That pressure we put on ourselves keeps us from going after what we truly want.
Who’s putting too much pressure on themselves?
I know I am.
That pressure pushes us to move quickly, bouncing around “doing all the things” while simultaneously thinking about how to do all the other things even better.
It is intense. A feeling that everything needs our attention at once. That everything is equally important.
This was where I’ve been this week: hopping from each task. Working, client sessions, grocery shopping, cooking, working out, organizing, getting the pup out. Doing, doing, doing.
I set the bar for myself high. There is always a lot I want to get done and I get a strange satisfaction from all this doing.
In it I felt accomplished, but stressed to fit it all in.
That feeling of accomplishment is sneaky. It keeps us moving and busy. It keeps us feeling good enough, but not satisfied.
I wasn’t feeling fulfilled because I didn’t make progress on the one or two important projects in my life. And I didn't take time to rest or space to determine what I wanted to do.
By doing all the things, I end up doing a lot of things I don’t actually want to be doing, or at least don’t really care about doing.
I need to take the pressure off. I need to focus on what feels gratifying.
For me, this week taking the pressure off meant spending some time by this waterfall. Some weeks it looks like lying down for 5 minutes between tasks.
What can we do right now to take some of the pressure off?