How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

She's not overwhelmed, and neither is the goose. photo by Thermodynamix

She’s not overwhelmed, and neither is the goose. (photo by Thermodynamix)

“Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it’s the time when they most need to think.”
~ William J. Clinton

You know what’s exciting?

Being overwhelmed is impossible if you’re in the present moment.

I’m not talking about your physical presence, which is always in the present moment, but your mental presence, which can travel far back in time or well into the future. If your mind is in the present moment, and not looking ahead, overwhelm cannot touch you.

I’m not throwing cheap words at you: there are specific boundaries and realities of the present moment that, if accepted, make overwhelm impossible. Literally.Read More

Losers Focus On Circumstances, Winners Focus On The Process

NavySEALs

Navy SEALs during “Hell Week,” which I’m sure is exactly as fun as it sounds. That water is frigid. Photo by slagheap

“The temperature seemed to grow colder as we jogged around in the freezing surf. And finally they called us out and the whistles blew again. We all dived back onto the sand. Crawling, itching, and burning. Five guys quit instantly and were sent up to the truck. I didn’t understand any of that, because we had done this before. It was bad, but not that bad, for chris’sakes. I guess those guys were just thinking ahead, dreading the forthcoming five days of Hell Week, the precise way Captain Maguire had told us not to.”

– Marcus Luttrell, The Lone Survivor of Operation Red Wings

No matter what you try to do in life, something will go wrong. Resistance will come. The difficulty will rise to uncomfortable levels.

For Marcus Luttrell, the hardest military training program in the world (Navy Seal BUD/s training) was actually a cakewalk compared to what he’d experience five years later in Afghanistan.Read More

5 Fascinating Ways Your Brain Bends Reality

Caution: This image might make observers feel sick. The bicycle wheels may appear to rotate counterclockwise, but this is a still image! Photo credit: Akiyoshi Kitaoka

Caution: This illusion might make observers feel sick. The bicycle wheels appear to rotate counterclockwise, but this is a still image! Your brain doesn’t know any better. Sigh. Image credit: Akiyoshi Kitaoka

We think we see reality as it is, but science has revealed multiple ways that the human brain bends reality (as it relates to our personal experiences).

Most of these reality-bending brain happenings involve the way we process information. Like the image above shows us, our perception of how things are is not always accurate, but this isn’t always a problem—you’ll see it can be a benefit too.

1. When you’re fatigued, you might not be.

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Why We Avoid Healthy Living

broccoli

Growing up, were you bombarded with “eat your vegetables, exercise every day, and drink lots of water” and other such “healthy living” advice?

Did you have to eat your vegetables before you got dessert? Yeah, me too.

It’s good advice, but it’s often delivered in a “don’t question this” dogmatic style with accompanying pressure to follow it (and guilt or shame if you don’t do it). We hear it from parents, schools, and even the news. But then, a paradoxical result follows:Read More

How To Stop Procrastinating Right Now

snowstalk

After reading this article, you will be like this snow leopard, and procrastination will freak out. (photo by Mark Dumont)

In a recent Mini Habits audiobook giveaway (subscribers only), I asked people what they were struggling with. About half of the 160 responses mentioned some form of overwhelm and procrastination as their primary struggle.

Procrastination—being a decision-making and execution problem—has two stages. The first stage you can get stuck on is deciding what to do, after which comes the choice and challenge to do it promptly. Before we address these two challenges and stop procrastinating, there’s an important first step for both.Read More