Managing Overwhelm

• Key takeaways:

  • When feeling overwhelmed, prioritize regulating your nervous system.
  • Generate positive emotions to counter negative feelings and boost dopamine.
  • Find activities that make you feel better than you currently do, even if it's a small improvement.
  • Examples include exercise, nature, sun exposure, and breathwork.

• Metacognitive questions:

  • Why is regulating my nervous system so crucial for overcoming overwhelm?
  • How can I identify activities that reliably shift my emotional state?

• Action plan:

  • Experiment with exercise, nature, and breathwork to find what helps.
  • Incorporate these activities into my daily routine to proactively manage overwhelm.

• Mindset cultivation:

  • Notice when I start to feel overwhelmed.
  • Consciously choose an activity that evokes positive emotions.
  • Observe the impact on my emotional state.

• Metaphors/concept handles:

  • Overwhelm as a tangled ball of yarn - need to find the loose end (positive emotion) to start unraveling it.
  • Positive emotions as a bridge from overwhelm to clarity and action.