584 - Are You Overwhelmed by Self Help?

In this episode, we look at how to deal with personal development overwhelm.

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[YouTube Video] How to Be More Productive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QhPUoVHkpQ

Part 1: The Problem

Personal development is an incredibly complicated and frustrating process. Our lives are so complex, there are so many areas to consider, and the list of constraints we face on a day to day basis are quite honestly insane.

Then, when we finally make the decision to take charge and gain control, we're met by a thousand different "teachers" or "guides" in the space each sharing their "unique process or system" designed to help you change your entire life....all for just $1,997 dollars and .97 cents.

You know you don't need all that...shit you couldn't even afford it if you wanted to. If you had that kind of money just sitting around things would honestly be a little easier.

So you decide to just put in the time. You start taking some action and you start seeing some results and you feel good.

Then one day you wake up and.....you don't know what to do.

You have no idea what to focus on. Where to spend your time. What's important and what isn't.

All of a sudden you're overwhelmed.

Overwhelm is a major problem in personal development and it only gets worse the more ambitious or driven you are, but what can we do about it?

Part 2: Diving Deeper

Well we first have to look at what's going on when we get overwhelmed.

According to the abstract of an article published by Amy F. T. Arnsten

"The prefrontal cortex (PFC)—the most evolved brain region—subserves our highest-order cognitive abilities. However, it is also the brain region that is most sensitive to the detrimental effects of stress exposure. Even quite mild acute uncontrollable stress can cause a rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive abilities, and more prolonged stress exposure causes architectural changes in prefrontal dendrites."

Here's how the article describes the role of the pre-frontal cortex:

"The prefrontal cortex (PFC) intelligently regulates our thoughts, actions and emotions through extensive connections with other brain regions. It creates a “mental sketch pad” through networks of neurons that can maintain information in the absence of environmental stimulation"

Part 3: The Solution

The solution here is to move slower and give yourself the room to rest

Look at the process of change as one of starts and stops? Why not let it be okay to try and fail and try again and fail again? Why not embrace the fact that we are going to get overwhelmed because our poor, squishy little brain is dealing with A LOT and that that is okay. 



Instead of setting yourself up for failure, approach your growth and change from a place of expecting to fall off. This way you'll have an actual plan in place for getting back on the horse and trying again. It'll no longer be something you need to motivate yourself for. It won't be something you need to forgive yourself for. After all, that was what you expected to happen in the first place.

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Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907136/