In every Results Coaching Global seminar, in almost all coaching conversations, people share their feelings and behaviors of being overwhelmed. Of course, life is trying to get back to some normalcy, yet all around us, other signs say, caution, caution, caution.

You are a professional, you are committed, you want to do a good job! Why does it feel like someone is continually throwing rocks and glass in the road? There are times we just get so tired and overwhelmed that we just give in to the rhetoric and attitudes.

Our brain is a wonderous thing and one thing it craves is certainty and safety. We don’t have a lot of that being thrown around our environments or shoulders.

When complexities fill our mind like the challenges we face in school – inequality, COVID, racial or cultural biases, haves or have nots, extreme points of views about school and government, and the list goes on – these complexities and uncertainties make it a challenge to find viable solutions and create, within us, worry that can be so heavy it weakens your knees. Complexity can make chaos in the brain and that uncertainty drives out clarity. Shadows become reality.

Dread dilutes ability. Anxiety displaces confidence. Purposefulness dissolves motivation.

Feeling overwhelmed is inevitable when complexity banishes simplicity. Anyone, not using good judgment, can make easy things difficult. So, as we approach the end of another “wild and crazy” year let’s consider some things that will support us during complex times. Let’s find some clarity in a few potential strategies:

#1. Whenever possible, how might we intentionally start the day slowly? Maybe we take 10-15 minutes to smell the coffee, breathe, pray, read, or journal. Consider, and then choose how you want to show up. Close your eyes and imagine your best self in meetings and conversations. Listen to music on your walk or drive, whatever sound that soothes and satisfies your soul.

#2. Turn outward with empathy. Problems invite us to become the center of the universe. Choose to forget yourself. Shine the light on others instead of hoping others will focus on you.

#3. Stop fixing everything. The need to fix everything creates stress and multiplies complexity. You don’t need all the answers to practice curiosity during complex times. Let yourself be interested in another person’s challenges instead of being overwhelmed with fixing everything. Consider curiosity when complexity presents itself and act like we tell our students, “Think like a scientist or a detective.”

#4. Notice trajectory. Ask yourself, “Where is this conversation going?” Notice if you’re moving forward, backward, or in circles. When a conversation moves in the wrong direction, change your words. What intention is behind your conversation? Remind yourself to care. What’s one simple thing – you can do – that moves people toward engagement and ownership?

#5. Monitor energy. How might you be a person who energizes people? Do the hard stuff when you are the most energized.

#6. Finish something. Isn’t it amazing how great it feels to finally finish something that has been lingering on your mind? Get it done. Let it go.

#7. Remember the good. Tell people you’re glad they’re on the team and why. Bad is stronger than good. Faults and frailties cause you to forget talent and strengths.

Confusion is often a signal to focus on things within your control. Allow the complex things in life to inspire and drive us toward simplicity. And be warned. Simplicity takes more mindfulness than complexity.

For example: Complexity: Keeping morale up. Certainty: Intentionally, every day, offer a value statement to a different teacher.

And doesn’t the month of December offer a beautiful time to give the gift of gratitude to those who work so hard and care so much – by personally letting them know how they are valued.

What are more simple things that might strengthen clarity during complexity?

What might be a simple step for you?