I have a confession.

Well... a few confessions.

I tend to put a lot on my plate. I tend to overcommit. I tend to take on too many projects thinking I can do all of them. I tend to keep myself too busy.

And then, at some point, I crash and burn. I get tired. I get overwhelmed. I don’t put as much effort as I could into every single one of my commitments. I am not as reliable. I am not the talented, smart, get-it-done person I know I am.

Recently, I’ve overcommitted myself. I am sort of a workaholic. I am a lawyer, a social media strategist, a business strategist. I help people with their mindset. I’m deeply spiritual and believe our thoughts have a lot to do with the reality we see and experience on a day-to-day basis.

I freelance for several publications. I have a popular equestrian and lifestyle blog that has a reach of over 12,000 people on social media and has about 650,000 readers (and grows rapidly every month). I am also an avid, competitive horseback rider.

I like to keep myself busy. Maybe it was the years of private school where we had tons of homework every day. Or the years I spent working on college newspapers where I had to adhere to strict deadlines and cover breaking news 24/7. Or maybe it was my adventure in law school where a typical week consisted of 500 pages of reading, plus a paper, plus the extra-curricular activities in which I participated.

Naturally, towards the middle of this year, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. I wasn’t putting as much effort into certain activities as I normally would, and I was starting to slack — which I totally hated because I am not a slacker — at all!

While I did my best to keep up with everything, I was having issues with my anxiety and depression, and some days it was near impossible to get things done.

I was so busy and overwhelmed that I would just completely forget about certain things I had to do until the day after they were due, and I would go into full on panic mode realizing I had missed a deadline.

Recently, I was removed from a position I held. The quality of my work was fine, but I had not been living up to the expectations of the position. While I was told it was difficult for the individual to decide on removing me from my position and placing me back into a creator role, I realized that the universe was telling me I needed to get it together and start focusing on my well-being.

I also realized just how much I loved my role with the organization and how I needed to learn how to prioritize better, especially when it came to things I loved doing.

Although I was disappointed about what happened, I was more disappointed in myself because I knew I could do better. I knew I was better. I knew I had the talent and the drive. I was letting myself be overwhelmed by all the other things I had taken on and was unwilling to admit I was in over my head.

And despite my disappointment, I am actually incredibly grateful. Not only did I realize I should be placing a higher priority on my writing and editing. In a way, what happened lit a fire under my ass to be better and get back to where I was. I also realized I really need to take a step back and ask myself if the things I’ve committed to actually make me happy.

Are they actually going to further me on my path of where I want to go?

Are they things that light me up inside?

Are they things about which I am passionate?

From now on, I am vowing to do several things.

First, I will not be putting too much on my plate. I am going to carefully consider any commitments I make from now on.

Second, I am going to get my priorities in check so I don’t miss out on opportunities anymore and so I don’t lose those opportunities and realize how much I valued them until it was too late.

Third, I am only going to say “yes” to something if it is a “hell freakin’ yes!” in my mind. Because if it isn’t a “hell freakin’ yes!” it’s actually a “hell freakin’ no!”

If you take away one thing from this, it’s that it is OK to dedicate your time and energy to a lot of things. It is OK to stay busy. It is OK to be multi-passionate.

But, you also need to prioritize and take time for self-care. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed or unable to perform every single thing you’ve committed to, take a step back, reevaluate and step down from things if you need to.

It’s OK to not be able to do everything at once. We aren’t superheroes with infinite amounts of time and energy.