Yesterday I attended a fabulous webinar, one of a series provided by Diane Corriette from The Women Internet Marketers Social Network. Take Charge of Your Life: Overcoming Overwhelm, Procrastination, and Fear! by Lorraine Cohen of Powerfull Living showed how to deal effectively these 3 great obstacles to success in life and business.

I liked the way Lorraine invited the participants to ask questions, either by phone or by chat, throughout the webinar not just at the end.She addressed each question as it related to Overwhelm, Procrastination and Fear. I think everyone gains so much more with this interactive format, in contrast to the lecture style mode, where one might nod off.

Of course it requires a lot of skill to run a teleseminar effectively in this way.

Overwhelm keeps us busy and distracted. We need to ask : “What’s off or out of balance in our lives?”

Lorraine outlined 5 ways overwhelm can occur:

1. Lack of prioritization
2. Lack of time boundaries
3. Lack of time for yourself
4. Too much clutter
5. Taking on too much

Overwhelm can happen when we are not listening to ourselves. We need to listen to what our heart is telling us. We may need to ask for help.

Ask : What is it that you really want?”

Get quiet and ask: ” What’s my next step?”

Then Lorraine outlined some ways to overcome overwhelm:

1. Prioritize- Make a master list- include all your desires and dreams- your vision. Lorraine doesn’t use the word goals- rather “what is the agreement you have with yourself?” Then you can operate in integrity.
2. Look at how you schedule time. Look for structure and establish habits. Do the important stuff first- leave the email off.
3. Create scripts, live “as if”, make the picture compelling, create a vision board. Remember when we are feeling good things work well.
4. Clutter is the energy sapper, it blocks the energy flow. Lorraine likened clutter to walking around with a pebble in your shoe. She suggested taking just 15 minutes a day and start on one area of a room. In 30 days you will have spent just 7.5 hours and have freed up your space and your time and have better focus.
5. Outsource, using resources or people.

Procrastination allows us to be distracted, then we tend to do nothing- I relate to that emotion. Lorraine says that is a decision we we make. To break this “habit’ we need to look at our self talk, create structure which in turn gives us discipline. Change the picture you currently have (reframing) and design a strategy for the next time you hit the wall.

• Fear is something that is created by our self talk. Fear relates to the past and the future, so it is important to be present. Gratitude is a great way to interrupt fear. The topic of fear of success was raised. Lorraine suggested looking at your beliefs about success, stop sabotaging yourself and ask: ” What are the behaviours that line up with your beliefs?”.

Lorraine outlined good strategies for overcoming these 3 obstacles to success. I have already started today on my biggest energy sapper CLUTTER, clearing my intray by my desk and found a few misplaced items. What will you do today to move towards your success?

Some gems from the session:

• Overwhelm keeps us busy and distracted
• We are not listening to ourselves
• Listen to what your heart is telling you
• Realize that having a blank “to do” list is not going to happen in your lifetime.
• Clutter is an energy blocker
• Clutter is like walking around with a pebble in your shoe
• Design a strategy for the times you hit the wall
• Gratitude is a great way to interrupt fear
• Get present, as fear relates to the past and the future.

You can read more about Lorraine’s work at PowerFull Living.