The Cure for Hurry Sickness

If you’ve ever worried that slowing down means you are losing your edge, this episode will change your mind. You’ll learn why you feel the need to rush and do all the things always and immediately, along with practical tips for what to do about it so you can slow down, have space to breathe and actually enjoy your life while still working towards your goals.

Welcome to Calmly Coping. I’m Tati Garcia, a licensed therapist and coach here to help high achievers stop overthinking and finally feel calm and confident. If that’s what you need, then hit subscribe. Let’s dive into the episode. For the past couple of months, I’ve had a message written on the whiteboard On my desk right here, I choose to slow down and simplify.

This approach is something I have been intentionally working on, and yes, it requires work. That’s because I have historically been the type of person who wants to pile everything on, do more and more, and get everything done immediately. No patience, no space, no time to breathe and think as soon as I wanna do something new, it feels like it’s an emergency.

It needs to happen now. And this shift to starting to slow down occurred about three months ago when I decided to shut down my membership community that I have been running for four years. Stop accepting new coaching clients and slow down my approach, not just in business, but in life. I had been overwhelmed feeling like I’m constantly rushing from one thing to the next, and it felt like something needed to change.

And this was a really difficult decision for me, but I made it because I knew it was what I needed, and that’s why this YouTube comment really resonated with me and inspired me to create this episode. This person said, can you make a video? And how? Slowing down is not against ambition. I wanna know about it in detail.

When you are ambitious, it’s easy to get caught in the cycle of chasing more. More achievements, more success, more tasks, checked off your to-do list, more letters after your name, more money, more responsibility. You get the point. And this pursuit of more inevitably results in the desire to rush, to strive to accomplish everything at once.

This need to do things quickly and to rush, which is called hurry, sickness, and I have an entire episode on that, that you can. Click on the link in the corner if you’re watching on YouTube or in the description. It can also come from a place of chronically functioning from survival mode, being in this chronically stressed state, the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response that makes everything feel urgent.

Makes stopping or slowing down feel like everything is going to crumble and fall apart. And it’s exactly this that keeps you stuck in this place of rushing. And those things are the fear of what could happen if you stop or slow down high sometimes. Unrealistic expectations that keep you striving for more.

The feeling of it never being enough. That keeps you just wanting more and the chronically dysregulated nervous system state that keeps you functioning in fast forward, that’s a lot. So let’s hit pause. These patterns may have unconsciously reinforced the belief that you need to keep moving quickly and feeling chronically stressed and overwhelmed in order to achieve your goals and accomplish success because it’s probably what has gotten you here.

Right functioning in overdrive, pushing yourself beyond your limits and feeling constantly overwhelmed. But this is just not true. Just because this hurry, sickness, paired with ambition has gotten you here, does not mean that it is the only way to be ambitious and work towards your goals. And there are many negative consequences that come from staying in this state of chronically rushing and overloading yourself.

And just to name a few, these negative consequences can look like mental health symptoms such as anxiety and high functioning anxiety. Physical health systems such as digestive issues or headaches that can come from the mental health issues and the chronic stress, a lack of sleep from being constantly on edge.

And ultimately burnout from being chronically stressed and ignoring your needs for rest, space and self-care. So let’s talk about how to slow down practically without losing your edge and your ambition. Step number one is to take stock and become aware of where you currently are. Because change does not happen without awareness.

Here are some reflection questions to get your gears turning. What does your life look like right now? How many responsibilities are on your plate? How full is your schedule? And most importantly, how do you feel throughout your days? Do you have space to breathe, pause and rest, or do you feel like you are constantly rushing through from one thing to the next?

I’ve worked with so many clients who have shared with me that they are rushing from the minute they wake up. Through their morning routine into work, their day into the evening, and on and on. The way that we approach our lives matters so much in how we feel and how we handle challenges, but people are so often more focused on what they are doing.

Then the how, step two. Is to identify and challenge your unconscious beliefs. Our beliefs shape the way we view the world, even if we aren’t consciously aware of them, and the unconscious beliefs we hold can differ from what we cognitively know to be true or what we actually want to believe. We might not want to have these beliefs, but they’re just in there because of experience and because of what we’ve heard throughout our lives.

So do you hold beliefs such as there’s not enough time to get everything done? So I must constantly rush. I need to seize every opportunity, otherwise I will miss out on something important. Rushing is more efficient, doing things slowly or resting is a waste of time. I need to constantly be productive, although you may not be consciously thinking these thoughts.

They can be running in the background and unconsciously affecting the choices you make throughout your day. Kind of like background music in your mind and affecting the how of how you are approaching your tasks that we talked about in step one. And this is exactly why I wrote this message. I choose to slow down and simplify on my whiteboard.

A visual reminder to help me to challenge the unconscious beliefs I previously held, that I need to do all the things and rush through everything. So start with identifying your personal unconscious beliefs. Write them down, and then begin to challenge them one by one. Are these beliefs factual, accurate, and do you actually want to believe them?

And as a bonus, do what I did and write down a positive visual reminder to help you connect with the idea of slowing down. Step three is to start slowing down slowly. As redundant as this sounds, and because you’re used to rushing into things and doing everything right away, you may be tempted to try slowing down everything all at once.

Diving deep into this and consuming all the slow living content, books, podcasts, et cetera. And while these positive influences can be helpful, I also encourage you to notice that pattern because this pattern is exactly what you’re trying to step away from. See what it feels like to pause and breathe during small moments throughout your day, like trying it right now.

To stop multitasking. Stop having a million things happening at once. Checking your email while listening to a podcast, while working on a project in another tab. Because slowing down isn’t just about the speed at which you do things. It’s also about the intentionality that you bring into the things you are doing, making choices rather than functioning on autopilot.

So start catching yourself in small moments of the day where you find yourself rushing and maybe you don’t have to. Maybe it’s walking quickly to get to the bathroom when you really don’t have to. It’s just habit. I know this happens for me and I often become more aware of it when I’m walking with other people, so maybe I’m kind of rushing because that’s my constant pace, and other people are like, why are you walking so fast?

And I don’t even know. It’s just something that happens. But the more I start to become aware of it, the more I can question it and ask myself, do I actually need to be rushing? Or maybe it’s that feeling of your heart pumping in your chest and the anxiety that’s driving you to get all your to-do list tasks done immediately.

Even though functioning at this pace is stressing you out even more, catching yourself in these small moments, pausing and then coming back with a slow focus one thing at a time. That is what builds the habit of slowing down and being present and this approach, this how. Is what helps you focus more deeply, be more creative, feel more accomplished, and experience more peace of mind.

This isn’t a process that happens all at once, and that’s exactly the point. I know this is possible for you and it all happens one small step at a time. If you found this episode helpful, then I highly suggest you check out my episode on Hurry Sickness. If you haven’t yet, click on the link in the corner or in the description to check it out.

And if you’re looking for more support with calming your mind so you can finally relax and slow down, go to calmlycoping.com/relax for my free three day course where I will walk you step by step. Through the process to stop stressing and start relaxing. First, you will get to the root of what’s preventing you from fully relaxing.

Next, you will learn my relax framework to help you identify the best ways to relax and recharge. And finally, you will learn how to relax intentionally so you can set yourself up for long-term success. This is all completely free, and you can click on the link in description or go to calmlycoping.com/relax to enroll.

While you wait for next week’s episode, I have other episodes about calming your mind, improving work-life balance, and feeling more confident from within. So be sure to check out these episodes here. Thank you so much for tuning in today, and until next time, be calm.