When life feels overwhelming, everything appears chaotic and out of control. It’s as though every task or desire comes with a high likelihood of failure. This mindset quickly traps you in a cycle of overthinking and indecision, a state commonly known as Analysis Paralysis.
Too much thinking, in too many directions, results in – dreadful inaction – that starts making you feel like a total failure. The good news is it does not need to be like this. All you need to get yourself moving is an inspiring goal when feeling overwhelmed with life!
Let us understand why this is so …
The Cycle of Overwhelm
We all have goals and aspirations, whether clearly defined or somewhat vague. Yet, more often than not, these ambitions breed confusion and lead to inaction. They pull our focus and priorities in different directions, leaving us juggling one objective after another.
When we inevitably fall short of our daily expectations, it chips away at our confidence. Our willpower diminishes, and this decline directly impacts our ability to execute effectively. This is the all-too-common cycle of overwhelm.
Most of our goals come out of our imagination around this question – “What will make me look successful?”
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This means you are more concerned about how you will “look” successful to others, rather than what will make you “feel” successful within yourself.
A common example of this is the one we see around us frequently. It is of a mother who has given up her career while taking great care of her children or family.
She may be feeling like a mini failure from her career perspective. While she did a great job of growing her children well and being the backbone of her family, she has given up a few years of her life from her career perspective.
While this happens because of how the people or society around her may behave, this decision was taken by her with the clarity of a meaningful goal of growing her children well. So, what could have been a very fulfilling process, has suddenly started creating a lot of stress.
In many ways, the biggest role played in creating our overwhelm is by our perspectives and expectations. So let us consider a few central ideas that can set the path for us to figure out the goal that truly inspires us!
6 Important Ideas to Consider While Setting an Inspiring Goal
1. Set one and only one goal! This seems easy and even unattractive because most overwhelmed individuals tend to think that they can achieve a lot, in a lot of different things.
2. The goal you set, need not be about what you want to showcase in the society and people around you. The important thing to focus on is if you feel a natural connection with this goal.
3. The goal needs to feel tangible and achievable. If the goal feels way too big, you will create more overwhelm for yourself.
4. Before starting to figure out your inspiring goal, it is important to get yourself into a joyous mood. This is when your energies are a bit high and you will think more clearly.
5. When thinking about the goal, think of what you will be able to do, once you achieve it!
The thinking of possibilities that open up, once you achieve your goal has 2 major benefits:
a. They make the goal more meaningful for you. You can relate to it better.
b. The possibilities provide you a hint of what can be your future roadmap, once you achieve the goal. This builds a sense of clarity. After all, life is not going to be over after you achieve your goal. It is simply a milestone towards the vision of your future self! Let us call it a “Smilestone” in the journey of your life!
6. Know very well that, the reason behind feeling overwhelmed is that – Deep down you feel that you can do so much more!
Now that we are clear about the core ideas in the process of figuring out the inspiring goal, let us look at the steps to figure it out.
10 Steps to Figure Out your Inspiring Goal when feeling overwhelmed with life
1. First think about what are the major things which are bothering you the most. They may be related to the expectations that you have from yourself or those from people around you.
Note these key concerns down on a sheet of paper. Awareness of what is bothering you is the first thing!
2. Casually note down all the things that you are trying to achieve in the next 1 to 3 years.
3. Now check if any particular goal feels more important and immediate compared to others that you have just written.
4. Check if any of your deepest concerns feel more important and immediate compared to the remaining ones.
5. Check if the deepest concerns and the most important goals have any connection of relation.
6. Now check, if the most important goal is taking care of one or more of your biggest concerns. If so, you are moving closer to your most inspiring goal.
7. If you have 2-3 such goals, try to think deeply about which one of them seems to give you the biggest possibility in life and practically highly achievable, while taking care of the most number of your deepest concerns.
This is your inspiring keystone goal!
8. Now think carefully and list all the things that will open up and be possible for you if you achieve this. Take your time to properly note down all the future possibilities that will await if you reach your keystone goal!
If possible, do some visualization of how your life will be once you achieve it.
9. Now, have total belief that you will get the time and resources in your life to achieve your other important goals too.
But at this phase of your life, you have the necessary patience and faith in yourself, to focus on your keystone goal completely.
This way your concerns about what you want to do or achieve will be taken care of.
10. Find or create a poster or sketch, that clearly states your goal.
Put this up where you will be spending most of your working time, to keep reminding you where you are heading.
If you have done this all, congratulations!
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You have taken the most important first step towards your journey from overwhelm to achievement! From being a thinker to a doer!
Check out these articles on
1. How you can set a clear and measurable goal
2. How you can practically go about achieving it
3. How to master the game of steps
Further articles to explore:
1. 15 strong signs showing you are feeling overwhelmed with life
2. Why am I so lazy, feeling overwhelmed with life?
3. 15 Powerful things to do when feeling overwhelmed with life
