Three-year old zombies
Hello, my name is Larah and I’m obsessed with zombies.
Needless to say, I’ve watch my fair share of zombie movies. I’ve always suspected that parts of the zombie culture have oozed into other parts of my life. That suspicion was confirmed on Saturday when one of my 3 year old twins totally lost her mojo over…well, who knows what.
She was playing happily and then she was bawling in a puddle on the floor. For context, we dropped nap time a few weeks back, which on some days makes for 3+ hours of “witching hour” chaos when the girls aren’t quite sure what to do with themselves.
This was one of those days.
So, yeah. Back to the floor and the puddle of inconsolable 3-year old. I just wanted to know why she’s upset, so…like a rookie…i asked her.
Overwhelm makes you incoherent.
When you ask an overwhelmed 3-year old what’s wrong, she’ll predictably answer with something super helpful like:
“UUUHHNNNNN ERRRR!” or “AAAAAYYYAAARRRRR!”
I’m such a sensitive, understanding kind of mom that my first reaction was to laugh hysterically and say to my husband, “Oh my gosh, she sounds like a zombie!” Of course, her sister (also 3) is horribly offended and replies, “SHE’S IS NOT A ZOMBIE!! SHE’S MY SISTER!!” More laughing. Actual tears and snorts.
Then I had a realization.
Three-year olds and entrepreneurs
My otherwise extremely articulate little genius just doesn’t begin to know where to start explaining what is wrong. She’s overwhelmed and she’s lost it.
This is not so unlike many of my start up clients over the years. Smart, articulate, innovative, ingenious and completely incoherent at times.
“How can I help you?” Turns into “UUHhh, well, I just wanna, um, I dunno, maybe you could…like, I have this idea to, you know…I need money and um, there are these customers out there and, yeah. What should I do next?”
Oh no! Another zombie.
If this sounds like you, don’t despair. Luckily, this particular zombie virus is curable. Just like with the 3 yr old, when I hear this from a client, I want to reach out and say…”Oh baby, come here. Let’s calm down. Relax. Breathe.” …after I finish laughing, of course.
But then what…
All too often the overwhelmed three-year old and the new entrepreneur have no idea what they want…they just knows there’s something. It’s my job as mommy and coach to help them figure that out. That’s much easier to do with entrepreneurs than it is with 3-year olds.
There are steps to stepping out of the overwhelm and into your new business. I’ve been walking people through these steps for years and now I’m super excited to bring them here to my home on the web.
What next?
Please share your thoughts on overwhelm (or zombies or 3-year olds). I’d love to hear them!
No comments yet.