Hey Reader,

You have probably been told to calm down more times than you can count. Breathe, think positive, stop letting it get to you, as if you had not already tried all of that a hundred times.

Here is what nobody tells you. There is nothing wrong with you when your mind will not settle. It is doing exactly what it was built to do, which is scan for danger. And when there is no real danger in front of it, it goes looking. A short reply, a look you could not read, a text that still has not come back, suddenly those become the threat.

So telling a mind like that to calm down is a bit like asking a search dog to sit quietly in an empty field. It is going to keep hunting. Your brain does not need to calm down. It needs a different job.

Sometimes the answer is not clearing everything off your plate.

What actually changes things is handing your brain a hard job that has nothing to do with your kids, your partner, or your work. Something that asks for all of you. When it is busy with that, everything else finally gets to rest, and you come back steadier and far more able to handle the things that genuinely need you.

This week on the How To Love Yourself No Matter What podcast, I get into why this works. I also tell you about the hard things I have been picking up lately, like heavy lifting, figure skating as a grown woman, and learning guitar with hands that have no clue what they are doing.

You are allowed to stop trying to quiet your mind. You get to give it somewhere better to go instead.

xx Amanda

P.S. What is the one hard thing you keep meaning to try but have not let yourself start? Hit reply and tell me what it is, I would love to know what you would pick up if you gave your brain a real job to chase.

P.P.S. Ready to find out how to do this? Book a free discovery call: https://amandahess.ca/bookacall​