My grounding principles for mind chaos

You know that feeling when the tasks/goals/ideas in your head start to accumulate and you can't help but try to get them all done in one sitting— mind chaos.

Typically, when I’m faced with something overwhelming, I’ve found value in perspective. Viewing things through a different lens reassures me that I can navigate it, helping me better understand how to move through it.

Although it isn’t necessary to put every situation in perspective, in times when I feel challenged and am searching for some clarity, I keep these two strategies in mind to ground me.

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1. KEEP IT ESSENTIAL:

The feeling of being stuck is a common experience that most of us encounter at some point in our lives. We are surrounded by platforms that feed us content of people “doing it all” that convince us that we are “falling behind” or we should be achieving more and faster. 

I am used to overloading my brain with 10+ tasks to do in a day, and although I may have been “checking off all the boxes,” I had to accept that doing it all was basically getting me nowhere. This was a hard conclusion for me to come to because I felt like if I didn’t start everything I wanted to accomplish, it would never be achieved. But I was wrong. A couple of weeks ago, I finished the book, Essentialism, and I was called out (in the best way). It reminded me to think about what is truly essential to my life right now, and it was clear to me I had lost sight of that. I lost sight of what was important in this moment and instead was consumed by what my long-term goals were because I needed to get it ALL done at once.

And as time went on, I would lose some excitement I had behind it because it was hard to keep up with, which in turn left me feeling…you guessed it— STUCK. Although I was passionate about all these things, what I didn’t know was that I was never fully committed to any of them and lost my intention quickly.

I planted too many seeds, so it was difficult to focus on the growth of any of them, leaving me with little to no effective progress.

Just some pretty plants (lots of progress here)

Stepping back, it was clear that I had started too much. This excitement of starting overpowered my ability to choose which tasks to focus on first. I recognize that I can do all these things, but they do not need to be done in a time-restricted manner. In no way am I perfect at keeping everything manageable all the time (I have about 12 tabs open on my computer right now), but I have begun to slowly dial back when an endless laundry list starts to form, so it becomes easier to understand my why and put more consistent effort towards it.

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2. LOOK AT YOUR TRACK RECORD:

When a new chapter, challenge, or goal presents itself, an inevitable feeling of worry kicks in. This feeling for me can spiral into second-guessing myself, wondering “can I make this work?”. However, this method helps put my mind at ease when this feeling creeps in. 

Recently, I heard from Jay Shetty on The Mels Robbins podcast that “when you achieve something, you forget how you dreamt of achieving that”.

Naturally, our brain tends to forget what we accomplished because it is on to the next thing. I think back to a few weeks ago when I finished my first marathon. It was one of the most rewarding experiences because it had been a goal I dreamed of achieving since my first year of college. But within 48 hours, my mind moved on, and I searched for another race to sign up for so I could chase that time. 

Or another instance: graduating from college. The following week, my mind jumped to the next question: what to do for a job. And once I got that job, I thought about how I could get a better position…the list goes on. Now you may be thinking, “well aren’t I supposed to keep finding ways to improve?” and to be clear, I believe having the drive to elevate your skills is incredibly important, and there is power in continuing the momentum as you start a journey (listed in my first blog). However, as these strides are being taken, it can bring on the unwanted doubts and what-ifs into the picture. Instead of giving that negative noise attention, I try to think about my track record and let it speak for itself.

Once I remind myself of something I achieved in the past (like passing that hard course or finishing that difficult workout) it creates a sense of ease that I have followed through with my previous goals, so I can do it again. 

Whether your goal is to finally get that yoga certificate or make more home-cooked meals— whatever is on your mind, start it. But choose to start something that feels essential to your values and believe you’ll get it done just like you always have.