Why you feel overwhelmed, and how to move through it

In business there are so many moving parts. The social media posts, newsletters, clients, the overflowing inbox, and maybe you even have staff to manage, let alone all of the things you have going on outside of your business. It can be really easy to feel the overwhelm. So in today’s episode, I’m going to share why you feel overwhelmed at times, and importantly, how you can shift through it.

Hello and welcome to The Clare Wood Podcast, where myself and incredible guests share about money mindset, financial successes, and how to manage your money in a fun and practical way to create wealth and abundance in both your business and your life. I’m your host, Clare Wood. I’m a business coach and a money mentor. I strongly believe that money has the power to positively change the world. I can’t wait to help you transform your mindset around money, create a love of numbers, and build the business of your dreams so you can live a life of financial freedom giving and global impact.

Particularly when your business is in a growth stage, it can feel really overwhelming. As I mentioned in the intro, there are so many moving parts in a business. And at times it can feel like the buck ends with you. So how do you know if you are feeling overwhelmed? Well, there are signs that you can keep an eye out for. Fatigue, forgetfulness, a lack of concentration, your cognitive function might start to decline. You might feel anxiety symptoms such as a racing heart or that you aren’t able to stop thinking. The mind is always racing. If you can relate to any of these, it can be helpful to stop and think, why do you feel like this?

Why the drive to succeed can be overwhelming

The first reason I think you might be feeling like this is because you want to succeed. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t care. You are obviously deeply connected to your why. You know the reason why you got started in business. It was probably to help people who have a problem and because you know that you have a solution that can help them. And you know perhaps deep down that you can help others create a positive impact in the world and create a successful and profitable business. You know you can help and succeed, but at times it’s easy to lose sight of that when you’re in the nuts and the bolts of the day to day overwhelm.

The BIG difference a support crew can make

The second reason you feel overwhelmed is because you don’t feel fully supported. Perhaps you haven’t yet built your dream team around you. It feels like everything sits with you. Maybe you don’t have a support crew to cheer you on around you, perhaps you don’t have your group of biz besties. Or maybe you do have some business friends but perhaps you are outgrowing them as your business is scaling. Maybe you don’t have someone to cheer you on. So perhaps you don’t have a business coach or perhaps you don’t have the right business coach to support you to your next level of growth. And another reason might be because your partner, family and friends don’t really understand what you’re going through. They want to know why you are on your phone all the time or what you’re so stressed about. And if they don’t run their own business, it can be really hard for them to understand exactly what it’s like to be going through the challenges of business ownership. Perhaps they have the best intentions, but the advice they share as people who aren’t running businesses themselves isn’t necessarily the most helpful.

How strategies and systems can make you or break you

The third reason you feel overwhelmed is because you don’t have the system’s support and strategies in place to support your business to scale to the next level. I want you to imagine someone who is an excellent runner. They are naturally gifted but they don’t have a running coach. They’re just trying to figure it all out on their own. They can’t afford a good pair of shoes and they don’t have a training crew that they go running with to push them on and drive them to their next level of success. It’s hardly a fair race when you compare them to someone who is very supported, has all the best equipment, a fantastic coach and the right people around them cheering them on. And it’s exactly the same in business. If you are wanting to run a world class business, it’s time to up level your support and up level the systems and strategies you have in place to support your success.

3 ways to shift from feeling overwhelmed

If this is resonating with you and you are feeling the overwhelm, how do you move out of it?

1. Well depending on how overwhelmed you are feeling, you might need the support of a mental health professional. Maybe seek the support of a therapist or psychologist to get you back on track.
2. Step back into the CEO role. I know this has happened to me so many times in the state of overwhelm that you feel like you are powerless in your own business. It’s easy to play the victim. “I have to do all of these things.” But something I want to remind you, this is your business. You are in the driver’s seat. You are the CEO. So take back the reins and make the big decisions you need to, to get yourself and your business back on the right path. Remember, you are in charge here.
3. Work out a game plan. If you are deep in the depth of overwhelm, sometimes it can really help to just stop and step away. And even if you don’t have the luxury of taking a whole week off, maybe take a day or an afternoon off to step back and really reevaluate things. Really have a think about what work really needs to be done by you. Then have a look at all of those actions and either do it. And if you’re struggling to take action, ask yourself why? Why am I procrastinating on this thing that perhaps isn’t that big of a thing to do? Or look to outsource it, delegate it, or eliminate it. A lot of things we have on our plate because we think we have to do it, but if you step back and really look at things with fresh eyes, you can realise that some of the things on your to-do list, you can actually politely say, no, thank you to. A great question to ask yourself in this process is, what is the biggest thing causing you overwhelm right now? And then really critically think about, is this really urgent and or important?
4. The last thing I recommend is to get yourself and an A level support crew. Something I often think about is I wonder how I get so much done in a week. And one of the biggest things I put it down to is that I literally have a first class support crew. The first person I credit it to is well, myself. I believe in myself immensely and I invest in my needs both financially and time wise as a priority. I always make sure my own life jacket is on first. I also have my husband who is my number one supporter and is such an amazing support for me in my business. I have a world class coach who is absolutely amazing. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about her on the podcast before, her name is Suzy Ashworth and yes, it is a big investment, but for me having an incredible coach by your side is a non compromisable. I also have my biz besties who are absolutely amazing. We speak nearly every day and they are an endless source of support, cheerleading, listening, and making really positive suggestions in challenging times. Your support crew in business is everything. And if you feel unsupported in business and overwhelmed, one of the best ways you can move out of it is surrounding yourself by the right kind of people, and being in the energy of those who are doing amazing things.

If you haven’t yet found your world class support crew, I’m excited to share that I am relaunching my Mastermind again very soon. This is exclusively for six figure plus service based business owners who are wanting to scale to seven figures. Many of the people who have joined previous rounds of the Masterminds are making in the mid six figures to even the high six figures. But the one thing they have in common is that everyone is very passionate about what they do and are looking for a high level community of business owners to surround themselves with. Inside the Mastermind, you also have me as your coach to ask questions to anytime inside a voice and text messaging app called Voxer. And there are also two live calls that happen every month. As well as a bunch of other bonus content.

If you have been curious about what it’s like to be inside my Mastermind, you are going to love what I am going to share with you today. You can try my Mastermind for free. Yeah, that’s right. You can try it for free. You get a taste of what it’s like to be inside the Mastermind. You get to come along to two live calls with me where I share the exact kind of content I share inside my Mastermind. And you are even going to get five days of free Voxer access. So you can text or voice message me and the Masterminders at any time and share any challenges that are going on for you and me and the community will come back and share any of our thoughts, advice, and suggestions for shifting you through it. You’ll get a real taster of what it’s like to be inside my high level Mastermind community. And the best part, you get the chance to try it for free. You do need to be making a minimum of six figures revenue a year inside your business to experience this free trial. But if you do meet that criteria and you are running a service based business, make sure you click on the link in the bio so you can jump in and have the Mastermind experience.

So to sum up today, feeling overwhelmed in business can be a very common thing. And there are a number of reasons why you might feel like that.

1. Because you really want to succeed. You are deeply connected to your why, and you want to help people and get paid well for it.
2. Because you don’t feel fully supported. You haven’t quite found your dream team to support you to your next level of success.
3. Because you don’t have the systems and strategies in place to support you to your next level of success.

If you are wanting my help to scale to the next level, make sure you do check out my free mastermind trial via the link in the show notes for today’s episode, I would love to give you the chance to experience what it can be like to be fully supported in your business. Thank you so much for tuning in today’s episode of the podcast and I look forward to chatting to you again next week.

Thanks so much for listening. If you love this episode, please share it with your audience and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @clare_wood_coach. And also make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Have an abundant week and I look forward to talking to you again next week.