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115. Overcoming Overwhelm · Impact Ready

• 0:02
  Welcome to Impact Ready, a show dedicated to helping you elevate
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  your impact in the world. I'm Steph Safra, your host.
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  Let's explore the power of showing up with intention and
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  energy each day. This is for those who seek to
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  make life truly meaningful. Get ready for impact.
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  Good morning, team. Welcome to the Impact Ready
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  podcast. So excited to be talking to you
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  today. And in this episode, we are
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  going to be talking about one of the most common feelings that
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  people experience in life and that is the feeling of
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  overwhelm. This episode is actually
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  inspired by my good friend Jeremy.
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  Jeremy was listening to podcasts from the past, telling me his
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  insights about some of the things that we've been talking
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  about in these episodes. And I said, hey, what do you
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  want to hear about? And he's like, can you talk
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  about overwhelm, The experience of overwhelm, the feelings of
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  it? Jeremy works in the aerospace
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  industry. It's a high pressure, high
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  demand, fast moving, fast pace industry.
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  And so he's no stranger to overwhelm.
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  And I know that you are not either, and I am not either.
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  We're all humans on this earth in this modern world, and we all
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  experience stress to a degree. Stress can be good, it can be
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  bad. Over time, chronic stress can
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  lead to tremendous overwhelm. And we're going to talk about
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  what that looks like, feels like, so that we can understand
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  the experience of it and how to mitigate it a little bit.
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  Psychologists are saying that more now than ever before,
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  overwhelm is incredibly common. And there are some primary
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  reasons why this happens to us, why we feel so overwhelmed.
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  And I want to just highlight those quickly because what we
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  have to acknowledge is this is part of our human experience for
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  these very reasons. So let's let's talk about what
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  they might be. So first of all, too much
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  information, too much input creates a sense of overwhelm.
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  And if you think about the amount of information that's
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  coming at us all the time through all different avenues
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  and just the overstimulation of the world, it's a lot for our
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  brain to process. So that's a primary reason why
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  people feel overwhelmed. Fatigue, another one, fatigue,
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  burnout, exhaustion. We are sleeping less than we
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  ever have and we have so many responsibilities and
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  obligations. People just don't, they're not
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  resting, they're not recovering. So fatigue is a, a really big
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  issue. Constant input from devices.
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  I'm I'm trying to remember what it felt like to be living in the
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  90s when we didn't have cell phones, smartphones, and we
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  didn't really have computers. We didn't really have the
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  Internet and what that felt like.
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  I'm trying to remember because our input from devices, it just,
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  it wasn't there. It didn't exist.
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  We had TV, we had video games, and we had landlines, and that
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  was a much different state of being.
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  And what I wish is that I could go back in time and feel that
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  for like 5 to 10 minutes and just feel like what God, what
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  would my brain feel like if I wasn't having all this
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  information coming at me through screens?
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  Which creates A tremendous amount of decision fatigue,
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  which is another reason why people feel overwhelmed.
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  There's so many decisions that we are making hundreds of
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  decisions every minute, especially if we're scrolling.
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  And that can be very overwhelming to the brain.
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  Other reasons just really quickly, too many small tasks.
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  There are just endless amounts of small tasks that we could be
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  doing. Anxiety and overthinking
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  contributes perfectionism and pressure, whether it's
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  self-imposed or external. I know we've all felt this
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  self-imposed pressure and expectations is a tremendous
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  weight mentally. And that is a big reason,
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  especially for my coaching clients that they will
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  experience overwhelm is because of their own self-imposed
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  expectations and pressure that they put on themselves.
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  Of course, we have big life stressors that will contribute
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  to overwhelm. And I would add to that global
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  stressors, societal stressors, you know, because we have so
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  much access to information, we have the ability to see so much
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  more. And I think that is very
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  overwhelming. It is, for me, neurodivergence.
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  Different brains work differently and it creates a
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  totally different level of overwhelm because of their
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  executive functioning and the way that they process
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  information. And then, you know, of course,
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  I'll just say it again, the unrealistic expectations that we
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  have of ourselves and of the world and other people can also
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  create a lot of overwhelm because it creates struggle,
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  suffering, resistance, and all that stuff can feel like a lot.
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  So we can acknowledge that there are a lot of different reasons
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  why our society is experiencing more overwhelm now than ever and
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  why we as individuals can feel susceptible to overwhelm.
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  It's because we're living in an environment that is conducive to
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  overwhelm. If we can think about overwhelm
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  as just part of the experience, then sometimes I think that can
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  be helpful because I think it's unrealistic to feel like we're
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  immune to it. I think that we set ourselves up
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  for failure to say that we will never experience overwhelm.
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  The best of the best, the highest performers, the greatest
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  thought leaders out there, they all experience overwhelm.
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  It's just they've gotten better at managing and mitigating it.
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  And that's what this conversation will hopefully help
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  us all with is to decide, OK, how can I except that overwhelm
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  can be a part of the human experience at times, but I can
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  also be much more in charge of it so that it's not running my
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  life. Overwhelm happens very basically
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  when the demand of things in our life exceeds our capacity to
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  handle it. It's the demand of all the stuff
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  exceeding our bandwidth. So like if we're running all
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  these programs and softwares in the back of our mind, it's like
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  we don't have enough bandwidth to run it all.
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  It's the fact that in my computer, there are 47 tabs open
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  and oftentimes I get a little message popping up on my
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  computer that says your computer does not have the operational
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  capacity or whatever to run all these programs.
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  That is what I would imagine overwhelm feels like to the
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  brain is that little message popping up just like it does on
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  my computer because I refuse to close the tabs.
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  And frankly, my computer probably needs a rest.
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  It needs to be reset, restarted. It needs to be turned off for a
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  while. And the same is true for us, for
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  our brains, for our hearts. And I think it's important that
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  before we talk about how to combat overwhelm, we try to
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  understand what's happening in the body when overwhelm hits so
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  that we can understand the context of why we feel like we
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  feel when we are in extreme stress or overwhelm.
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  So let's talk about that really quickly.
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  When we are faced with stressors, those stressors will
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  inherently activate what's called the fight or flight
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  response, which is the response of the sympathetic nervous
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  system. You have the autonomic nervous
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  system, something that's happening in the background all
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  the time. It's automatic, and there are
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  two branches to it, the sympathetic and the
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  parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system
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  is devoted to the fight or flight response, which is our
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  ability to respond appropriately to threats.
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  It's instinctual, it's built in, it's how we're wired.
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  It's a good thing. But with chronic stress over
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  time, being in this state all the time, it can wear us down
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  and it can burn us out. So when we're in fight or
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  flight, that response means that our body is directing our
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  resources, our energy, our cellular energy to be able to
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  respond quickly to whatever is in front of us.
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  And ideally, your body is able to move fluidly between these
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  two states. The sympathetic and the
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  parasympathetic states the fight or flight response or what they
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  call the rest and digest response, the parasympathetic.
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  If we're stuck in fight or flight all the time, it can lead
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  to this dysregulated state of being for the nervous system.
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  So if you ever look at somebody in there, chronically agitated,
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  irritated, they're very short in patients, they are tapping their
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  foot constantly, they experience a lot of physical symptoms.
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  They are likely living in a dysregulated nervous system.
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  Over time this can create feelings of irritability.
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  Things like irrational thinking, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia,
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  persistent thoughts, ruminating. All of these things plus a slew
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  of physical symptoms like heart palpitations, digestive upset,
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  muscle tension. This is the bulk of what I'm
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  encountering in the clinic when I'm seeing patients in my
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  acupuncture clinic because anxiety is such a common
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  experience. Overwhelm is such a common
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  experience and it really shows up physically and mentally for
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  people. I'm seeing things in patients
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  like muscle tension, especially in the neck and the shoulders,
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  the upper back. People can get digestive upset
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  or a nervous stomach because in fight or flight, digestion
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  becomes a second priority. It's not the main priority.
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  You see teeth grinding, jaw clenching, headaches, etcetera.
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  We become more sensitive to light, more sensitive to touch,
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  sound. Essentially we are hyper
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  stimulated. And in the brain you reach what
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  is called cognitive overload. And this is the idea that
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  there's so much information coming in and not enough
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  bandwidth to really manage it. And so the brain reacts by
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  experiencing this type of mental paralysis.
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  So if you've ever felt like in a moment of overwhelm, you
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  couldn't think clearly, you had brain fog, or you were kind of
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  walking around in circles, like you just didn't really know
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  where to start with your day in terms of what you should be
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  doing. This is the mental paralysis
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  that comes from cognitive overload.
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  And it's good to recognize the truth is, like I've said before,
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  the the modern world can be very overwhelming.
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  It's over stimulating, it's demanding, and it can be scary.
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  We can acknowledge that. We can say and acknowledge, yes,
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  we live in this world, but I know that we also want to be
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  able to function well and feel good.
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  So the question becomes, how do we go about doing that?
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  And I'm going to go through a list of things that feels very
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  helpful for clients and have been very helpful for me.
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  There are so many different ways that you can regulate the
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  nervous system and combat overwhelm, and I'm not going to
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  go into a huge extensive list. These are just the things that
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  feel the most powerful to me because I like to keep it simple
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  and you can find the stuff that works best for you.
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  But let's just go through it quickly.
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  The first thing that I always think about and talk about with
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  clients is the breath, because the breath is the quickest way
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  to get control of your nervous system, hands down.
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  There's a book out there called Breath which is so phenomenal.
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  I love it. I recommend it to so many
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  people. It's got a bright yellow cover.
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  If you haven't read it, go out there and buy it and read it.
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  It's so awesome. To get control of your breath is
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  one of the quickest ways to get control of your nervous system.
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  Rapid breathing is often a part of an anxiety syndrome and
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  anxiety feeling and that feeling of overwhelm creates the same
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  situation where we are rapidly or shallowly breathing.
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  To be able to control the nervous system, slow down the
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  breath. And there's so many different
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  ways you can do this, but especially if you can slow the
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  exhale, you immediately be able to get a better control of your
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  nervous system. So the number one thing that I
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  talk about with clients is breath.
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  The second thing I wanted to highlight is to take ownership.
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  And this is all about what is the story that you are telling
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  about the circumstance you are facing or the season of life
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  you're in or whatever it is that is creating the overwhelm.
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  What's the story you're telling? Because often times we can tell
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  the story that, Oh my God, this is too much.
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  I'm not going to be able to handle this.
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  This is going to bury me. I'm so tired.
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  I'm never going to get on top of this.
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  Or we can tell the story of it's OK.
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  There's a lot going on right now.
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  I'm going to take it one step at a time.
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  I'm going to lean on my people. I'm going to call in my
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  resources. I'm going to make sure that I'm
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  exercising and taking care of myself and that I'm resting when
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  necessary. There's completely different
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  stories that we can be telling ourselves about what we are
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  facing and people minimize this. They say, oh, well, I can't
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  really help what's happening in front of me.
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  This is just life. And I always want to push back
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  and say, but you are the one who attaches the meaning to your
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  life. You attach the meaning to your
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  circumstances. So if something feels
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  overwhelming to you, if there are a lot of things that feel
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  out of control and stressful, you are obviously going to
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  create a story about it. Be in choice and take radical
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  ownership over the story that you're telling.
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  And this might look like you creating certain boundaries for
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  yourself around your energy or your time.
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  It's what you say yes and no to. It's owning your perspective and
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  your actions. It's owning the thoughts that
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  you have about what's happening in your day.
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  It's you taking control over what you can control and letting
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  go of the stuff that you cannot, which is pretty much everything
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  outside of your sphere. And I know that it's not always
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  easy to do this, but once you start getting into the practice
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  of it, you start to see more and more opportunity where you
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  actually can take ownership and the overwhelm starts to to
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  lessen. It really does.
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  Because you're more rooted in yourself.
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  You're more rooted in what you can control.
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  And you feel like the captain of your own ship again, which I
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  think is crucial. There's nothing worse than
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  feeling like a victim in your life.
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  There's nothing worse than feeling like you are just
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  getting tossed around in the waves of life, reacting to every
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  single thing. I mean, no wonder we feel
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  overwhelmed when we are in that position to feel like the victim
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  to our circumstances, even though the circumstances might
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  not change that much. If you feel like you are in
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  control, if you feel like you have some agency and choice and
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  you get to direct the story about those circumstances, that
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  feels so much better, even if the scenario didn't change that
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  much. So taking ownership, radical
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  ownership is the second one that I think is so, so important in
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  terms of mitigating overwhelm. Third one is rest and recovery.
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  Oh man, we just, we don't prioritize rest.
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  We don't, it's not something that's sexy or flashy.
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  We just don't prioritize it. It's not important in terms of
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  where we spend our time. Now, some people are better at
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  this than others, but again, your calendar is your calendar.
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  You have to take ownership of it and you have to build in the
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  rest and recovery period so that you have bandwidth.
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  Because frankly, the times when I have felt most overwhelmed in
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  my life is when I'm tired. Always.
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  I always know when I push myself too far or I've been going too
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  hard because I start to feel overwhelmed with my work, in my
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  relationships, with just menial tasks, it starts to overwhelm me
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  and I get in the fight or flight.
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  I can feel the mental paralysis coming in.
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  And now thankfully, I can recognize that for what it is.
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  And it's almost always fatigue. So the rest and recovery piece
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  is huge. And I guarantee that is
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  something that you could optimize in your own life.
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  The next one is what I call the smallest action strategy.
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  And this is simply a way to get into action by asking yourself,
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  what is the smallest step I could take right now to start
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  creating some momentum in my life and start taking action.
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  And I stole this from Greg Mccune, who wrote Essentialism
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  and Effortless. He says if the first action step
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  to getting momentum, the first thing that you need to do, if it
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  feels too overwhelming, it's too big.
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  And so break it down even further.
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  And this could be as simple as sending a package back to
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  somebody, returning something that you ordered.
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  Sometimes that alone can feel super overwhelming to people.
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  So what is the smallest action you can take sending it in the
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  mail? That's not the smallest action.
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  What do you actually need to do? Well, I need to print the label.
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  Well, that feels overwhelming. OK, well, what do you need to do
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  before that? Well, I need to find the
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  information where I need to return it.
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  Well, that feels overwhelming. OK, well, I need to get the item
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  repackaged. Well, that feels overwhelming.
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  OK, what's the very simple thing?
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  The very simplest thing I could do is just find the box that it
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  came in. That's the first step.
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  Find the box that the thing came in and then take the next step
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  from there. And so the idea is to just break
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  it down to the smallest, smallest action that you can
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  find and begin there. Because every major milestone
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  was met through a series of small actions.
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  And that's all you have to do. So that's the smallest action
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  strategy. And then finally, the last one I
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  think about when it comes to mitigating overwhelm is to
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  change your state. And changing your state to me
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  just means get yourself into a different frequency, get
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  yourself into a higher energy. And you can do this through
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  movement, exercise, more sleep, listening to music, connecting
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  with friends, doing your breath work, eating a good meal, going
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  for a walk. It can look like anything you
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  want. Dancing, blasting music really
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  loud and dancing with your family.
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  Whatever it is, change your state.
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  My best way of changing my state is to exercise.
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  Anytime I'm anytime I exercise and get the endorphins going, I
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  feel better. And so if you can change your
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  state, you are in a more regulated nervous system phase,
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  you are less dysregulated and you can start to have some
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  clarity of thinking and mitigate that overwhelm.
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  So those are just a few of the strategies that I love.
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  Obviously I said before there's so many more and find the ones
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  that work best for you, but try to keep it simple and recognize
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  that you are always in choice. You are the creator of your own
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  life, you are the captain of your ship, so you have the power
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  to create change. And I know that sometimes life
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  can really come at you hard. I understand we can all
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  acknowledge that there is just a lot happening in this world.
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  There's a lot of information coming at us, but it is up to us
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  to self manage all of that. There's just some very simple
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  ways that we can do that that don't require a lot of energy,
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  don't require a lot of resources that can really be done in just
• 19:02
  a few moments in your day. I'll mention one more thing from
• 19:06
  a metrics standpoint also, if you are one of those people who
• 19:11
  wears an aura ring or an Apple Watch or something, that's
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  measuring your metrics. A lot of my clients and patients
• 19:17
  like to track their HRV score, their heart rate variability.
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  Watching that score allows you to see how fast your nervous
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  system is responding and how quickly it's recovering.
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  And as that HRV score goes up, it indicates that your nervous
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  system is responding better and it is more resilient and you are
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  bouncing back from stressors in a better way.
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  I don't personally wear a device on me.
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  I find that for me, it becomes one of those reasons that we
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  mentioned at the beginning of this episode that create
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  overwhelm for people. So too much information,
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  constant input from devices. I try to stay away from that.
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  So I don't wear anything that measures my metrics, but I know
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  tons of you do. I know you guys love the data.
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  So if you're looking at your HRV score, that can be a helpful way
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  to see, is my nervous system responsive?
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  Is it regulating? Is it bouncing back from
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  stressors? Well?
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  And I think that can be helpful for people.
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  There is so much more that we could talk about in terms of
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  overwhelm and the experience of it, why it crops up for people,
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  why some people feel like they're so entrenched in it or
• 20:26
  in the grips of it. But today I just wanted to give
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  some simple ways to manage it because I think it's universal
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  that we all experience it to a certain degree.
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  I don't think there's any way around it, and it doesn't seem
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  like the world is really slowing down at this rate.
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  So my hope is that we can all just get a little bit better at
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  being in choice, being in ownership, and being able to
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  manage these feelings so that we can feel well and live the life
• 20:51
  that we really want. So I hope this is helpful.
• 20:54
  I hope that you have an amazing week.
• 20:55
  Thank you for being here and listening to the show, and thank
• 20:57
  you for being ready to Impact. Thanks for listening to Impact
• 21:01
  Ready. I hope today's episode inspired
• 21:03
  you to own your impact and recognize that you are powerful.
• 21:07
  By elevating our energy and awareness, we can create
• 21:10
  exponential change in this life. If you enjoyed today's insights,
• 21:14
  share them with a friend and subscribe to the show for more.
• 21:16
  I truly appreciate you. Thanks again for being here.