This allows you to become more highly functional and effective in your life work.