Overwhelm: Just Another Form of Resistance

A few days ago I hit a wall. I was working on putting the finishing touches on my new web site. I was in the middle of creating a new teleclass and developing an introductory teleseminar for the class. I was working with my publisher to okay the final edits of my book so it can be printed and I was working on some marketing homework that my coach had assigned me.

All these things were interconnected and I want them all completed before I was the guest speaker on Simply Celebrate’s teleseminar next Thursday. (I would love to have you join us at: SimplyCelebrate). There was so much to do and everything needed to be done at the same time, so I found myself doing a little on each piece and not completing anything. I felt totally overwhelmed.

As I sat staring at my computer screen feeling completely frozen in indecision, I remembered a mentor of mine telling me that feeling overwhelmed was just another form of resistance. Our bodies are systems and systems don’t like change. So, when we’re moving fast, doing lots of things, our bodies try to slow us down by sending out little sensations that we interpret as overwhelm.

All of sudden our minds don’t seem to work quite as well. We don’t feel as organized as we did when we started the project. We begin to think that maybe this isn’t such a good idea and that maybe it would be wiser just to abort the mission. And many times that is exactly what we do when we reach this point. We give up. I know there was a big part of me who was ready to call it quits.

But luckily the rational part of my brain kicked in before I could make any rash decisions. And, when I was able to step out of my panic mode and look more objectively at where I was and what I was trying to accomplish, my feelings of being overwhelmed made perfect sense. Look at all the cool things I was working on. Of course I was going to feel resistance – I was changing my professional brand, my web site, my coaching services and I had a new book coming out. My system was being turned upside down!

So, what I needed to do was to find a way to get these things done in a way that was more congruent with my style and that didn’t upset my equilibrium quite as much. As I thought about it, I realized that trying to do a little bit on each piece of the puzzle didn’t work for me. I had to complete one thing and then move onto the next, trusting that eventually everything would get done.

And that’s what I did. I made a comprehensive list of all the tasks I needed to complete and systematically started checking them off. After I finished each task, I would take a break, hit my Easy Button which would enthusiastically say, “That was easy! and then give myself a pat on the back.

I still am working on some tasks and it may take a little longer than expected to pull everything together; but it will get done and more importantly I am, once again, enjoying the journey along the way.

The next time you feel overwhelmed, take some time and figure out where you’re getting hooked, what the resistance is about and what you need to do work around it. There are so many wonderful things out there to do and see. Don’t let the feeling of being overwhelmed get in your way.


If you want to do something you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse. - Anon