Before I had kids, I read an anecdote that haunted me. Ann-Marie Slaughter’s Atlantic cover story, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” described a mother so starved for time that she would only ever press a single number on the microwave: 1:11, 2:22, etc. Why? Because keying in different numbers didn’t feel doable anymore.

A few years later, with two kids under two, I wasn’t pressing anything other than the “add 30 seconds” button on our microwave either. It was all too much and not enough at the same time. One day I realized: Holy cow, I’m living that life I was afraid of!

But where do we go from there? How do we come to a place of greater peace and sanity, amidst all our responsibilities?

I created this class for those of us who tend to put others’ needs ahead of our own. Whether you’re a caregiver, professional helper, or someone who struggles with balancing giving and self-care, Overcoming Overwhelm is for you.

See if this sounds familiar…

–> You’ve been struggling to shift your mindset to focus more time and energy on yourself (aka love yourself first), because you’re so busy caring for others. In fact, you use “I have to care for others” to avoid doing things *you* need to do. You find it much easier to give than to receive.

–> Your home is more cluttered than you’d like, and your inbox is full of unread emails. You feel bad that you “can’t handle it” all. (One of my coaching clients felt guilty that he couldn’t process 400 incoming emails a day.)

–> You have very high expectations of yourself, and you feel guilty when you don’t meet those expectations. (One of my coaching clients was pressuring herself to complete 13 online courses in addition to her full time job.)

–> You struggle with “self-sabotage” in the form of staying up late, scrolling, or wasting time on things that don’t serve you. You know your time is finite to achieve your goals … and yet, you haven’t been able to change your habits, so you feel stuck.

–> You’re a hard worker, but it doesn’t seem like all of your hard work is paying off. You’re burning out under the weight of obligation. It’s hard for you to know what’s good enough, or when you can stop for the day.

–> You’re longing to know what your purpose is, to finally stop doing what you’re “supposed to” without considering what you’re really meant to do.

All of this adds up to a feeling of overwhelm. “Overwhelm” comes from Old English “hwielfan,” meaning, “submerge completely,” often in the context of ships being overpowered by waves. One of my coaching clients described it this way:

“It’s like I’m thrashing in the ocean, and I’m so tired; sometimes I can float and have a break, but the waves keep crashing. Why am I not on a boat? Could I somehow walk out of the water and rest on the sand?”

In this class, my goal is to give you the tools and skills you need to walk out of the water and rest on the sand.

I felt overwhelmed from elementary school onward. The demands of the doomsday cult known as the Worldwide Church of God and the demands of public school were very different, but as a confirmed good girl I did my best to succeed in both worlds.

So I kept making honors at school, kept getting promoted at work. I kept taking on additional tasks and saying yes to new requests. But in order to succeed, I’d push aside the responsibility of caring for myself. The more I did that, the more my body rebelled.

For example, at 23 I developed a bad case of shingles. My DC doctor asked if I worked in politics, perhaps on an ambitious campaign? Though I worked for a nonprofit, I’d been campaigning to prove my worth. I’d been running myself into the ground, trying to be “good enough.”

In order to regain my health and happiness, I had to learn to handle the overwhelm differently. I wrote my first book, You Don’t Owe Anyone, about that initial process of freeing myself from the weight of expectations.

Since then, I’ve learned even more about how to reconnect to my purpose, prioritize my needs, and actually enjoy my days. In this new class, I’ll give you the tools and support to do the same. Let’s make overwhelm a rare occurrence, rather than a daily experience!

Ongoing overwhelm isn’t about the number of tasks on our to-do lists, the number of people we care for, or the amount of responsibility we have.

Rather, the root cause of ongoing overwhelm is disconnection from our true selves. Overwhelm is a symptom that we’ve lost sight of our internal compasses, our sense of purpose and meaning.

We tend to think that just “getting it done” and checking things off our lists will help us feel free. But if we’re not living according to our purpose, we’re not going to feel satisfied no matter how much we get done.

Feelings of freedom and joy arise when we’re connected to ourselves, living in alignment with what we know to be true. And when we build trust with ourselves, set healthy boundaries, and navigate from the heart, overwhelm fades away.

In other words, living your purpose is *not* about adding more to your plate. Rather, it’s about learning how to subtract all the stuff that’s keeping you distracted and distant from your true self!

Fortunately for you, subtraction is my specialty. As a seasoned coach of 7 years, I help people who were taught to be too responsible and grow up too fast, to finally learn to take care of themselves and love themselves. I help them to do what actually lights them up, not what they think they’re “supposed to.”

This will be an interactive class, and it runs for one hour. We’ll begin with a few key teaching points, then move to live coaching and Q&A. To ask a question in advance or request coaching, email me at caroline[AT]carolinegarnetmcgraw[DOT]com.

If you can’t attend live, rest assured that registration gets you replay access. But do your best to make it – because it’s a richer experience. Plus, at the end of the class, I’ll give you a chance to connect with me one on one, and work through your specific situation.