“Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man.”
– loose paraphrase from the fairly well known tale of The Gingerbread Man
I enjoy running. It helps me clear my head. But, it has a time and a place, and recently, I’ve been running away from responsibility. Today, I plan to discover why as I write.
The main belief I’d like to explore is having a savior. I have prayed constantly in life whenever I experience emotional overwhelm from the amount of things I perceive to have on my plate. Sometimes, there truly is a lot to accomplish, but most times there is not much. I catastrophize because I have high expectations of how much I can achieve in a particular time frame. I feel guilty that I’m not doing enough and generate multiple ideas that I never start on. So, accomplishing goals that I need and want to achieve, I would attribute to hard prayer and letting it go by not thinking about the logistics. This, of course, leads to dissatisfaction.
How do I end this cycle? I don’t know yet but I have some intuitive steps that I’m planning to take:
- Write down every idea
- Rank the first 3 on your list
- Choose the most desirable out of those three
- Create a plan for this idea
- Create a schedule for this idea
- Time yourself for 15 minutes completing the first step
- If you desire to continue, finish the first step
- Don’t move ahead to the next step
The last step may seem odd, but I think it’s necessary. It’s okay to build up some tension towards a goal you want. I theorize that it will help you act on your goal consistently everyday. It’s easy for the motivation to last until the end of the second step and you are out of momentum which sets you up for in consistency. Again, it’s just a theory. Let me know how it goes.
Now, when it comes to issues you need to address, journaling will always be the answer. It’s simple. You ask yourself why constantly until you can’t ask why anymore. Except, your finding the root problems to systemic not personal issues.
Issue: I’m not able to exercise in the morning.
Why: I feel tired.
Why not: exercise in the afternoon or evening
This seems simplified, because it is. Life really is that straightforward sometimes. We just need to make a singular conscious change and unconscious yet beneficial changes will occur as a result. And, yes, there will always be opportunity costs. Consider those after thinking of a possible solution.
These are practical approaches. Use them to short circuit out of overwhelm. You’ll know you’ve made progress when you feel more at peace with tackling your goals and life challenges.