“No way!” I gasped. I was staring in shock at my office manager as she told me the amount due on my business AMEX bill. ⁠
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Instantly, overwhelm crashes over me like a wave.
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Overwhelm acts like a magnet, prompting our brain to look for all the other examples of overwhelming things in our life.

Like all the expenses, the deadlines, the decisions, the things you have to do, the things that can go wrong.

Entrepreneurs create something from nothing.

In so doing, we take risks and enter the realm of uncertainty and overwhelm all the time.

It feels uncomfortable.⁠

That’s why most people don’t do it.
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Even when we’re making changes we want to make, like hiring staff for growth or building new products, we’re asking our brains to create new neural pathways.⁠
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The primitive part of our brain wants to keep us “safe” by signaling danger when we do something new.
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It tries to slow us down and the tool it uses is overwhelm.⁠
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All that’s really happening is you’ve reached the threshold of what you’ve handled before.

Whenever you’re feeling overwhelm, it means you’re imagining negative outcomes and thinking about what you don’t want.⁠
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Like not getting it all done, not doing it right, looking foolish, or losing control. ⁠
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None of these thoughts have ever once helped you reach a goal.⁠
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Don’t let them have space in your brain.

Keep your brain busy answering these questions instead:

1. How can I…?
2. What’s next?
3. What’s good about this?
4. How would the best version of me respond?

Overwhelm is optional. It comes from your thoughts. ⁠
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And that’s something you can control.