How can we move from feeling overwhelmed to finding where we can make a difference?

I left a job about a year ago that was deeply meaningful to me. It shaped how I grew into my work strengthening the disability community and gave me a place to channel so much of my advocacy energy for about 3.5 years.

I left without a plan. Was it impulsive? Sure. Could I have stayed? Also, sure. But I was at a point where something needed to change, and I knew I was at a pivotal moment of evaluating if, how, and where I could live into my values of empathy, progress, and creativity. I was at an inflection point: my values were in direct conflict with my circumstances, and I chose to make a change I could control.

Was I overwhelmed after leaving my role? Absolutely. Did I eventually figure out where to land next? With time, I did. And I can safely say it’s deeply values-aligned, and I feel it. It may not be values-aligned forever, but it is for right now.

So this week’s challenge is: How can we move from feeling overwhelmed to finding where we can make a difference?

Honest Story

Mike Shoreman’s life suddenly shifted in 2018 after a major health crisis, when he was told he might never paddleboard again. His physical recovery was slow, and the experience contributed to a mental health struggle in 2019. After entering mental health treatment, he began rebuilding his life and eventually got back on a paddleboard.

In 2021, Mike set out to become the first person with a disability to paddleboard across all five Great Lakes. His first attempt was stopped by dangerous weather, so he returned to training and tried again the following year. In 2022, he completed the crossings and used the expedition to raise awareness and funding for mental health programming for children and youth in Canada. He now works to use his experience to help others facing mental health and accessibility challenges.

Yes, Mike’s accomplishment is significant, but I’m more interested in what he did with his experience to shape his life. Paddleboarding was something he already cared about. Thrill-seeking was already part of who he was. Instead of treating those interests as separate from his advocacy, he found a way to connect them. His story makes me curious about what might happen if we shifted from asking ourselves, “What should I do?” to “What do I already care about, and how could I use that to make a difference?”

Rigorous Learning

Life-crafting involves actively reflecting on your present and future life, identifying your values and passions, setting goals in important areas of life, and making concrete plans to bring those areas more into alignment with what matters to you. It offers a way to move beyond simply searching for meaning toward deliberately shaping a life that is more congruent with our values.

The research suggests that recognizing the difference between a goal we choose for ourselves and one we feel we should pursue matters. Self-concordant goals, or goals that align with our values and interests, have been associated with greater well-being, vitality, and meaningfulness.

But reflection alone isn't the whole process; life-crafting involves translating values and passions into goals, specific plans, and action. For those of us who feel overwhelmed, that doesn't mean figuring out our entire lives at once. Researchers describe an iterative process: selecting goals, maintaining direction, changing or reprioritizing them, and sometimes deciding to let them go. Even writing down goals and creating specific “if-then” plans can help turn broad intentions into goal-directed action (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

Work of Art

Kevin Connolly's The Rolling Exhibition is an example of what can happen when curiosity becomes more than a feeling but a way of working.

A photographer born without legs, he began photographing people who stared at him while he traveled around the world on a longboard. Between 2005 and 2011, he took more than 35,000 photographs across 31 countries. He describes the project as both a collection of portraits and a snapshot of human curiosity.

He would hold his camera near his hip, often while moving, and photograph people looking at him. Because he wasn't looking through the viewfinder, the images captured spontaneous glances, stares, and expressions of surprise or confusion. He wasn't trying to photograph people looking at a camera, but was instead interested in the moment before we have time to explain our reactions, the instant when curiosity takes over.

Connolly noticed something happening around him, became curious about it from his perspective, and started with what he already had: a skateboard, a camera, and curiosity. We don't always discover what matters by being still and thinking until we find the perfect answer. Sometimes, we discover it by paying attention to what keeps making us curious and following it.

Practical Experiment

If you aren't sure what your values are, start there. The life-crafting research suggests that discovering values and passions is an important first step before translating them into goals and plans. It also makes a useful distinction between doing something we simply like and identifying what we find genuinely important. The latter can provide a stronger foundation for values-aligned goals.

For a low-stakes starting point, try asking yourself: What kinds of people do I admire, and why? When have I felt most like myself? What makes me angry or frustrated? What experiences have felt meaningful? What do I want more of in my life? It can even be as simple as asking yourself “why?” about a thought or feeling until you reach something deeper. Wanting a particular job, for example, might eventually reveal that what really matters is creativity, recognition, connection, service, or making a difference.

Then choose one value that feels especially important right now and turn it into a small experiment. If you value creativity, make something. If you value connection, reach out to someone. If you value progress, identify one thing you can move forward with by 20 minutes. If you value empathy, learn something from someone whose experience differs from yours. Give one of your values somewhere to show up and pay attention to what happens when you do.

Reflection

What is a value you care about that isn't getting enough room in your life right now? And what might change if, instead of trying to solve everything at once, you gave that value one small place to show up?

For me, I spent some time reflecting on the things that have consistently brought me energy and meaning. Two of them are my love of summer camp and my commitment to disability advocacy. For a while, I thought of those as two separate passions. But recently, I found a way to bring them together by collaborating with Zeno Mountain Farm, where these areas of my life came together in a way that feels deeply aligned with what I value through empathy, progress, and creativity.

Next Week’s Challenge

How can we make progress when there are no simple solutions?