When you feel overwhelmed, stop and be still!

Colleagues,

Last week was crazy. I had a wonderful time being the opening keynote speaker at the Texas Making Middle Schools Matter Symposium on March 1. From there, I traveled to San Francisco (3rd time since the new year) to support my struggling family member.

The disruption to my schedule, for this trip, but also for previous ones in January and February, is taking a toll and it is hard to sustain a business when you are constantly in crisis mode.

Luckily, I’ve built many systems to help me stay connected and on top of my work, but last week it felt like those systems were failing. I became concerned and frustrated, and began going down the negative talk rabbit hole.

Then, Friday morning, I got up early and was quiet. I reflected, I journaled, and I asked myself questions like:

• Why do you feel this way?
• What is your goal?
• Where is the breakdown?”

In the quiet, I discovered my emotions were overblown. I also began to see some system structures that weren’t working for me any more. And I saw why some of that friction was occurring.

Now, I will make small changes to instantly improve my situation, instead of tearing it all down and starting from scratch.

Got a problem? Be still.

Cheers!

Frederick