Today’s find your flow message is about something that happened yesterday that made me question how often we’re actually trying to solve the wrong problem.

I was a little overwhelmed by my to-do list and realized I was barely breathing. My breath was shallow, obviously doing its job, but not necessarily helping me thrive, think and function. 

Nothing significant had happened. There wasn’t bad news or a crisis. Yet everything on my to-do list suddenly felt harder. The decisions I needed to make felt heavier. Decisions I have made started to feel a little scarier. My mind immediately started telling me stories I recognized but didn’t particularly agree with. 

I started feeling stuck:

How is all of this going to work? This feels like too much. What if I can’t handle it….

That’s when I became curious. 

Was my life actually harder than it had been an hour before?

Or, had the state I was in changed the way I was experiencing it?

The more I sat with that question, the more I realized how often we try to solve overwhelm by working harder. We assume that if we could just be more disciplined, more productive, or push a little more, everything would feel easier at some later date.

Have you ever found yourself saying: I just need to get through x…and then…I’ll feel better, have more time, take care of myself…

But what if that’s not the real problem?

What if many of the beliefs we hold in those moments—there isn’t enough time, this won’t work, I’m behind, I can’t figure this out—aren’t simply reflections of your reality? What if they’re just a reflection of the current state of your nervous system?

When you’re under stress, your body naturally shifts toward protection. That’s exactly what it’s designed to do. But protection narrows your perspective. 

It’s harder to access creativity, possibility, wisdom, and the bigger picture when your body believes its job is simply to get you through a moment or season. You’ll end up shrinking, feel a sense of lack or pressure and your thinking will be limited to this.

Looking back, the biggest changes in my life didn’t happen because I learned to work harder. They happened because I changed the conditions that shaped the way I thought.

• The environments I spent time in.
• The people I surrounded myself with.
• The systems I built.
• The organization I maintained.
• The routines I committed to.

Those weren’t just habits. They became the conditions that allowed a different quality of thinking to emerge.

Transformation isn’t about forcing better thoughts, it’s about creating the internal and external conditions where better thinking naturally becomes available to you.

This is why I’ve focused so much on connection and finding your flow, it’s what allows you to actually think, feel, heal and function at a greater capacity. 

As you move through this weekend, I’d love to invite you to get curious.

The next time everything suddenly feels harder, pause before assuming it’s your life that’s changed or that you just have to deal with it or get through it…there is another way. 

Instead, ask yourself:

• What state am I experiencing my life from right now?
• Am I responding from survival, or am I responding from possibility?
• If I felt deeply safe in this moment, what might I see differently?
• Is there anyone I’m listening to that’s limiting my trust in myself? 
• What do I know to be true? 
• What would help me return to myself before I try to solve this problem?
• Can I start with a deep breath? 

Sometimes we don’t need a better strategy, we simply need enough space to remember who we are when we’re not operating from fear.

Wishing you a beautiful weekend.

With love,

Laurin