I Need to be Productive

Welcome to Day 5 of week 2 of the Body Theme— This week, we are talking about 4 common messages that keep us out of our bodies and prevent us from slowing down, a key step in quieting anxiety. Today's message is you need to be productive.

I am sharing a story from a client—I will call her Sabrina, with her permission, because it gets at the heart of this idea. Sabrina was struggling with slowing down and getting into her body. So she and I were working on the same idea we are covering all this week—finding the phrase that kept her out of her body and prevented her from slowing down. 

Sabrina reached out to me one day, saying, "My anxiety is through the roof, and I can't understand why. I have been so productive and getting so much done. Just last night, I told my husband I am Killing it! Because I have been checking everything off my list, multi-tasking all over the place, and basically a productivity machine. But I don't understand why my anxiety is so high. 

I replied to her with a bit of trepidation—because I was going to have to bust the HFA productivity bubble. She was riding an HFA high of productivity. So, on the one hand, she was killing it—she was getting a lot done, and she was 100% under the Monger's control. She wasn't present; she wasn't in her body, and she wasn't mindful. She was full steam ahead. 

"Sabrina," I said, "Remember how we were looking for the phrases that keep you out of your body—I think "I am killing it—is one of those phrases. "Yes, you are getting a lot done, but I think you are paying a hefty price because you aren't slowing down and getting into your body." 

"Oh my God, she replied. You are right, and that is crazy! YES, YES, YES! I would never have seen that in a million years, but yes, I am killing it is like a drug to me—as soon as I hear those words, I go into automatic pilot and just start performing with no regard for my body!"

Sabrina started tracking how often she said I am killing it to herself and was amazed that it was a regular part of her vocabulary. Every time she noticed it, she would make a mental note of aw there it is again—I am killing it. She might try to slow down and get into her body, but that next step took a while —she spent many weeks just drawing attention to the phrase. 

I wanted to share this story because it shows how sneaky our Monger can be and how sneaky our anxiety is—because both are familiar, they can run the show easier and quicker than we think. It is not as easy as just getting into your body. Our Monger is working hard to prevent us from doing that, keeping us pushing and hustling. 

So start looking for the phrase you hear your Monger saying that keeps you stuck in hustling—I will be talking more about this next week in the Implementation Week lesson. 

See you in a few days!