Intro to Habits of Action – Changing the Narrative of Overwhelm

If I had a nickel for every time I was overwhelmed or I heard another woman say she was overwhelmed…I would have a whoooooole lot of nickels!

So, let me ask you… Are you overwhelmed? Maybe not in every area of life (hopefully not everywhere in life!); Parenting, Home, Business, Mental Health, Marriage, Finances, Physical Health… 

I have been and will be again I am sure at some point overwhelmed with every area listed above and more! 

Together, we can raise our hands and admit that often the overwhelm has stopped us in our tracks and kept us from moving one inch forward while we felt like we were going to explode!

Overwhelm became a narrative in my life. 

Sometimes it felt like there was a deep voice narrating my day and it would say over and over… “And she was so overwhelmed.” NOT cool, Narrator! This is supposed to be a happy story not a depressing one!

Overwhelm is defined as being buried under a huge mass or inundated with too much. 

I could not think of a better definition of the feelings I have had with the areas in my life that were overwhelming. And that overwhelm induced despair, frustration, and caused many times overwhelm to seep into more areas of my life until it felt like I was completely buried. 

Is any of this feeling familiar?

Frankly, last year, I was tired of being tired from the overwhelm in several areas of my life. And found one small habit to implement in my business that spilled into every area of my life. 

Habits of Action

Habits of Action is a new way of thinking when it comes to any area of overwhelm in your life. Habits of Actions is the simple mindset of breaking down that big, overwhelming thing in your life and finding a way to turn it into small, actionable steps that you can take to conquer that overwhelm and turn it into a different story.

It is the action of identifying that overwhelm and then asking yourself simple questions until you have broken it down to the core and then build small steps of action to change that feeling of being buried until you have dug yourself out from beneath the crushing overwhelm to freedom. 

Let me give you a simple example:

Laundry is overwhelming.

Instead of letting it pile up week after week and letting the frustration and big feelings build, I broke it down to pain points and then to small actionable steps to change it.

• Why was it overwhelming? – Huge, messy piles that never got put away or were left in the washer & dryer
• What have I tried before that didn’t work? – Doing it all in one day was not realistic, but also piling clean clothes all over the house wasn’t either
• What do I want the chore of laundry to actually feel like? – Easy. Manageable. And not a big mountain taking over my house.
• Could I ask for more help? – Yes! The kids are definitely old enough to help!
• Can I set up a routine to see if that will work? – Yes! If I plan on doing several loads of laundry 2-3 days a week I can break it up to smaller amounts to put away.
• Where can I put a reminder to do the laundry and keep on top of it? – Add it to my calendar, put a reminder on my phone and involve the kids in the routine.
• What other steps can I take to make laundry less overwhelming? – Look on Pinterest for other ideas and decide to implement them one at a time in small ways. 

The example of laundry is extremely simple. But I hope it gives you a basic picture of what Habits of Action is. 

Think of something much bigger. Depression & Anxiety. How the heck could I conquer the overwhelm in this? Same questions. Same process. 

• Why was it overwhelming?
• What have I tried before that didn’t work?
• What do I want it to actually feel like?
• Could I ask for more help?
• Can I set up a routine of working on this?
• Where can I see reminders to take small steps?
• What other small steps can I take to find peace?

This was a big one for me. I still am working on it. But I have made HUGE progress in the overwhelm of depression and anxiety. And I am so proud of myself. 

This is what I want you to say in 2020. I am so PROUD of myself for making HUGE progress in changing the narrative of overwhelm in “THIS” area. And you are seeing that habits of action are automatically popping up in more areas of your life without you even thinking about it!

Whatever that huge or small thing that is overwhelming you, I want to help you change that narrative. Tell the narrator to F*** off and write your own script. 

I am inviting you to tackle the areas of overwhelm in your life together with myself and other women who aren’t afraid to raise their hand and admit they feel or have felt the same way. 

There will be a weekly email on the area we are tackling together that can be overwhelming with question prompts and actionable steps to follow to work through to change that narrative of overwhelm.

I am also creating a Facebook Community for women who feel the same overwhelm who are joining together to create Habits of Action! This community will be specifically made to encourage woman in any stage of life to create a habit of breaking down overwhelm with small actions. If I had not had a community of women encouraging me over the last year and listening to my overwhelm and helping me change it to a habit of action, I would still be where I was last year. Overwhelmed.

There is power in sharing our stories, our struggles and our victories. Let’s harness that power with a movement to change that narrative and bring freedom from it with habits of action.

Sign up today!

*Please, note. I am not a professional. I am a mom who wants to share what I have learned and encourage you to find the mindset, resources, and help you need to combat the overwhelm too!