Lewis Howes

The first thing you can do is take a moment to breathe and smile. Take a breath in for two or four counts, and then exhale slowly, twice as long on the way out. If you repeat that four times, it will slow your heart rate and calm your mind. I’m telling you — it’ll help tremendously. And on the fourth breath, smile.

The second thing you need to do is give yourself permission to work hard. Sometimes when we’re stressed, we get down on ourselves. We beat ourselves up when we feel like we can’t handle everything at once. Friends — it’s okay to say, “I have a lot on my plate. Now’s the time to hunker down, sacrifice, work hard, and push past my discomfort.” Now, I’m not saying that needs to be your every day, month, or year because that’s really overwhelming, but give yourself permission to work hard. Don’t beat yourself up. Keep moving forward.

The third thing to do is to see the opportunity in the overwhelm because it can push us to do things faster, smarter, and better. When I’m overwhelmed, I know that it’s time to either delegate tasks to my team or eliminate things that aren’t super important in my life right now. This helps me work more efficiently on the things that matter most.

And finally, the fourth thing you need to do is create priorities. We sometimes have the mindset of, “I have to do everything myself, and I have to do it all perfectly.” We have to let that go. We can’t do a million things at once. So do yourself a favor: Relax your mind and smile because you have opportunities in front of you. Create a priority list of tasks and knock one thing out at a time.

No one likes to feel overwhelmed, but a little discomfort here and there is what makes us grow. It teaches us lessons. It gives us tools. And it prepares us for any chaos we may encounter in the future.

Friends — you got this and we got your back here at The School of Greatness.

Join me on Episode 1,020 to learn more about the four ways to stay positive even when you’re overwhelmed!