Practice constraint to banish overwhelm

New, “bright and shiny” things are SO fun!

Whether they’re your ideas, people to follow on social media and their weekly emails, online courses, home decor, or all the possible paraphernalia for our puppy Ginny.

It’s so easy to get distracted, procrastinate, or lose ourselves chasing the next thing that piques our interest or promises exactly what we believe we need to make our lives better.

And OMG the dopamine is delightful AF!

But the hits of dopamine lose their kick pretty quickly anymore if I’m just going from one bright and shiny thing to the next. 

Then I just feel blah, overstimulated, unfocused, and fried. 

This is where the practice of constraint comes in and can become a BFF to our mental and physical health.

Constraint is when we decide:

“Ok, I don’t read all of these newsletters, which ones do I look forward to getting?” And unsubscribe from all the others.

“Why am I wanting to take this new online course or get another certification?” If you don’t like your answer because you think it’ll make you feel better about yourself or get more clients, then hold off on making the purchase.

You already have a closet full of clothes, shoes, or bags but just “have to have” the new one because you don’t have this particular shade of blue jacket. Put it in your “cart” but don’t buy it for 24+ hours. 

You’re on 2 boards that you really enjoy participating in and you were just asked by your child’s teacher to be on the PTA which sounds as fun as getting a root canal. Don’t say yes because you feel obligated to. Keep it at the 2 you enjoy. Tell her thank you for thinking of you and you’re not available.

Constraints help you be truer to yourself. 

It prevents resentment. 

Keeps you from burning yourself out and doing all the things when there are others who are physically capable of doing the thing.

Constraint enables you to go deep with the things that are meaningful to you instead of staying shallow with a bunch of stuff that is just meh.

And it’s saying yes to yourself and what’s important to you instead of doing things out of guilt, obligation, or to get another hit of dopamine.

I still swing to the “too much” side of things at times but I’m much quicker at noticing when I’ve done so and course correcting.

Where would it serve you to start practicing constraint?