Deciding What to Do When You Feel Pressured

When everything feels important, slow down and listen to the pressure.

Take a minute to listen to your thoughts and emotions. Write them down, sort them out, and clarity will come.

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Transcript

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When Everything Feels Urgent

0:14

What do you do when it all feels important? You have your family and your business and your faith, and there's more to do than you can keep up with. So how do you decide what to do? What matters most? I decided to record this podcast because that's exactly where I was today and thought that walking you through my process kind of in real time might be helpful. So I recognized this morning that I was feeling overwhelmed by all the things that needed to be done, and I was also Probably feeling a little bit discouraged and weary by the fact that, like, telling myself I shouldn't-- I should know what to do. I should be able to do this better. It's a voice that I still fight a lot And I recognized as I was journaling about it in my prayer journal this morning, that rather than just saying I need a break or I need a reset, I was wanting to quit. And it's like, okay, that's a bit extreme. So let's, like, revisit that. And so for the morning, I did. I had a call with my community, and I had a client call that went really well, but I still didn't know what I was gonna talk about for the podcast. And I was like, well,

A Real-Time Detour To The Garden

1:55

my garden is drowning in weeds, and there's gonna be slugs eating everything if I don't go down and do something. So since I don't have a podcast, instead of sitting here trying to, like, force something and spend all this time being aggravated that I don't know what I'm gonna say. Like, I'll just go down to the garden So I did, and then when I got, well When I got to the garden, it didn't go how I was envisioning it going and changed plans there too of like, okay, I just, I need to do like the bare minimum to save the vegetables and then go try again on the podcast So I came to sit down to try and do the podcast and still was like, "I have nothing other than this pressure of feeling like is this what I should be doing right now? Or should I be doing something that my daughter wants me to be doing? Or should I be, you know, should I be doing the podcast? Should I be doing emails for my workshop? Should I be doing posts for social media? All these different options and like what's most important and what do I do And recognizing that not only was there the pressure of Or the indecision of what to do, there was the pressure of, like, feeling like I needed to pick the right thing, but also these expectations that I've mostly set for myself, but that have come from, you know, coaches or just stuff you read online or whatever about, you know, being consistent and I can be very literal. So if it says, like, "Be consistent, you need to put out a podcast every week," that's like, in my mind, like literally I need to do that instead of like most weeks you put out a podcast, and then there's allowance for being human, and so there's gonna be s- weeks that you don't or take seasons off or whatever. But just recognizing that all of that pressure was there. So I was like, "Okay, I just need to sort through this." Like, how, how do I decide what thing matters most when it all feels important? So the first step is just listening to the emotions and the thoughts that are there. Like I said, recognizing that there's this pressure,

Sorting Pressure From Purpose

4:55

and so when I stopped to write the thoughts that I was having, there was like, "You're pathetic. You don't have anything to say. You just need to get that done. Like, people are gonna think you're a flake." And recognizing like, okay, none of those are my thoughts. That's all the enemy harassing me. And when I recognize like, oh, okay, a whole bunch of that pressure is coming from that place, then I could stop and see like, well, I actually want to do a podcast. I wanna have something to say, and I do believe that God has something for me to say. And then I also recognized that there was fear there. Like, if I'm not doing everything I can possibly do, am I still gonna be serving well? Am I gonna be attracting new clients? And so being able to see like, oh, part of why it's hard to decide is because, like there's this mixture of, there's all the things that the enemy is saying that I hadn't clearly sorted out because I was keeping it all in my head. And then there's The fear, which is not a good motivation for doing things, and then there's the, like, mature, responsible spirit led of like, "Right, this is what I want to do. This is what I feel God has called me to do." So while physically I might be tired and want a break, that needs to be balanced with my responsibility and put in perspective of like, okay, how do you take a break and not have that be like just quit everything and don't do anything that you need to do? So recognizing like if the only reason I'm doing it is out of fear, I'm not going to show up the way that I want to show up. It's not gonna be the blessing that I want it to be But by acknowledging that the fear is there, then I can turn it over to the Lord and say, okay, right, I'm trusting you to do what I can't do. And I don't have to worry about trying to make anything happen So I just wanted to share that kind of like real time example of when you're trying to make a decision for your business or for whatever, and it feels like you just keep, I call it spinning out Right now I'm blanking out on what other people call it, but that, like, you're just not getting anywhere. Slowing down to listen to And notice the emotions that are there and notice the thoughts that are there

Write It Down And Take It Captive

8:10

Helps you to, and writing it down. Like noticing in your head is good, but there's something super powerful about writing it down or typing it out, that you're literally taking that thought captive. It's now on paper or on a screen where you can look at it and see all those you statements that feel yucky, that feel condemning and heavy are from the enemy. And so if the enemy is telling me that I have nothing to say, that's a really good indication that I have something powerful to say. So that's motivating to keep moving rather than when it's rolling around in my head thinking it's my thought, it is keeping me stuck and keeping me from moving forward. And when you say seeing the emotions, I'm like, yeah, I'm feeling pressured and overwhelmed and weary and scared. Those all show me, like what do I need? If I'm weary, I need rest and probably a perspective shift. And if I'm afraid, I need to look at what I'm afraid of and see wherever I'm afraid there's a place that I'm not trusting God.

Let Emotions Inform Not Lead

9:35

So if I'm afraid that like I need to keep doing podcasts or emails or posts or whatever it is to keep getting clients Maybe there is wisdom in doing that, but if I'm doing it out of fear, I'm not trusting the Lord to make the connections and bring the people and do the things that He can do if I'm being faithful to do what I can do, and that doesn't mean doing everything. Um And sometimes the process involves more Sometimes there needs to be some healing, some repenting You know, so different things that the Lord shows, like I said, seeing what those needs are and figuring out how are we gonna get these needs met Um, it's a process that obviously I use myself on a regular basis and that I use with my clients and teach you how to notice things, how to take your thoughts captive, and then what to do with them once you do. And when you see the emotions, you know, feel them and listen to what they have to say, but not let them continue to be in charge. And if you're not listening and not acknowledging them, they're more in charge than you think they are I trust that is helpful, and I will see you next time