You want so desperately to change your life, but whenever you think about making a start, uncertainty and confusion arise to put a stop to any grand plans before they’ve even gotten off the ground.
Procrastination and overwhelm often go hand in hand, as one feeds into the other to become a vicious cycle that can feel difficult to break. The frustration of feeling stuck is only made worse by overthinking, bringing even more anxiety along with it, and paralysing you into inaction.
So how do you break this cycle? Here’s how to set goals, make progress and turn those dreams into reality even when you are prone to overwhelm.
Before You Set Goals, Make Sure You Are In The Right Frame Of Mind.
Any decisions you make when you aren’t in the right energy are far more likely to be born from fear and not for your highest good. That is why before you create goals it’s vital that you feel good. You want the choices that you make to flow from positive emotions like excitement and curiosity and not be driven by negative emotions such as expectation and pressure.
Feeling good needs to be your number one priority, so before you start to set more defined goals spend 5 or 10 minutes just having fun with your ideas, thoughts and ambitions.
Ask yourself: What am I feeling excited to create?
Then just brainstorm some ideas. Make sure it is a free-for-all. Forget about all practicalities. Forget any thoughts of how you would achieve these ideas. Keep it fun and feeling light. This is not going to turn into your “to do” list. These are not action items that you will carry out. From this brainstorming session with yourself, there is zero obligation. This is simply about tapping into what feels good. When you take away any sense of obligation you can allow for lighter, playful and potentially more ambitious energy to come through.
That list is always going to be there for whenever you want to return to it. It may be when you are in need of a little boost to remember what sparks those excited feelings. Maybe you will decide to cherry-pick ideas from that list. Perhaps you never pick the list up again or do any of the things on it. It doesn’t matter. Its main purpose is just to help you get into aligned energy (by feeling good) before you start to set your goals.
Setting Practical Goals That Feel Easy And Achievable
Now that you have found that better feeling energy, you want to avoid overwhelm creeping back in by making too many demands of yourself. Set for yourself just one objective for the month that feels quite exciting and do-able. This isn’t a specific action item, it is an intention. It is the overall direction you want to go in for the month.
For example, your intention may be to improve your physical health, to feel calmer, perhaps you want to attract more sales in your business, or create better communication in your relationship.
After you’ve chosen your one intention based on your priorities right now in life or business, it’s time to work out actions for each week.
Select several small action items that you will commit to each week which will move you closer to your overall monthly objective. These are practical and measurable tasks and commitments.
For example:
- If you want to make more sales, you may decide to set aside a couple of hours to revisit warm leads.
- If you want to feel calmer, you may commit to a 10-minute walk every day after work.
- If you want to improve your relationship you may suggest one dedicated date night each week.
Remember to be honest with yourself about what is possible. To avoid overwhelm taking hold, it is better to be modest and set yourself up for success rather than be unrealistic and set yourself up for failure.
By setting just a few action items every week you still have flexibility alongside a structure that will support you to be disciplined.
The Drama-Free Way To Kick Procrastination Into Touch…
So you’ve set your goals and you know what needs to be done but perhaps it’s getting around to the actual “doing” part that trips you up? It is typical for procrastination to arise when we feel overwhelmed.
Whenever you feel yourself getting stuck, whatever it is that you’ve promised yourself you’ll do – but keep finding an excuse to avoid – make a deal with yourself to spend a really short amount of time on it. Even if it is just 10 minutes. 10 minutes isn’t so bad right?!
We often end up making the task at hand such a big deal in our minds, that we dread getting started. It is this emotional cost that usually keeps you stuck. The majority of the time when you do make a start, things flow, it doesn’t seem so bad, you make progress and keep on going without all the drama.
I’d love to hear if these tips have helped? Please do let me know in the comments below.
First published on www.soulfulscrapbook.com