6 Reasons for feeling overwhelmed in business (as feminine entrepreneurs)
As an entrepreneur, since the day we signed up for starting a business, it can feel like there is always so much to do: content to create, clients to manage, products to make, etc. It can feel like a giant wheel that you’re endlessly spinning 24/7 with no breaks to “clock out”.
All of this is made worse, especially when you are a feminine being who is sensitive at heart. You may feel this sinking feeling of overwhelm– like standing on the edge of a cliff before a vast, turbulent sea, roaring with torrents of to-do lists and obligations.
Yet amidst this storm, there is a part of you longing for a safe island to rest upon, where you can be still, unhurried, and unbothered. For is on this island where the wind, like a gentle spirit takes care of the burdens of life itself, so you can be at peace without the weight of overwhelm tugging your soul.
And so I want to share with you: 6 common reasons that may be why you are feeling overwhelmed in your life (and your business). My hope is that through these illuminations of truth, you see threads of light guiding you to your inner safe island too.
Striving an endless quest for “more”
In today’s society, businesses are only constantly pushed and forced to achieve “more”: more followers, more likes, more sales etc. There is a notion in the collective that only when you have built a multi-million empire then you can call yourself a “successful” business owner.
However, what people don’t talk about is the fact that with more growth also comes more things to manage, more room for friction, and usually more stress.
Thus, instead of having more satisfaction in their lives, a lot of business owners may find themselves being strapped and chained down by the very own machine that they have built for freedom in the first place.
This is mentioned in the book “Company of One” where the author talks about how too fast of growth can be detrimental, especially when it’s purely driven by the ego. Buddhists call this the “hungry ghost” – a creature that’s always looking for more, with ceaseless, insatiable hunger.
And when we are only striving for “more” it is easy to lose sight of what it is that our hearts actually want, that is beyond the numbers and the social validation.
For example, if you’re someone like me, you may find yourself desiring undisturbed hours of creativity and deepwork. But if you’re only chasing the next big $ milestone, you may fill up your calendar with tons of clients and calls, thereby losing touch of what actually gives you the spark and make you feel alive on a daily basis.
Therefore, especially as feminine beings in business, it is important to have space in our days where we can attend to what our hearts desire most rather than just filling up with obligations. This is made worse especially when we are doing things because we think we “should” do them in order to grow but we are not fully behind the work itself.
2. Content Marketing as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself
When we are driven by the restless hunger to achieve more, it’s also easy to make everything as a means to monetize, and thereby lose the joy of the creative process.
This is because when your only goal is to make instant monetary returns from your content/your art, you limit your happiness to only after you make the sale.
The rest of the time, during the creative process + after posting the content, you are on edge wondering if (and how many) people would buy your offer.
I know that on social media, this is not talked about– instead you only see people constantly pitching and yelling on the internet about how they have the *secrets* to make sales fast from our content.
Yet, when only the masculine-driven, outcome-oriented aspect of our creative expressions is over-glorified, we become stifled with fear, anxiety, and trepidation around what exactly to speak/create/share. We are taught fear-based strategies (such as how we only have 3s to grab people’s attention) through our content, so we frantically rampage for “the perfect strategy” to hook people’s attention instead of experiencing the joy of content creation.
All of this, not only disconnects you further from your heart (and the heart of the people you’re creating content for) but also robs you away from the untapped bliss that lies in the creative process itself. Instead the pressure to create content, merely to produce outcomes, plagues our minds with agitation and overwhelm.
3. Information overload
The internet has blessed us entrepreneurs with a wellspring of tips, strategies, and inspirations for business growth. However, this can also easily turn into a whirlwind of confusion and overwhelm when we are consuming information at a faster pace than what we actually apply (in other words, what our bodies can take in).
This is because the flood of information entering your mind makes it easy to not trust ourselves (i.e. and our intuition) and our unique way of doing business. We scramble for more and more information, from “higher level people” without an end, merely because we fear missing out. Deep down we believe that someone else knows what you do not. And you may find conflicting advice from different “gurus” which makes it harder to discern even more.
The truth is, the more we listen to this outside noise, the more we also become unable to access our intuitive pull toward what feels the most right, natural, and aligned to you.
Thus, a lot of women find themselves either being paralyzed on what to do in business or taking action but feeling overwhelmed while constantly overthinking whether they are doing “the right thing” or not. This is a common cause of overwhelm among feminine entrepreneurs, especially who have to use social media in order to market their products/offers.
4. Draining social interactions
Along the similar lines to my previous point, the internet has blessed us with a gigantic mass of social connections. This links us to people, with most of whom we would never even meet in the outside world.
However, that blessing can also be a curse. We can get caught up or perhaps even triggered by things like how people respond/respond/interact with us, whether they are potential clients or just random people on the internet. On the flip side, having little or no interaction/engagement on our pages can make us judge ourselves, thereby causing overwhelm too.
In essence, the nature of social interaction, as well as an abundance or lack thereof can drain us rather than nourishing us.
Not only that, if you’re a sensitive introverted person like me, you may find yourself being overwhelmed by the need to be more “social.” I remember how in the summer of 2022, I found myself so overwhelmed no matter how many hours I meditated.
Looking back, I now see how it was because I was forcing myself to be social–such as through encouraging people to ask me for free psychic readings and going on live streams multiple days in a row. Essentially, I was following someone else’s strategy that works for them while letting myself be drained through doing it.
From that experience, I learned how it is important for feminine entrepreneurs to do strategies that are in alignment with our soul’s true nature.
Because although trying to force ourselves to do things like someone else may make us quick money in the short term, if it is not aligned with our true nature, it will not be sustainable in the long run.
5. Avoidance coping
A tendency that I find, among flowy feminine beings, is the coping mechanism of avoidance for reacting to stress. This can look like procrastinating (even for most minute things like submitting a document online), distracting oneself (to divert attention away from the stressors), engaging in perfectionism (toward other tasks), or avoiding confrontation altogether. I know these because I have been there and done all of these things myself!
But what I have also learned is that when we avoid the stressors, the stressors, like shadows at dusk, are also creepily and eerily growing in the background.
And although we may not be consciously directing our attention toward the stressors, they are haunting and tormenting our subconscious, deep inside of us. Within our subconscious, the overwhelm then grows into a giant monster.
I know the straightforward approach for dealing with avoidance coping behavior from a masculine-minded approach is to face the fear directly (people say terms like ‘eat the frog first’). However, to feminine beings, this usually does not work– because even though we consciously know what to do, our subconscious may still be resisting the strategies).
Instead, what I’ve seen to work, for feminine beings, is to gradually introduce our ‘scared’ conscious minds to face the stressor.
This can look like healing our hidden fears through art or channeling the stressor + the stress emotions through our bodies.
Then not we only learn to face the particular fear we are avoiding, but learn how to feel safe and steady in our bodies without being overwhelmed when similar fears later arise in the future. (P.S. I’m currently creating a course for healing emotions, including overwhelm, using art so stay tuned for it).
6. Not following your internal seasons
Lastly, overwhelm happens when we are not in tune and connected to our bodies. Because our feminine bodies, just like nature, have seasons of growth and blossom, but also rest and slowness. And this seasonal rhythm is meant to shape the tone, structure, and pace of our businesses.
However, when we are forcing our way to keep up with the pace of everyone else in your niche/industry with their rules, structures, and expectations for growth, this causes a disconnect within yourself.
For instance, when you are trying to keep up with others, you may find a part of you pressuring to “do more,” “be more,” (so you can be like her) while the other part is resisting the work, and is wanting rest. In fact, it can feel like there is a constant battle going on in your mind, with different parts of you fighting with each other on what you “should” do.
Whenever this happens, we can get into ‘unproductive’ (aka unfruitful) patterns like overthinking, restlessness, and internal chaos.
Just like a car tire stuck in the mud– you may find yourself trying to get somewhere fast but then finding yourself ‘stuck’ in the same place over and over again.
The way out of the thick of the ‘mud’ of overwhelm is to be in tune with our bodies. Because when we allow our bodies to be the queen (make decisions), and let our minds be her assistant, there is less friction and more ease and flow within.
From the work I do with my clients, I have learned that when we become connected to our bodies, we also become more intuitive with profound clarity within our businesses. This means you just know what to do without doubting and re-questioning yourself and overthinking over and over again. Thus, our actions (such as content creation) also become more effective and seamless within our businesses.
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As feminine beings, when we experience overwhelm, it is not a sign that you are “not enough”/”doing enough”, but rather it reveals the areas where we are not aligned with our true nature within your business. Usually, this stems from trying to force yourself and strive to follow strategies that of other people (aka the norm) without accustoming to your body, your intuition, and your authentic desires.
This is especially true because what our feminine souls desire is not just to experience ‘blind’ growth but also to experience alignment, gentleness and ease within our business. To this, the experience of overwhelm therefore acts like a barometer, to direct you toward the soothing sunshine inside of our hearts/our true essence, instead of the overwhelming stormy noise of the outside world.
