370 - How To Stop Overthinking — and Make a Decision Already!

0:05What if I could relax the part of my brain that always thinks I'm missing something? What if I could let go of feeling like there's another strategy or another opportunity or something that I'm not seeing that's going to make the huge difference and catapult me to the next level?

0:25What's up, everybody? It's Marie Forleo, and welcome to another episode of the Marie Forleo Podcast, the place to be to create a business and life you love so much that you want to squeeze it's eyeballs out, really. So today is Q &A Tuesday, and today's question comes from Dana.

0:44Well, my question is this. When you are doing all of the things, really strategically thinking about your work, how do you figure out what's next? I think there are just so many options, and I guess that's my biggest question because I don't want to waste my time chasing rainbows. So just being really strategic and trying to figure out what it is. Yeah. And can you tell us just your one-liner or two-liner about your business? Sure. Absolutely. I have a movement called For Farmers. And basically, the whole idea is that we see our farmers, the people who are making our food and our fiber and even our fuel, and recognize the important work that they're doing.

1:26And I do that really through telling their stories, through dispelling myths, because there are a lot of them. And then also by raising funds and giving out mini grants. And we've had two different sessions of mini grants so far. So all about farmers. Great. So yeah. So I wanted to walk you through a little bit of what my process is. When you have a lot of things going on, how do you really decide what to focus on next and to make sure that it's strategically aligned, not only with your mission and your company's goals, but also with your life. So Dana, I do this process every single year and it has been a game changer for me.

2:04I usually do it in December, but you can do it any time of the year. It doesn't matter. It's really basically a year in review. And so I look back at the past year, right, whatever the last 12 months have been, and get super clear on a few things. What I've accomplished and overcome. What are the greatest lessons that I've learned? What are some great opportunities that I see that could be in my future. And if there's anything that's missing, like we haven't accomplished yet, and we've done a MarieTV on this before, so we can point you to that so you have all the exact questions and the prompts.

2:37But once I'm done with a year in review, then it's kind of like I've flushed through my life up until this moment, and I can set a cast for the next 12 months, including what do I really want to focus on? What do I really want to accomplish? What are the targets that I want to hit from a revenue and profit perspective? And what are some of the other key areas of both my business life and my personal life that I'm like, you know what, if I could get these things accomplished, created, or explored this year, man, I would feel like I was winning. That simple process is something that I would love you to do.

3:13I want to give that to you as an assignment for homework. It doesn't matter what time of year you do it, but what that does is once I'm very clear on what I want the next 12 months to look like, it allows me to start to like walk through the different possibilities of what projects I could focus on, but then be really strategic about it. Like, does this project help me hit this financial goal? Is this project going to take away from a personal goal that I've set? Does that make sense? So it's a bit of a filter so that I'm not willy-nilly all over the place and I'm really, really intentional and deliberate about not wasting my time.

3:46I'm with you. Yeah. And so I'm wondering, like just out of curiosity. When was the last time you did any magic wanding for yourself? Like, wouldn't it be cool if in our company we hit this particular target? Or wouldn't it be cool if within the next 12 months we had this additional member of our team? Like, have you done any of that recently? Well, actually, I feel like I do it all the time. I'm a pretty strategic thinker. I used to work in corporate America, and this is no longer that space. So I do try to apply a lot of, yes, thinking. I have quarterly plans. I do annual planning. I do a lot of saying no to pieces that I don't think are going to work.

4:28I think sometimes, and I, I mean, I, I recognize this is that, you know, consistent work is what's really going to get me to where I want to go and the different pieces. And I think sometimes, even though, you know, that seems really smart, I feel like, you know, wait, is there some magic thing I need to be? What's not on my list? When I sent you my initial video, that was really what I was thinking about. I was taking a break and relaxing, but also thinking when I have a moment where I'm not busy doing all of the things to really say to myself, okay, what is the piece that's missing from the plan?

5:09I've done my best plan. I work with other people. I ask for a lot of input. I talk to farmers all the time about what else it could be for them. And sometimes I'm just wondering out there, like, okay, somebody smack me. Tell me, what's the thing I'm missing? Yeah, I'm curious. So there's two ways that we could look at this, right? And we're just going to have fun driving around possibilities. So is it possible, Dana, that you're not missing anything. Is it possible? For most overachievers, again, I consider myself one of them. For most people who are creative, we're ambitious, we're mission-driven.

5:47So there's a lot that we want to do in terms of impact and making a difference. I think somewhat could be, for many of us, we're habituated to thinking there's got to be something else. And sometimes there is. There's certain stages of our business. There's certain stages of our journey where there might be something coming down the pipeline. Or maybe we have an inclination, wow, there's really kind of a hole on our team, right? We could use this particular skill set or this particular role needs to be filled. So we have an inkling that something's coming. But what if there are also stages and seasons where we need to just do what we're doing and to give ourselves the grace and the space to be at peace with that?

6:24If you want to give me that permission, I would accept it. Given! Oh my goodness. Dana, given. So look, and this is a really hard thing for most of us to hear. I know My egoic mind, the one that's driving and pushing that part of me that is addicted to growth, it hates talk like this. It's like, no, stop it. We can make the case, a sound case, like, oh no, there's always more you could be doing. And it's like, of course that's true. But the integrated balance of having wisdom and being able to say, wow, I feel really clear on the initiatives that we've taken on. I feel really clear that there are certain things that I need to do more consistently, meaning that there's momentum that's going to come from that, that I need to have a certain amount of trust and faith, and that there's going to be time, just like farmers, right?

7:13Things don't happen immediately. You have to plant, and then you have to care for, and then down the line, the harvest will hopefully come. And so to have that perspective and to have that wisdom to be able to say, I've done enough for today. I've done enough for this quarter. Maybe another great idea will come down the pipeline, but what if I could relax the part of my brain that always thinks I'm missing something? What if I could let go of feeling like there's another strategy or another opportunity or something that I'm not seeing that's going to make the huge difference and catapult me to the next level?

7:48Because at least in my experience, and I'll just speak from my own experience, that voice, that inclination, that fear can be really rooted in scarcity. At least it has been. And that I'm not enough, or that I'm not seeing enough, or doing enough, or being enough, or producing enough. And it can be really destructive for me. It has been in the past. So I am 100 % giving you permission, Dana, especially because of how focused you are, how committed you are, for at least even a month to say, you know what? For the next month, let me just be at peace and really be with everything I've already said yes to, and have faith and trust that if there's something that I should know or explore or look into, that I live in a beautiful universe that will bring it to me, that I don't need to go out and seek, that I don't need to push, that I don't need to stress, I don't need to fear, and I don't need to worry.

8:40It's actually going to show up for me. Right. There's always plenty of work to do. And I think when I'm looking at all of the things I've committed to, I'm always looking at them and saying like, okay, well, this goes back into the mill and I want to polish it and make it better and make it stronger. And yes, like who are the people that we need to find? But that's, that's a perpetual, those are perpetual jobs and they're important and meaningful. True. And so, yes, maybe if that magic component hasn't hit me yet, it's because it's just not time. Yeah, and it might not be. I think that's fine.

9:21I don't want to be the person who's sitting around on their duff going, well, I'm not really thinking about it. That's right. You don't strike me, Dana, as that kind of person. I don't think that that is ever going to be your challenge, if I'm just going to be quite honest. I think one thing that you said just reminds me, my mom and I always would joke. It's kind of a joke, but it's also really true. Like, be open to the bounty of the universe because there it can come. So maybe I'm doing all the things. I'm talking to you. That's fun. Yeah. You are doing all the things. You're doing many things.

9:57And inviting that next possibility, that next initiative, that next project to show up when you're ready for it, you'll stumble across the article or you'll have the conversation or you'll see the video or you'll hear the podcast or something will cross your path and you'll be like, aha, that's the next thing. But if your plate is full right now and you feel very confident about what you've chosen to work it on, then you can also have a little bit of rest and faith that you're moving in the right direction. I'm going to do that. Good. Dana, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure to connect with you.

10:28And thank you so much for taking the time to create a question and also for the work that you're doing in the world. It's so important. Thank you. Appreciate that.

10:42Well, that was fun. If you enjoyed this episode and all of our episodes, hit that like button and make sure you subscribe. Until next time, stay on your game and keep going for your big dreams because the world really does need that very special gift that only you have. Sending you a huge hug and so much love and I'll see you next time.

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