Hey! Busymaking QUEEN here! *raising my hand* If I were to ask you these two questions, how would you respond?

1) What one thing do you get done every week without fail?

2) How often do you get something done for just you?

The honest answers may surprise you. What are my answers? Laundry and rarely. What’s up with that? What is it?

Self-Protection. Which has an alias. Self-Sabotage.

Yep, I’m saying it.

Looking deeper, if you’re an expert busymaker like me, you’ll notice a pattern. Laundry. House chores. Blah blah blah. Projects you WANT to do, seem to get piled up or pushed aside. You start to get overwhelmed. Tired. Maybe even frustrated or angry.

Set those routine things aside for a second. Take a look at the projects that aren’t getting your attention. What’s the barrier to accomplishing these?

A lot of us have deeply engrained beliefs since childhood that may keep us from reaching our goals. Something inside of us will work overtime to “protect” us. From what? Failure? I don’t believe that’s the case most of the time. I believe that it protects us from… SUCCESS.

Crazy notion, right?

Think about it for a second… what will success mean in your life? What will accomplishing those particular goals mean? How will your life change? How will you change? How will your circle of people change?

Some of those changes are scary to think about, especially if they haven’t been examined before. That thing inside us that thinks it’s “protecting” us, did its job for years. Hey, we’ve made it this far, right? But is it still working to our advantage? If the answer is no, how can we fix it?

Some people will advise to set aside the busymaking to work on your goals first. I’ve tried that. Hasn’t worked. Some other people will advise making yourself a schedule to focus on changing habits. Hasn’t always worked for me, either.

Here’s what I propose.

1) Any deep-seated beliefs that require self-work can be worked on with any number of methods ~ prayer or meditation, EFT tapping, counseling, etc. Working on past traumas and resentments can bring you to acceptance and forgiveness. Bringing your energetic frequency up to more productive levels. The more free you become, the more happy you are, the more motivated you become.

2) Give yourself a break. If you’ve reached overwhelm, productivity wanes greatly. Take a time out. Rest. Eat well. Turn off electronics. Breathe deeply and relax.

3) Assess the busymaking and tackle it. Didn’t expect me to say that, did ya? (; Give yourself a day, a week, or whatever you need, but be firm about it. Tackle all that busymaking once and for all. Do all the chores. Clean the cupboards. File the papers. Clean the garage. Paint those knick knacks. Whatever it is. Just do it. Within the realistic yet strict timeframe you’ve set. Stick to the deadline. Get it all done, and vow that from that point forward, the rule is that you don’t let those things pile up anymore. All unfinished projects do is drain your energy and keep you stuck. File papers the second you handle them. Put things away neatly right when you’re done with them. You get the jist.

4) NOW. With all that done, finally, which goal do you want to work on first? Do you feel anxiety over it? Why? What is it? Fear of failure or fear of success? Write down what those fears are. Write down everything associated with those fears. Focus on each one and “weigh it”. Give them a pro and con list. By facing these things head on, you’ll take the power out of the majority of them. They’ll feel lighter to you. Or, you will see on some that the con list totally outweighs the pro. Those feel heavy to you. In which case, you can then scratch those ideas. You’ll know the difference by how heavy or light it feels to you, in your gut. Or your chest. Y’know? It will free you up to look at the next thing.

Once you’re done with that, and have the “light” list, the “pros”, you can start taking the action steps toward accomplishment. Action is the fastest way to calming fear and anxiety. This expands your comfort zone. Soon you’ll notice small advancements toward your goal which will motivate you further. Before you know it, you’ll be at the finish line, looking for the next goal to reach.

Don’t let fear keep you stuck in busymaking and overwhelm. Busymaking is old. Action is new. Soon that thing inside you that thought protecting you from success was a good thing, will be changing its tune. It will start protecting you from being stagnant. Pretty cool, right?

~~ I’d love to hear from you, if you have any questions at all, just add a comment here, or send a message on my Facebook page. You can do this! The goals you want to reach are all within your grasp. Let yourself go for them! You deserve it!