5 Ways to Stay Positive When You Get Overwhelmed

I'm always rushing, hurrying, and feeling so very busy these days.  Whether I'm just tasked with too many things or not good at learning to prioritize my tasks, I often feel as though I can't get everything done.  Do you ever feel this way too?  It's completely normal to feel stressed or overwhelmed, so here are some strategies for ways to stay positive when you do.

I struggle sometimes, I slip, I fail, I learn.  But each time I get up again, I have to become a better version of myself in order to grow.  For today, I thought I would share with you a few ways to stay positive in a world that can be very overwhelming.  These tips have helped me to keep my cool and push on to accomplish my goals and reach out to others when I am in need of help.

• #1 You have to focus on one good, positive thing each day. It's easy to focus on all the negative things that happen.  When you focus on the negative, that's what you get.  I tend to immediately turn to the many things that could go poorly in a given situation and while for some that might seem like preparedness, for me it leads to whining. And that my friends, isn't good for me, the business, or anyone around me.  I have to tell myself, daily, that positivity will lead to better results which, in turn, makes me feel better on the inside too.  One of the important ways to stay positive for me is to focus on one good thing that happens each day.  Even if you have to write it down as a reminder in a journal, do it and you'll start to notice positive results.

• #2 Acknowledge Comparison. But don't obsess over it.  Looking on Instagram a bit much?  Seeing all those darlings in their cute outfits making you feel bad about yourself and your life.  Welcome to social media.  Saying that you won't compare yourself to others is like saying we don't live in a competitive society or we don't root for any type of sports team, or we don't want to move up any sort of ladder to better ourselves.  Saying, "I won't compare myself..." is just not realistic.  Comparison is a large part of what makes up our nation and it can drive us to be better.  But we need not let it take over our lives.  If you find yourself obsessing over it. One of the ways to stay positive when your feeling low? Put your phone down and take a break from social media.  

Another one of the ways to stay positive is that I have to remind myself that there is a line that I should not cross when I'm playing the, compare this to that game.  People are who they are and I am who I am.  I can't change that.  But what I can do is push myself to become better by looking at what has worked for others and testing out ideas that can work for me.

• #3 Allow Yourself Some Down Time.  It's okay to stay in your gym clothes all day every now and again but not every day.  Working from home can give you the freedom (or lazy tendencies) to stay in your jammies and bang out a hundred emails, call potential clients, have a online meeting, etc.  And that's okay but that's not the precedent should you set every. single. day.  Whether we like it or not, our society is very visually driven and when you dress nicely it makes a better impression on you (internally) and on others (externally).

Sometimes, even when you're feeling at your laziest, it'll do you a bit of good to throw on something cute (maybe even mascara) before you head out the door.  It will not only improve your mood & attitude, but if you happen to run into that client or co-worker (phew!) it'll leave a better visual lasting impression (and it speaks volumes for professionalism).  This is one of the ways to stay positive that I have found that works well for me!

• #4  Set personal goals.  Be it for work, for your health, or for whatever you want to be successful at doing, one of the most important ways to stay positive is to set yourself realistic daily or weekly goals.  Be specific.  Check them off as you go and set some more.  It's more realistic to say for example, "I want to reach out to 5 new bloggers and ask to collaborate with them today" (specific) than it is to say, 'I want to collaborate." (too vague)

When I was a middle school teacher, I used to have my class write down a daily goal.  "What are you going to accomplish today?", I'd ask.  And rather than students just saying, "I'm going to get an A" which is too vague, we learned how to turn that into something specific like, "I want to turn in write three paragraphs on such and such.."  This way, they'd try and meet to more achievable goal for the day.  Do you have daily, weekly goals?  What are they?

Once you start setting goals, you'll feel as though you're really getting %$&@ done, which is a very. good. thing for you.  This is one of the most important ways to stay positive for me.  When I see things getting done and I' crossing off lists, I feel really good.

• #5  You can't do it alone...Find a mentor or be a mentor.  Sometimes when we're navigating through new territory in life, we might be unsure of the terrain or maybe we feel like we know exactly what we're doing.  I happen to need a little navigation every once in awhile and in those instances, I need someone who can hear me out and steer me in the right direction with sage advice.  As a healthy individual, one of the ways to stay positive is to surround yourself with people who are positive people to be around.

A mentor is someone who isn't necessarily your best friend, or your relationship partner, but someone who you can throw your ideas at and in return receive honest, open feedback to better the direction you're going in.

I hope that these 5 ways to stay positive will help you along your journey, whatever that may be. Please share with me your journey and leave  comment on today's blog post.  Get out there and kill it today!   xx, Conni