Feeling Daunted? Not Anymore!
Happy Saturday! So glad you can join me today!
Do you ever feel like there’s so much to do in your business that you’re only moving the slightest bit forward when you’re working as hard as you can? Does that make you feel intimidated by what you’ve set out to do? Maybe a bit daunted?
I asked our trainers a question this week and got such a spectacular answer I want to share it with you.
My Question
You said we can talk to you about feelings. I feel daunted.
It doesn’t matter what the task is.
Example: I’m watching your explanation of how to anchor a pic in our blog. I’m thinking ahead of how I will write a blog post about this – taking notes. It would be better if I made a video (that would be the first time). And there’s more going on in my head…
Another Example: Instead of doing the blog hopping strategy for one blog, I’m thinking of the need to read an innumerable number of blogs and all the steps on the blog hopping strategy for all of those individual blogs and how I still don’t understand social sharing. I suppose I’ll ask that question Monday.
I know the solution is just to do the small task. And I often do. I stumble through. It takes so much energy and effort.
The feeling is SO bad. I just want to give up. I would never do that, to be clear. But I want to go do something I’m comfortable doing instead, even if it’s the laundry.
Do you have any insight on how I can stop fighting my daunted self?
Answer: Don’t Fight It.
Sophie Sion Byde gave me a very thorough answer. She began with: Stop fighting it.
You’ve got to make peace with it.
She explained that the more you fight something, the more present it is.
Think of falling asleep. The more you think you ought to be asleep, the more awake you become. Once you go from thinking I’ve got to fall asleep to I’ll stay awake, then you can fall asleep.
In short, stop thinking of what you should be doing. I’m thinking I need to stop thinking so many steps ahead. What I need to do is make peace with all those thoughts.
Take a deep breath.
Observe the thoughts.
Accept them.
Sophie pointed out most entrepreneurs are, by nature, creative thinkers. It’s our nature to have good thoughts about how to grow our business. But I’ve got to be able to do the tasks at hand, and she gave me some tips on making peace with all those thoughts and working today’s work.
Park It
You know the expression brain dump? It’s when you take a pen and dump everything in your head onto paper.
Sophie likes the image of parking thoughts. She’s parking thoughts in their places very neatly. She’s symbolically saying you’re there; I’m not going to forget you, but now I’m going to do that one thing I need to do for my next step.
I thought of that parking lot game where all these cars are parked neatly on the board, which is a parking lot, and the only way to get them all off the board is for each one to take its turn.
So, it’s essential to park those thoughts neatly away.
Train Yourself to Be on Auto-Pilot
The list of things you could do is endless.
You need to do a certain set of things you don’t question on autopilot.
If you have a brilliant idea, write it down in your ideas book, and it’s parked.
Then, STOP, that will be for later.
For the moment, stick to your routine.
Doing less very regularly is better and easier for you than doing more and being overwhelmed.
Decide On Your Routine
Decide on your weekly/daily tasks. Have a set time you do them. Once you decide, don’t question it.
Push yourself to do your best, but don’t push yourself so hard that the bar is too high.
If there’s something you’d like to add – No!
It’s like you’ve made a contract with an employer. You’re not allowed to do more. You get in trouble if you do more.
When we require too much of ourselves, we get overwhelmed by all we should do, and it all becomes too much.
There are only 24 hours in a day.
I may need to simplify my routine.
Write It Down & Post It
Once you decide on your weekly/ daily strategy, write it down.
Have it posted where you work.
Work through the tasks. Park any thoughts that pop up.
Say, I’m going to stick to this plan.
Imagine going to the gym and working out with weights for the first time. In the beginning, it would be too hard. After a while, it would get easier. After a longer while, I could add more weight.
That’s what this is. I’m building my mental and business muscles.
Give Yourself Quick Wins
You want to celebrate your achievements throughout your day.
Sophie starts her day with quick wins. She begins with tracking her stats and a few other small chores.
Boom! She feels efficient! There’s no overthinking.
Then an hour into working, she takes a break. She empties the dishwasher and makes herself a cup of tea. Boom! Victory and delight!
Conclusion
So, I took notes. I rethought my business strategy, and I simplified it.
I’m doing my blog-hopping strategy on weekdays. I’ll save some other necessary tasks for the weekend. I’m not allowed to do more. I’m going to do what I’ve set out to do successfully. And that’s great! After all, you don’t have to do every good thing you can think of doing to do good.
Oh! And when I take a break to give Mister Keats a snack, I’m going to take the time to make myself some mint tea. I enjoy mint tea but I rarely make it for myself, so that will be one of my celebrations.
Do you think this post helps you? What part rang home for you?
I think that we can all relate to thinking too far ahead and tripping ourselves up.
One of the funniest thoughts I’ve ever had was, “I think that I think that I’m thinking too much.”
That made me laugh so hard at myself that I wrote it down. Lol!
Well, here is a solution for reining it in without beating ourselves up and doing the work at hand.
Thanks to Sophie for that wellspring of advice!
Ciao for now,
Nakina
Oh boy, did you hit a pain point! I have been on the struggle train when it’s time to write my blog. I have fleeting moments of subject matter. Then it disappears. So as you have pointed out I put the task on the priority list…a must do thing no matter what. For me it not just an hour or two to write, it’s more like a couple of days. I first start by jotting down ideas. After a few hours I begin writing and let the thoughts flow. It doesn’t seem coherent until the end of my session. Then I go back to edit and organize the random thoughts. In the end it comes out as a completed blog.
Your solutions may be a good way to for me to get organized and make this chore a little less painful
Thank you,
Oh, I’m glad that can help Lenny! You sound like me. I write pieces of thoughts at a time and put them together later. One tip Glenn gave me was to write my headings first… sort of like an outline. I love to do jigsaw puzzles. I imagine I’ve got one piece of the post here- like the sky. Another piece here- like the water. Another piece there- like the beach. And, so on. And then it all comes together. Nothing wrong with that 🙂
This post hit home! I once had a coworker who called me the King of the Overthinkers. Too often it’s hard to take Step 1 before figuring out steps 4 and 5! Thanks for sharing the advice you got from Sophie. I especially like the ideas of parking thoughts and celebrating quick wins. Good Stuff. 🙂
Lol, Steve! I have definitely been overthinking!
I like how the idea of parking thoughts and putting them in their places prioritizes them a bit. So, there’s no need to think out of order of the tasks at hand. It gives me a sense of being in control of the process, whereas before, I had all these thoughts swirling around in my head, like Charlie Brown’s character Pig-Pen had dust swirling around him!
And the quick wins seem to be an essential part of the process. Many people describe the importance of celebrating progress in small ways. You shouldn’t see the small stuff as just small. I want to plunge forward and not stop until I’m all done. It will be a change for me to pause and celebrate along the way, but I think it will help more than I know.
I’ll make myself a cup of tea now 🙂
I can relate to the part about trying to fall asleep. Even counting sheep doesn’t help because it is just another form of resistance.
I think it may be helpful to look at things from a longer term perspective.
In the short term, it may feel like you are not progressing. Like for example, you are only doing one blog post a week.
But in one years time, that is 52 blog posts!
Alan Lim recently posted…Are You Losing Affiliate Sales Without Realizing It?
That is true, Alan! I started my blog on 2/23 of last year. Though I haven’t posted every week, I do have 39 blog posts. That’s something to celebrate!
Let’s see… In that time, I have gotten 117 subscribers who are pretty active, and I’ve made some sales. I’ve learned how to use some technology I never thought I’d master.
More importantly, I’ve gotten much more confident that my business success isn’t dependent on luck but on learning the trick to working confidently and consistently while improving my skills.
Thanks for the bigger perspective, Alan!
Hi Nakina,
Of course, we can all relate, when one idea leads to another, we skip and move on to something else.
But it is possible to miss out on a gem.
You’ve been given a great idea for a post and a structure to go by, so this one post could go on forever….. so not to worry about ideas.
You’ve mentioned doing a video but you have not done one yet. I am leaning that way also though I have not done any either.
I will use Sophie’s tips to get started as I have given myself enough excuses that I am sick of it. I will start with ‘don’t fight it’.
You’re off to a great start!
Eleanor Hope recently posted…Facing Your Fears in Stormy Weather
Hi, Eleanor! Don’t fight it is surprising advice, isn’t it? I’m responding to comments this morning, and I am very fearful. I don’t post on social media; I’m very shy, and I do not like posting anything online. But Sophie says, “Don’t fight it.” I’m accepting I’m not so comfortable but focusing instead on enjoying the community we’re building.
What am I afraid of, anyway? Making friends? Never fear! Our friends are here! I’m a cartoon buff. I hear Mighty Mouse cheering me on. LOL!
Have a great week, Eleanor! We’re off to a great start!
Hi Nakina,
Oh boy! You brought back some wicket memories!! LOL!
I’m thinking back at the time I joined the Army as an Officer – during boot camp, there was so many things to do – seemed like sleeping was the last thing on the list.
My training Sergeant gave us so many great ways to manage our time – many I still use to this day! (One example: you’re having trouble falling asleep? Take a deep breath, slowly taking in air without stopping for 5-8 seconds – hold your breath for 10 seconds – exhale for 10 seconds — I kid you not, after doing this 3-4 times, you’ll fall asleep anywhere, anytime!)
Reaching out for help and using what Sophie provided as help will definitely be a plus for your success!
Hi, Marc! I’m excited about trying that sleeping trick!
Thanks for the encouragement! I am looking forward to trying out her advice this week. I’ve always put so much pressure on myself. I have very high expectations of me! Lol! Following her advice will give me some direction on letting some of that off and allow me to happily make some progress. I’m curious to see how it turns out! I’ll keep you updated 🙂
Hi Nakina,
Such a great post! We all tend to overload ourselves with work then want to give up because we get so frustrated or feel like we’re getting nothing done. I usually try to make a list of what must get done for the week and then do one thing at a time, so I don’t get overwhelmed. That helps a lot for me. I’m sorry you’re having this frustration right now, but it sounds like Sophie helped you through it and that’s great!
Thanks, Meredith! I’m all about solutions. These tips from Sophie really helped me to move forward this past week. In fact, I’ve found I really am trying to do too much. I’m at a stage where I’m beginning a lot of new things in my business. So, I will get some input on where to begin and how to prioritize this week.
Once I get those new beginnings established, I can see how they will fit into a weekly routine, but I’m not sure how to practically fit them into my schedule now. The starting of things is taking more time than I have.
Onward and upward! Cheers!
I appreciate this post. Carrying a little notebook of ideas is a great “park it” strategy. This business is as much personal growth as it is a business but this could be said about everything in life. For instance, facing doubts, comparing self to others, judging critically etc are attributes holding us back. I think or do all the things to override these traps of the mind.
Hi, Kate! I’m surprised that I need to grow up and face challenges to grow my online business. Who knew I had so much to grow in? Lol! But, seriously. I’ve had success in other areas of life. I am genuinely surprised this endeavor is so challenging. But I’m embracing the challenge. It gives me more to share!
Hello Nakina,
Yes, there are numerous things to do in our business, personal life, and other activities that involve us, which can often be overwhelming. Therefore, taking the time to reflect and reorganize ourselves is crucial. I thank you for refreshing our minds on how to deal with this challenge, sharing Sophie’s advice is a plus. All the best in your journey.
Ezequiel Wells recently posted…Title: Embracing Life’s Signals: Everyday Lessons for Success
Thank you, Ezequiel!
I found Sophie’s practical tips invaluable!
Glad you found them helpful, too!
Nakina