Subject Line: Weekly Nugget: Our Toxic Relationship with Overwhelm & Procrastination

“There is so much I don’t know or can’t do. There is no one I can ask for help. I just have to work harder and harder, but I’ll probably still fail because there isn’t enough time.” *

Sound familiar, friend? This is what overwhelm looks like.

When overwhelm takes over, it presents itself as a factual reality.

But at the end of the day, overwhelm is a mood. And a mood is your interpretation of the future.

Emphasize on interpretation. It is an assessment, an opinion. Not a FACT.

But we act like it’s a fact.

“It’s true that I won't get it done!”
“It’s true that no one can help me!”
“It’s true that I don't have enough time!”

In overwhelm, we close all possibilities. If someone were to offer us help, in this mood, we would just ignore them.

And even worse, we take on the mood of a hero:

“I and I alone are going to do something here. I don’t need anyone’s help since no one else cares.”

Then, in the mood of a hero, whatever we do, whatever we say, is a fair game. With good intentions of being a hero in a situation, we make greater messes and hurt ourselves and others.

Inevitably things start to pile up, and we end up procrastinating, frozen by overwhelm.

Want to end overwhelm? Here is a secret: Make requests!

When we don’t make requests to our partners (professional or personal), we make them small. We say to them, “You can't do anything for me; you are not capable.”

Don’t make people small. Ask for help.

* From Learning to Learn and the Navigation of Moods by Gloria Flores

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