Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #258| The Secret Technique That Will Stop You Absorbing Other People’s Anxiety, Reduce Overwhelm & Boost Productivity
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you're going to learn about the secret technique that can stop you from absorbing other people's anxiety to reduce your own overwhelm and boost your own productivity.
- 0:16Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:23Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:28Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's Working Woman experiences.
- 0:33Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:43Michelle Gauthier: Hello, friend.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for joining.
- 0:45Michelle Gauthier: We all know that feeling when you accidentally absorb someone else's anxiety.
- 0:50Michelle Gauthier: For example, maybe you're in a group chat and it blows up and somebody's upset and suddenly you're emotionally drained just from reading these group texts, even though the situation has nothing to do with you.
- 1:01Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn why we absorb other people's moods and why it's so exhausting, the real cost of emotional absorption.
- 1:10Michelle Gauthier: And then I'm going to share with you the bubble technique, which is this secret way to stay calm while others spiral while also still being a caring person.
- 1:19Michelle Gauthier: It's like the perfect combination.
- 1:21Michelle Gauthier: Let's first talk about why we absorb other people's moods and why it can be so exhausting.
- 1:28Michelle Gauthier: In the example that I opened with, I talked about a group chat with your friends, and somebody's upset about something that has really nothing to do with you, and you find yourself being emotionally exhausted.
- 1:37Michelle Gauthier: Handsome man friend and I have been watching The Pit, and it is so hard to not absorb the dramatic, traumatic, terrible situations that are happening on that show.
- 1:49Michelle Gauthier: Yes, I know it's just a show, but just the thought that those could be real sometimes make me feel traumatized or anxious or just worn out by life.
- 1:59Michelle Gauthier: You could walk into your office on a Thursday morning, you're feeling good, and one of your coworkers is in a super bad mood, or your spouse is in a really cranky mood and it kind of takes down the emotions for the entire family or the entire office.
- 2:13Michelle Gauthier: I think it's human nature to accommodate and take on other people's stress, especially if you're an empathetic person or you're a good friend or someone who just cares deeply about people or who feels really uncomfortable when people are upset.
- 2:28Michelle Gauthier: You're probably doing this constantly.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: But here's the trap: when you absorb their panic and their stress and their crisis energy, then your nervous system is fired up and you feel responsible for helping or fixing it.
- 2:42Michelle Gauthier: And now their bad day is your bad day.
- 2:44Michelle Gauthier: Even if you don't feel like you need to fix it, you feel like you need to kind of tiptoe around them.
- 2:49Michelle Gauthier: But you can't actually help anybody from a place of panic.
- 2:53Michelle Gauthier: And if the thing isn't happening to you, you probably would better serve a friend to be in your best energy instead of joining them in their anxious and upset energy.
- 3:04Michelle Gauthier: When you absorb the chaos, even of something like a TV show, you just get pulled down with it.
- 3:10Michelle Gauthier: So here's the secret trick that I like to use the bubble technique.
- 3:14Michelle Gauthier: Picture a bubble, you know, like when you used to blow bubbles when you were a little kid.
- 3:19Michelle Gauthier: Picture a huge bubble that can encompass you entirely, and nobody else can see it.
- 3:25Michelle Gauthier: But in that protective bubble, you can be there, you can be supportive, you can talk with them, but their emotion and their emergency and their panic, it just bounces off that bubble.
- 3:36Michelle Gauthier: It doesn't break the bubble, it exists outside the bubble, and you stay inside and you can stay in your calm and clear energy.
- 3:43Michelle Gauthier: And here's the beautiful part.
- 3:45Michelle Gauthier: You can still show up for them.
- 3:46Michelle Gauthier: You can still be a good friend or a good colleague, and you can be helpful, but you can just do it from your place of calm inside the bubble.
- 3:53Michelle Gauthier: All you have to do is just truly envision that.
- 3:57Michelle Gauthier: Like step into the bubble.
- 3:59Michelle Gauthier: And once you're in the bubble, remind yourself, okay, I'm in here with my energy.
- 4:03Michelle Gauthier: I can see other people's energy out there and it can't touch me.
- 4:07Michelle Gauthier: I'm gonna stay in my own calm, clear energy, and they can feel however they want.
- 4:11Michelle Gauthier: This is also useful with kids, by the way.
- 4:13Michelle Gauthier: If you have a two-year-old who's throwing a complete temper tantrum and you can put the bubble around yourself, you can totally remain calm.
- 4:20Michelle Gauthier: If you have a teenager who is rolling their eyes at you and you want to take off your shoe and throw it at them, you step in your bubble and you can remain in your calm.
- 4:28Michelle Gauthier: So try this method and see how it works for you and tell your friends about it too.
- 4:33Michelle Gauthier: I'm definitely gonna be watching The Pit from My Energy Bubble this week.
- 4:38Michelle Gauthier: Oh, it's such a good show, but I just can't with all the emotional things that go on.
- 4:43Michelle Gauthier: So today, when you listened, you learned why we try to absorb other people's emotions and why that's actually not helpful for us.
- 4:50Michelle Gauthier: And a secret little trick that you can use just in your own mind to climb into your bubble where you can stay in your calm and clear energy and allow people to feel however they want to feel.
- 5:00Michelle Gauthier: And if your goal is to be supportive, you can be more supportive from the bubble than you can be in their energy.
- 5:06Michelle Gauthier: That's it for this quick Thursday episode.
- 5:08Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week.
- 5:10Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 5:17Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 5:23Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.