Take the Pressure Off

Ep. #33 - Take the Pressure Off

Pressure is an emotion we feel. It can seem like the circumstances we’re in are causing the pressure, but what I want to offer to you today is that you can remove the layer of pressure and change your experience even when you can’t change the circumstance.

First thing to note about this is: don’t do it perfectly. I’m sharing this powerful concept with you, but it doesn’t make you a superhuman. You will still have negative emotions. You are not failing if you have negative emotions.

The purpose of this episode is to remove the added pressure that comes from how you think - your mindset. Still a human - but with less pressure.

It makes a big impact. When you remove the pressure, negative emotions are not a problem. You can feel them and not feel like you’re going to stay there and never get out.

OK, so here we go: Pressure comes from how we think about a situation. This is not out of our control, but it can absolutely feel like that when we’re not aware of what we’re thinking. The human experience is we see something, and then it’s as if we automatically feel emotions - out of nowhere.

But there is something important in between what we see and our body’s response. It happens so fast and mostly without our notice, but it is a big piece - it’s our thoughts.

I’ll give you a great example of this. A couple years ago, I signed up for school. I was so excited to get started. Then I got the books in the mail about a month before class started. I took out about 5, 6 books out of the box and immediately went into a panic. Sweating, heart racing, spinning, looking around, confusion. AHH.

It’s the perfect example to use because I wasn’t sweating and heart racing because of books in a box. What happened in between seeing the books and my reaction, was a butt load of thoughts.

‘What have I done? I can’t do this. This is a lot. Oh no. Why did I sign up for this? This is too much. I’ve gotta get out of this. I need to return them.’

On paper, those sentences don’t mean much to me, but when my brain threw them up in my face, I felt pressure and panic. Thankfully I knew how to be aware of that and take the pressure off, but without this tool, I probably would have thought I must need to cancel to feel better OR thought that pressure and panic were a problem.

Instead, I took a nice deep breath, didn’t change anything, took a look at what I was thinking, and noticed those thoughts I shared with you a moment ago.

Pressure comes from a sentence you think. Thoughts are sentences in your head. The sentence or thought is what creates how you feel, not the books, not the circumstance.

The initial emotional response / reaction we have doesn’t mean something has gone wrong. It means you’re thinking something. Give yourself the gift of the pause. Breathe.

You can change your thoughts which will change how you feel and take the pressure off, but it’s also VERY valuable to see what you are thinking that’s making you feel pressure.

Write those down. There’s you, there’s the circumstance, and there are your thoughts. It feels like a big jumble that’s all meshed together, but each of those things is separate. You can change the way you think about a circumstance.

If there is one now (or two) that are causing you pressure (or seem to cause you pressure), take a moment and investigate your thoughts about it.

Why do you feel pressure? That’ll get you started.

Challenge those thoughts. What if you could be in this same situation without the pressure?

Investigate that. What would that look like? Don’t stop investigating at I don’t know.

The new perspective is right behind it.

Pressure is a human emotion. You’re not crazy for feeling it. It’s human. But if you want to change your experience and feel less pressure, remove the added pressure, choose a new perspective.

This is a skill set. It doesn’t come from positive thinking alone, and it’s not something you force on yourself. It redefines how you choose to see the situation. It’s a beautiful process.

Everytime you create a new perspective, you learn a LOT about yourself. You get closer to yourself. You don’t feel as reactive to things because 1) you give yourself the gift of the pause, 2) you investigate your thoughts, and 3) you can change how you think and choose a new perspective which will change how you feel.

Pressure, emotions, they’re not confusing. They’re not things you need to fix. If you are ready to use this skill set to drop the added pressure and feel comfortable in your body and emotions, lets work together. Sign up for your free consult @ www.mschristiewilliams.com ,

You can feel comfortable with your emotions when you feel them and stop beating yourself up. It’s a simple process. Think of a circumstance you’re in right now. What would it be like to feel in control without the pressure. You can take the first step today.

Love you ladies so much. See you next time