2025 May 6 Too much at once

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Hi, this is Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website about reimagining your life. Thanks for joining me today to talk about too many challenges. If you like what you hear today, please leave a like, subscribe, tell your friends, send me a message.
Tonight we're going to talk about something that has been showing up in my life quite a bit lately. It wasn’t until late last week that I realized perhaps I wasn’t considering it in the most open-minded and positive way.
No life is truly perfect. We often talk about challenges that arise and how to reframe them. But every so often, life seems to line up a string of things that, while significant by themselves, start to seem overwhelming when you pile them all on top of each other.
We can go through things that have a lot of effect on me—things like the war against Ukraine, and the US walking away from the Budapest Memorandum, the issues in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis' passing. Now everyone has an opinion of what should happen. Major disruptions in the world order, in the economy—most of which are for pretty weak reasons—the job market cooling off, the housing market dropping, prices rising, and personal decisions stacking up. It's supposed to be a really bad time to sell a house. Changes at work. On and on and on. All these things—it finally adds up. So what do you do?
I was mulling this over this weekend and realized I let myself get caught up in society's default approach to everything, which is to declare that it's the end of the world as we know it. Well, it's not the end of the world. It's change. And in change, there is always opportunity.
President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine have forged even stronger ties than expected with multiple sources worldwide, and they're starting to get numerous defense deals because of their amazing ingenuity. Europe, Canada, Japan, Greenland, and others are starting to form different alliances. And while the world may have tilted a little bit, it didn't stop rotating as predicted.
The Church has wandered along in the same fashion for centuries, and frankly, my opinion will not fix it. Its actions won't touch my beliefs either.
One of my neighbors took her house off the market last year because the market was so bad, and—kind of on a lark—put it back on as a trial, and it sold almost immediately about two weeks ago.
I'm not looking for a job. So while the job statistics are important in many ways, they shouldn't be impacting my actions. Plus, one of my sons just got a great new job because he works like crazy and has a good reputation. So maybe the job market isn't all that bad for those who really apply themselves seriously.
So what did I just do there? I stopped listening to what everyone was saying and instead did a few different things. I started looking at facts. I started evaluating things in terms of how they directly impact me. Most importantly, I started looking for the opportunity that always accompanies change.
The only way to get left behind when things change is to not change along with it. Smart blacksmiths became auto mechanics. Stubborn blacksmiths mostly went outta business. Anti-AI people sit around scared of the world, thinking it's going to end when the machines shut down. Informed people realize AI is just another tool—which, while very powerful, can also be used to increase productivity, often in unforeseen and amazing ways.
As always, we have the choice as to how we react to any situation. The challenge right now is that there are many big things going on in many different areas all at once. Most people do pretty well in difficult times when most things are staying pretty much the same and only a few big things are dramatically changing. But when a lot changes at once, it's very easy to lose your frame of reference.
But what should that frame of reference be? The same as it always is: your own life vision, how you envision the future. Your goals may have to be modified and tweaked—even your vision may have to be updated a bit—but your core vision, if carefully created, probably won’t change much. That's the filter you should use to look at the world through, as it applies to you.
All that scary noise coming at you—from social media, the TV, YouTube, newspapers, and every other form of media—filter it exactly the same way. Run it through your own life vision and see what has actually changed as it applies to you.
This isn't to say there aren’t things that are problematic or even bad. But if they aren't directly affecting you at the moment—first, be thankful for that gift. Then focus on the things you can change, which will hopefully address some of the scary things that are happening. Even if it’s things like jobs and selling your home.
As has often been said, it doesn’t matter how many people are getting turned down for a job. You just need to find one job that will hire you, or one buyer who will buy your house, or the one thing that is aligned with your vision. So when every single thing you see and hear seems to be just a total source of stress, remember—go back to the basics and view things through the filter of your own life vision.
You may need to be directly involved in some of the scary things, but now you'll be doing it with purpose and not out of fear. When you act with purpose, then you can lead and motivate others, and you have more control over the outcome. Plus, when you're living your life aligned with your vision, you'll show up more powerfully, and you'll be less stressed because you’ve created a path that matters to you and that you want to follow.
So be amazed, appalled, at some of the things going on—here and abroad, at all levels—but then carefully step through them one at a time. See how to get the best alignment between your feelings and your actions, and how to use your life vision to guide you in the best ways to respond with the least stress.
These days, the news and special interest groups on every side of every viewpoint spin everything as the end of the world. It isn’t the end of the world. It may be pretty uncomfortable, but you can still be confident that you are living as your best self.
Some politicians thrive on creating constant crisis and drama. They do that specifically to overwhelm and distract. By clearing your head, you're better able to see what's really important, and not just the purposeful distractions.
That’s it for the evening. Remember that next month I’ll be hosting a free webinar called Smart Goals for Life. That interactive session will expand on everything we’ve discussed related to SMART goals and provide practice worksheets and practical exercises to help you apply those concepts to your own goals.
Whether you're considering retirement, becoming a new empty nester, changing careers, or facing any other life transition, this webinar will give you concrete tools for creating and achieving goals that truly matter to you. We’ll work through real examples together, and you’ll leave with a personalized action plan that you’ve created to meet your own needs.
If there’s anything in particular you want to cover, please drop me a note and we can certainly include it. Stay tuned for the specific date in May—we’re still finalizing everything. Even if you can’t attend live, please register anyway. All registrants will receive a recording of the session along with the accompanying worksheets.
We’ll also be showing off—and raffling—a new product we’ve been working on. It’s pretty close to wrapped up now, in the design phase, and we’ll be announcing the winners on our community platform.
Your homework for tonight is to think of the top three things you’re currently concerned about in the world—on the world or national stage. Just like goals, be specific. Calling someone an idiot is neither actionable nor specific, but singling out one policy or action is. So write down three specific things that are on your mind right now.
Extra points if you take those three items and examine if—and how—they directly affect you when viewed through your own life vision. If some still do, write those down along with what your next steps will be to address them. Bonus points if you can turn at least one of them into a SMART goal and apply both processes to help you move forward.
That's all for the evening. As always, please remember the many wars and the challenges happening all over. The world is just amazing when you read the news these days.
You can support Ukraine and the people of Ukraine at UKR7.com. They truly would appreciate it. It’s really helpful. You can also support World Central Kitchen at WCK.org. We’ve talked about them before. They work in areas where disasters have happened. They’re a great organization.
UKR7.com also points to other vetted organizations—known good ones—because, unfortunately, there are people out there who do really skanky things and pretend they’re a charity just to take your money. These are vetted groups that we know are doing real work.
And while we often talk about national and international organizations, don’t forget—there are local organizations, too. Just regular people nearby who need your help. Even if you’re not someone who wants to donate money, if you can donate your time, or just anything to help someone, it makes a big difference.
Remember, one of the best ways to care for yourself is to care for others. Thinking outside yourself changes your perspective. Sometimes it gives you insight into why things are happening and a better way to approach solutions. Something as simple as a smile to someone on the street can change their day—and bring more positivity into the world than you realize.

Support a local organization—or just smile at someone. Make somebody’s day a little better.
As always, thank you for stopping by. If you found something interesting or useful, please pass it along. Please subscribe, hit that like button. If not, please drop me a comment as to what you’d like to hear.
Have a great week. Remember to live the life that you dream of, because that’s the path to true contentment. Love and encouragement to everyone. See you next week on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com. Thank you.