Stop Feeling Overwhelmed with Life By Embracing the Power of One

If you try to explore everything at the same time, one of two things happens:

• You fail miserably at giving each of your goals adequate time and attention and end up super-overwhelmed, or 
• You don’t even get started.
  

Both of these outcomes are less likely if you pick one of your goals/interests to get started.

Imagine that for the next month, in your free time you’re going to get started with gardening, Origami, dancing, Wildwater Rafting as well as playing the accordion. How does this make you feel?

Myself, I feel stressed just reading it. 😰

Now imagine that for the next month, you’re going to start learning how to play the accordion in your free time. How does this feel instead?

(Fine, if the idea of having to play the accordion seems terrible to you, imagine it’s another musical instrument instead.)

My point is that it’s relieving to only do one new thing at a time. 😌

Apart from preventing overwhelm, there are other benefits to only exploring one of your interests at a time.

For instance, James Clear discusses research that shows that implementation intentions such as “Next week, I will do X for X amount of time.”  “only work when you focus on one goal at a time.”

He also writes that “researchers found that people who tried to accomplish multiple goals were less committed and less likely to succeed than those who focused on a single goal.”

This made me think of my own experience with coaching clients on new habits. Those who insist on changing everything all at once are less likely to succeed than the ones who heed my advice on tackling one habit at a time.

Grab a pen and paper. 📝Then, take a moment to go through the following process.

(If you want to get the most out of this or if you're afraid of getting stuck, get the "Taking Action Worksheets" and begin by filling those out.)

• What are the main goals you want to accomplish at the moment?
  These can be either personal or professional or both. For instance: "I want to build my new website. I want to improve my existing website. I want to launch a group course. I want to make progress on my project with Mark and Nadine. I want to write the first draft of my book."
  
  
• Which of these goals is the most challenging to accomplish?
   For instance: "That's an interesting question. Probably completing the first draft of my book, since I haven't even gotten started. I'm also realizing that three of the goals (new website, existing website, progress on the project) are so undefined that they could be really easy or really hard to accomplish, depending on my definition."
  
  
• Which of these goals would give you the biggest bang for the buck?
  You can either measure this in financial terms or in terms of how much this would fulfill you. For instance: "The group course is the only thing on that list associated with immediate financial remuneration. In terms of fulfillment, it would probably also make me happier than the other two goals."
  
  
• If a fairy offered to turn one of these goals into reality right now, with a simple wave of her magic wand, which one would you pick?
  Also, write down why you chose the goal you chose. For instance: " That's a tough question. Should I pick the goal that's the most challenging to accomplish or the one that would give me the biggest bang for the buck? I think I'll pick the latter one since I'm clear about the benefit I would get from this and I know that it would make me happy."
  
  
• Based on your answers to the previous questions, which goal do you want to focus on first?
  For instance: "I think it's pretty clear that launching a group course is the most important goal for me right now. So, I'll focus my energy on that."
  

People typically start feeling overwhelmed with life if they have too many things going on. Focusing on one thing at a time can help prevent this... and it only takes a little bit of patience.

If you notice yourself becoming overwhelmed, focus on one of the things that interest you at a time and take small steps in that direction.