MOJO # 56: You're overwhelmed because you lack boundaries.

Usually, when we think of lacking boundaries, we think of weakness.

But some people lack boundaries despite being strong and assertive.

That's because it's not enough to know how to set boundaries.

First, you need to know what yours are in the first place.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed.

It doesn't happen as often.

But what's interesting is that it's almost never about the big stuff.

Instead, it's all the small, annoying, boring, mind-numbing tasks.

One might think "Why don't you delegate them?"

For the longest time, I was a proponent of doing what you love.

I still am.

But I am also a proponent of loving what you do.

This has been a lesson for me in the last couple of years.

To take every task I usually run away from as an opportunity to practice self-direction, focus, and patience, among other muscles.

What this taught me, is how to sit and work with overwhelm, instead of avoiding it.

To understand that it wasn't the nature of the task that I was resisting.

Instead, it was how I approached the task; how I thought about it, and how I related to it.

It was actually rooted in a lack of boundaries with myself first.

You see, I used to think of boundaries as these lines we draw when we feel disrespected.

When someone says or does something we don't appreciate, and we tell them off. That, to me, used to be 'boundaries.'

Lacking boundaries, used to mean weakness and inability to assert oneself.

But I learned that boundaries are simply limits.

And some of us are simply unaware of them or unwilling to own them.

When our boundaries are undefined, our energy is drained.

We're tired. Even seemingly small tasks become a big deal.

Define your boundaries, own them, and communicate them without attachment or expectation.

I promise you that every task and interaction is easier from this place.