When I opened the official letter from the IRS informing me I was being audited, my heart sank and I immediately felt flush with anxiety.
“Like a root canal or cross-country move, the prospect of having your tax return audited makes most people panic.”
– CNBC
Despite the fact that I knew all my expenses were completely justified, I was no different. I was filled with tension and dread thinking about the time it was going to take to pull all the paperwork together.
I knew other people who had gotten audited and it all worked out, so I put the letter down, decided to practice what I preach, and immediately started Meridian Tapping, repeating, “Even though I am feeling overwhelmed and anxious about this audit, I am willing to calm myself down, so I can think more clearly about the best way to manage this project.” In just two rounds of tapping, my anxiety lifted, and I was able to think about what could make this process easier.
The answer: Help!
I set up a meeting with my bookkeepers and felt super relieved when they told me they could assemble 70% of what was needed!
With everything else that I have going right now in my life, even the 25% I had to do felt like a lot. As overwhelm began to creep in, I sat in the calming Crossed Posture, as I repeated a mantra with three key words that can change your life!
“Little by little, I can get all of this accomplished over time with ease.”
What relief those three little words provide! With the increased speed the internet has brought into our lives, I find both myself and my clients having unrealistic expectations about how quickly things can get accomplished. Projects rarely get completed “SAME DAY.” Acknowledging things can get accomplished slowly AND SURELY over time, takes the pressure off BIG TIME! Scheduling time to complete action steps little by little, can alleviate obsessive worry because you give each task a place and a space in your life.
After I sent my huge binder of paper to my auditor, I noticed and realized I was subconsciously beating myself up, worrying about whether I did a “perfect enough” job. I find a lot of my overachieving clients do this too. We beat ourselves up wondering what we could have done better. While asking this question once may be adaptive and help you learn from your mistakes, continuing this constant questioning becomes unhelpful criticism.
When I found myself doing this, I put my hand on my heart chakra, and repeated to myself, “How can I love and nurture myself through this?” I instinctively took a deep breath and thought about what my mom would have said to soothe me in this situation, “Sweetie, you did a great job putting this all together, and your best is enough. If the auditor needs more, he will ask for it.“
I gave myself permission to relax.️
I share all of these exercises in this video, and I HIGHLY Recommend downloading the Overcoming Overwhelm Resource Page so you can have these exercises on your phone to reference the next time anxiety and overwhelm take hold.
FREE RESOURCE PAGE!
Resource yourself and download the instructions for these 3 Powerful Exercises, so you can calm anxiety and overwhelm whenever stress strikes.
We can’t control what life brings, but we do have control over how we live through it!
And, please share this blog with anyone who may need it! Here’s a link to share: http://bit.ly/Lr-OvercomeOverwhelm
Much love and ease,
