038: Information Overload? Who to Actually Listen to and What Steps to Take
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Show Notes
Overwhelmed by podcasts, posts, and âyou shouldsâ? In this episode, Lauren names the real cost of information overload and offers 6 tips for deciding who to listen to and what to do nextâwithout burning out your time, money, or peace. She also shares an update on her health journey and previews a new âShould I Quit My Job?â resource bundle built from her SAIL Method.
Key Points:
đ Why constant input â constant improvement
đ A 6-step filter to reduce noise and increase clarity
đ How to spot trustworthy trends vs. one-off hype
đ The power of trying one thing at a time (and tracking it)
đ How to decide whatâs âgood enough for nowâ and move forward
đ A reminder to root decisions in prayer and Godâs guidance
Your Action Step for the Week:
Put the 6 tips from the episode into practice:
Take a break from more information
Focus on one problem at a time
Look for trends across multiple trusted voices
Choose one guide to follow for this one issue
Try one thing at a time (and journal results)
Decide whatâs good enough for now
Bible Verses:
đ Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
đ Donât forget to subscribe for more faith-based decision-making tips!
Connect with Me:
đ www.instagram.com/anchoreddecisions
đ www.facebook.com/anchoreddecisions
đ www.pinterest.com/anchoreddecisions
Check out my website and decision guide shop:
đ www.anchoreddecisions.com
đď¸ www.anchoreddecisions.com/shop
Transcript
Opening
Have you been feeling overwhelmed with all of the information out there being sent your way of things you should do and how you should improve your life, or what you should implement in your parenting, in your job, in your career, in your house? So if that is you, this is the episode for you. Stay tuned through a few announcements, and then we'll get into the content.
Programming Note & SNEAK PEEK
Hey, friends. Welcome back to the Anchored Decision Show. I am back with regular scheduled programming that still might be a little sporadic in me posting because of some health issues and just limited time with running my other business that has been actually really busy latelyâmy graphic design business. So, wanted to just give a little disclaimer there with that.
But I do expect to be launching new content coming up and have a little sneak preview for you right now of something I've been working on for Anchored that some of my upcoming content and podcast episodes will be related to, and that is a new bundle of resources for whether or not you should quit your job. So, if you have been considering quitting your job or you are just kind of looking for a career switch, thinking about it, maybe been questioning that decision for a while, or if you know someone who is, then make sure you're following me either on my email list or social media.
Make sure you're following this podcastâsomething to stay updatedâso that when that bundle launches, you'll be able to get all of those resources that I've taken my main SAIL method of my decision-making framework and broken it down into small little resources with a quiz at the beginning so you can see exactly where you need to focus your time and energy. So, instead of feeling overwhelmed by your decision and all the different aspects, you can look at and say, oh, well, if I've already done my research on other job options, or if I've already prayed over it and I've been praying and I feel God kind of nudging me in this direction, or maybe God's been silent, then this bundle kind ofâyou can pick and chooseâwhich resources you want to dive into that will help you make a confident decision so that you can move forward with peace and knowing that you are on God's path. So, stay tuned for that.
Last Episode Context
Today's episode, though, I recorded this a few weeks ago and was planning on launching it, and then things came up with 9/11 and Charlie Kirk and whatnot, and so I posted a different episode instead. That was just on, hey, this nation needs hope, and us as Christians, we have that hope to share, and we need to not stay silent. We need to be educated on what we believe and what we are sharing, and so that we can take a stand for what we believe in and share the gospelâshare the light of Jesusâwith those who so desperately need it. So, definitely take a listen to that last episode if you did not catch it already. But for today, I wanted to share that with my current health journey that I've been on withâif you've caught past episodes over summerâI kind of took a break on posting because of some of my health issues that I'm having, these gut issues that are triggered by and exasperated by stress.
Health + Stress Backdrop
One week in June, I had my son's birthday party. I was speaking at MOPS, and they had changed my date with only a week's notice, so I had to rush to finish that presentation. I was packing for a two-week trip and needed to finish all my client work before I left for that two-week trip. So, I just had a ton on my plate on top ofâwe had just gotten our kitchen countertops in and the cabinets inâso I was trying to organize my kitchen and had been living in a very disrupted kitchen for a while, while also trying to cook two separate meals for me versus my husband and kids because of all of my dietary restrictions with my gut issues.
So, there were just a lot of layers of stress. And in the meantime, all of my friends, bless their hearts, were sending me different things of, âHey, you need to do this for your gut,â or, âHey, check out this person,â or, âDefinitely follow this person,â or, âGo see this doctor.â Everybody was telling me different things, and it started to get overwhelming to the point of, I don't know who to listen to anymore because this podcast says one thing, and this podcast is claiming another thing.
So, what am I supposed to do that will actually help my body? So, that is what this episode is all aboutânot just the overload of health information. But we live in this information age where there are podcast after podcast and audio books and blog posts and Pinterest and ads, and just talking with others that there are millions of sources of things that you, quote unquote, should be doing in life.
Information Overload in Daily Life
So, parentingâIâve been given tons of parenting resources by friends of things that, especially if I have an issue with maybe a disciplinary issue or, for a lot of people who have issues getting their kids to eat healthy things or motivation to do their homework, things like that. When you have an issue, everybody sends you different articles and different books and things you should be consuming.
And so, in this information age, it's great because there are so many resources out there to help and at the tip of your finger right there on your phone. You know you can listen, you can read, you can go to classes, you can take a course. You name it, it's out there. There's information for you. But that can cause a lot of overwhelm of A) not knowing who to trust, B) not knowing which information applies to your life, and C) just trying to find the time and energy to implement everything that people say that you want. And even the moneyâlike with all these gut issues and the health issuesâeverybody's sending me all these different things that I, quote unquote, should take that'll help my gut. And it's like there are so many supplements. There are so many different doctors or courses that you could take that if I did everything everyone had sent me, I'd be spending thousands of dollars probably on all of these things. So, how do we go about approachingâwhen we do have an issue and we do need some helpâhow do we go about just self-improvement in general?
Because as humans and as Christians, we're called to live to a high standard and to work as though we're working for the Lord. So, we want to do things right. We want to improve our lives. We want to make a kingdom impact, and so we need to be at our best state in order to do that. So, I wanted to go over just some tips that I came up with when I was feeling overwhelmed with so much information being poured on me and how do we filter out what to listen to, what to take action on, and so that we can live our best life without more overwhelm and more stress.
Show Intro
Welcome to the Anchored Decision Show. I'm your host, Lauren Black, the world's biggest overthinker turned decision coach, all by the grace of God. Now I'm on a mission to help you make easier decisions, discover God's will, and live with purpose. Tune in weekly to hear real-life decision stories, expert insights, and faith-based strategies to help you navigate your decisions with confidence. So, ditch your pros and cons list and learn to make better decisions without asking your mom or losing another night's sleep. Let's go.
Why This Episode
All right, guys. Welcome back. I figured I would do this episode. If you listen to the intro, I was talking about how I've been bombarded with information lately of all sorts of things that I should be doing in my life to improve, and some of 'em have come from really well-meaning sourcesâfriends sending me things for my gut issues.
Some of them have come just from friends that are like, âHey, I discovered this really cool podcast about your hormones, and it was really interesting. I thought I'd share it.â And some were just conversations with friends where I share an issue I'm having with discipline with my child, and she's like, âOh, do this.â
And then my audiobook I'm listening to on parenting. And so, there's just so many things being thrown at me right now of, âDo this, do this, do this, do this.â And the problem is every single person thinks that their thingâevery podcast host or the guest that's speaking and every author that I hearâseems to think that their thing is the be-all, end-all.
This will solve all of your problems because it worked for them. And I'm starting to realize that, first of all, if you were to follow everything that people put out there and suggested, it would be a full-time jobâmore than a full-time job. Like, if I were to go through the list of every single thing that people have told meâparenting advice, health advice, hormone advice, all sorts of crazy thingsâit would be a full-time job to execute. And just doing the research itself to see, âIs this legit or not?â is overwhelming. Because you hear a story that this person had really bad hormones and they'd always get headaches and cramps and have cravings during their period, and so they went and balanced their hormones by eating right and eating different foods during different parts of their cycle and only exercising this way during that time of their phase of their cycle and exercising this other way during that phase of their cycle, and now they have no more cramps, and they're awesome, and they hardly bleed.
I'm like, okay, that sounds great, but it also sounds like a lot of work to have to make my meal plan around my cycle and have to change my exercise plan. And so then, you know, then you get the book that's like, okay, you have to do this with your kids, and if you don't, then you're gonna fail them long term, and they're gonna be disasters, and you know, here's why they have issues in life, and blah, blah, blah. And so, you have to do this.
And it's like, whoa, wait, I don't have time to implement all of that because we have activities and sports and school, and I work. So, at one point, I'm like, okay, I need to address this because it's probably not just me that is feeling overwhelmed by everything that bombards you with what you should be doing.
Tip 1: Take a Break from Sources
My first tip is to, when you feel overwhelmed, just take a break from the sources. So, I had to stop listening to podcasts for a little while. I had to stop listening to my audiobook. I told my one friend that keeps sending all these kind of health-related and supplement-related podcasts that, like, âHey, this is really overwhelming for me.â
And so, the next time she sends one, I'm just not gonna listen unless it's something I desperately need to or want to, or I go in with the mindset of, âYou don't have to follow everything.â So, the first step: take a break from listening from sourcesâfrom all of that.
Tip 2: Focus on One Problem
The second thing is to focus on one problem at a time. Just focus on one thing. And I was like, okay, maybe I'll focus on one parenting thing at a time and one health-related thing at a time. And I know I have to get my gut right and my body healthy if I'm going to be able to serve those around me well.
I love serving in church, and I want to help out withâthey've been doing this Tuesday night program where the adults are in one room learning, and then the kids have their own program with curriculumâand I want my boys to see me involved, and I wanna be able to teach them and help out. But I went on the one Tuesday last week, and I am not a teacher, and I'm realizing, wow, I was not cut out for this, and I'm supposed to be teaching four- to six-year-olds, and they were a bunch of three-year-olds and maybe even a couple two-year-olds in there. I felt like I was in the nursery. I'm like, how am I supposed to teach these kids? And my stress level was so high.
There were kids throwing trains of toys at other kids and beating each other upâlike, literally pulling kids down, smacking him with toys, kicking. It was really rough, and I'm like, I can't handle this right now since my gut condition is induced by stress, and my stress levels were so high, and I knew that threw me into a couple days of a flare-up.
I'm like, it really sucks. I want to be in there. I want to be able to help, but I know I need to get myself healthy first. So, focus on one problem at a time. Right now, my hormones have not been an issue. I haven't felt super sluggish during a certain time of the month that I'm like, I can't do my exercise. I do strength training. I do Body Pump by Les Mills. I love it. It's the one program that I keep coming back to, and every single time I feel good and enjoy it and finish my workout. Instead of other programs that I'd be doingâyou know, a HIIT workout on YouTube or somethingâand halfway through I'm like, uh, I don't like thisâeither it's not pushing me enough, or it's doing the same moves over and over, and I didn't like that. So, I have found a program that works for me, and I do it every single week, and so I don't need to change my fitness routine around my hormones when that's not a problem for me.
And things like getting your kids to eat more vegetablesâI'm hearing all these things of, âOh, you gotta put this in,â and, âMake these special smoothies and do this,â and, âHere's what I do.â I'm like, you know what? That's not a problem for me. My kids eat a decent amount of vegetables, tons of fruit. They're very healthy boys for the most part. And so, I'm not gonna focus on that. I'm not gonna listen to that advice right now. Maybe down the line, if there are ways I can improve my kids' health even more by changing certain things that we do in our household, then I'll focus on that then. But for right now, what I'm doing is good enough for my kids. Don't go chasing problems that you didn't know were a problem until someone introduced this new problem. That's just overwhelming.
If you have an actual problem, then yes, go out and do your research and start trying to find answers. So, that leads me to the next step in ditching the overwhelm with this information age: start looking for trends instead of specific pieces of advice, because you can start to see how this person's saying this and this person's saying that, and they go against each other.
Tip 3: Look for Trends
Or like this person says, all of your health issues will be solved by adding minerals. You need these special mineral supplements, and you don't get enough outta food these days because the way they cropâthe ground doesn't have enough nutrients in it anymore. Which I understand is part of the issue.
But, is minerals my exact problem or answer? I don't know. Or then you have this person that's saying, no, you need these supplements. Or I was listening to one that they're like, oh, you have to eat so much grass-fed beef of pasture-raised, and you have to start eating organs of, like, liver and heart and brain and tongue and all these things.
And I'm just like, whoa, I'm not about to start making liver. It's hard enough for me to cook for my family and get my kids to eat decently healthy stuff as it is to get all four of us to like what's on the table with what I'm making that's normal food. I'm not about to start trying to take these supplements that are organs when I don't know if there's research actually behind that.
So, look for overall trends. So, when you start to see multiple sources sharing similar things that, yes, grass-fed beef is betterâyeahâthen, okay, maybe you can focus on adding that and making a change there when multiple sources have shared the same thing. So, if you're starting to see things from different people that you trust and different sources, then you know, okay, there's something to this here.
If it's just kind of a one-offâlike, I had never heard anything about the whole minerals thing before. That was kind of a one-off. That's just somebody who created a product and is pushing their product. And yes, I'm sure it's helpful, but in the reviews, when I went to look up this minerals product, half the people were like, âYeah, it didn't do anything for me.â So, you're just spending all this money on really expensive stuff that probably part of it is a placebo effect. Like, those who did say, âYeah, this improved me so muchââI mean, maybe it also improved their water intake because they're now adding this supplement to water every morning. And maybe that was the solution and not just the minerals.
So, look for the trends. Trends are your friends. See what is consistent across the board, and that way it's more trustworthy.
Tip 4: Determine Who to Trust
So, that leads me to number four: determine who to trust. So, when you're getting fed all this information, information, informationâand it could have worked for one personâit might have worked for the company owner, and that's why they started that company.
But it can be hard to know who's actuallyâlike, why did it work for them, and who can we trust? Are they just in it for a profit, or do they genuinely care? So, if you have a friend that has added something to their routine and it's worked for them, maybe you trust that reference over just some random influencer on the internet that swears by something weird that, once again, like, maybe there aren't trends, aren't other people talking about it.
And a lot of times, there could be more than one solution that works. So, adding the minerals, adding the organ supplementsâthose could all work individually and just help you overall be healthier and feel better. But there could be multiple paths that help you. Or let's say it's parenting and you're struggling with your kid not listening to you.
There could be multiple paths of things that work. And the thing is, every person is different. Every scenario, every child is different. So, when you're looking for who to trust, go to people who have similar situations to you. So, for me, with my gut issues, I almost purchased a program that was like, âHeal your IBS and SIBO in 30 days with this program.â
And it's like, wait a second. I don't know if mine's officially labeled IBS, and I know I don't have SIBO. I might have had it back in, like, February, but the symptoms that I have now don't line up. And I did the whole gut testâthe, I won't go into details with thatâbut I did a test, and it showed me what my issues were.
And so, I'm pretty sure I don't have SIBO, so it's like, wait, why would I buy a program on SIBO when I don't think I have SIBO? I need to not take the advice from somebody who's dealing with different issues than me, and I'm sure there is some overlap. There probably would be things in there that are beneficial, but if I really want true healing, I need to find someone who has been dealing with the same high bad bacteria, low good bacteria, the poor digestion, and leaky gut.
Those are the things I'm dealing with. That's what I need to find help withâfrom someone who's been through that. Somebody else, a different podcast, was like, oh, going paleo was the way to heal my IBS that I had suffered from for years and years. And so, I looked up, âDoes paleo help with the leaky gut?â and then it's called dysbiosis of having the different bacteria levels, and it's like, no, that can make it worse. I'm like, okay. Yeah. So, I am glad I didn't decide to go follow that advice when the diet that I've been doingâthe low FODMAP dietâis what's suggested by the majority of sources. So, figure out which one source to trust and then follow just that one.
Tip 5: Try One Thing at a Time (and Document)
Like, don't start branching off because then, when you start piecemealingââWell, this person just said to add this supplement,â and, âThis person said to then do this diet,â and, âThis person said to do this exercise programââand so, when you start piecemealing it, it can kind of take away from any one thing working, or you won't know what's working. So, even with supplementsâI was suggested to take all these supplements for my gut. And so, I started taking, like, four new things at once, and I had no idea whether they were working or not, and honestly, I actually started to get worse.
And so, I'm like, okay, something I'm taking made me worse. Now I have to cut back on all of them and add them in one at a time, because taking too many things at onceâtrying too many things at onceâyou don't know what's making you worse, what's making you better, and so you won't know what to continue with.
So, taking advice from multiple different sources can just kind of mix your results. You might be doing things that go against each other and counteract each other, and so take advice from one person at a time. Try one thing at a time and documentâwrite down, journal outâwhat were you feeling like before, and what's working, what's not?
Even withâlet's say it is a parenting thing with disciplineâdocument what worked and what didn't work, and figure out what works for you and your kids. So, the other thing is, with all of this as kind of a side note here, is that you can plug things into chat, GPT. Now, I know that chat GPT is not always correct, and a lot of times they're pulling sources from the internet where anybody could post things on the internet.
So, what I like to do in these type cases is I like to put information in and say, âCan you find some trusted resources and provide me with what the resources are for research that has been done on X, Y, Z?â
So, a family member recently was diagnosed with something that our whole family's kind of having to rally around and deal with. And so, it seems like every single family member has a different opinion of an article they found or studies that they've seen that would help with this issue. And finally, my one sister, who's actually an expert in this field, she was like, we need to put a stop to everybody throwing information out of some random article they found on the internet as concrete advice, and you are overwhelming the person with the diagnosis and their caretaker with so much information that we don't even know if that's been proven. So, I took some of those concepts and said, âHey, chat GPT, what studies have been done on this, and what were the results?â
And several of the things that we had put out there as unresearched stuffâit ends up that there have been case studies. There have been tests done, and theyâone of 'emânot only did it not help, but it long term made the person worse. And so, sometimes it's like, okay, one source might be saying, oh, the FDA isn't going to approve this because it's an over-the-counter thing, and they don't get any money from it, and so they're not going to push it, but it definitely should work. It makes sense, right? Well, yes, but if they've actually done clinical studies and Chat GPT can find those easier than just a normal Google search or just than the one article that you found, then that's when I start trusting Chat GPT because it can actually look up in seconds and find the concrete research.
And sure, do we always trust those sources? No, not always, because sometimes peopleâwe know from statistics class in college or high schoolâthat people twist the data to kind of form it to what they want people to see and hear and know about their product. So, not everything's trustworthy, but it does help when you plug it into Chat GPT or Google to say, âFind me research evidence.â
And not just like, âHey, what do you think?â because it could be pulling that from just a random blogger that she decided she was going to, you know, drink vinegar all day, and that suddenly she was cured. Woo. And it's like, wait, no, that might even be a lieâlike, we don't know this person.
Tip 6: Decide What's Good Enough for Now
So, the final piece of advice here is to decide what's good enough for now. So, certain things you might be struggling with in your health routine, in your parenting, in your business, in your careerâin you name itâthat you've been wanting to improve upon. And you have to see what is worth my time to try to invest in the research and invest the time to actually implement, and what can I let go and say that's good enough for now.
You don't always need the perfect solution, and sometimes good enough is better because then you're free to move forward. You're not as stressed, you're not overwhelmed, you are not paralyzed by perfection.
So, your action steps today are to just go through the steps that I've shared for any one thing that you have been wanting to improve upon and let go of advice being thrown out there that isn't related to something you actually really need to work on and change right now.
So, let's go over those steps one more time.
One, take a break from the sources. Number two, focus on one problem at a time. Number three, look for trends. Number four, determine who you want to trust, and then just pick the one source to follow. Number five, try one thing at a timeâthis has kind of been a theme, right? The one source, one thing, one problem.
And then number six, decide what's good enough for now. So, let me know on Instagram or somewhere if you enjoyed this episode. Please share it with a friend. If you've been getting all the podcast episodes sent to you of so many overwhelming pieces of advice, this is one thatâhopefullyâthis advice helps you to have less overwhelm rather than adding to your overwhelm.
Closing Prayer
So, let me pray us out. Father God, I thank you so much that you are sovereign over all and that we can turn to you and trust you as the source of truth and that you are always trustworthy, God. So, help us to let go of the overwhelm of information being thrown at us, of so many things that we should be doing and how we should be improving our life and making changes.
We want to grow, God, we want to be better. We want to be our best selves, but we know that for that, everybody's different. And everybody has different ways of achieving things, and what works for one person may not work for another. So, help us to give ourselves grace and to know when to let go of the perfectionism and what to accept as good enough, and so that we can live our lives without the stress and overwhelm of feeling like we have to follow every single thing that's thrown our way.
So, help us to pick one thing that we can focus on, and God, may you guide us in that. May you point us to the right sources, and may you be the one to ultimately have your truth shine through and to hold us up. So, Jesus, we surrender our problems, our issues, our health and our wellbeing, our mental capacity to you, God. May you be in control. We love you, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Sign-Off + Social
So, friends, thank you for tuning in, and for those of you who have been sticking around through me being absent for so longâthank you. I appreciate you. I do have some exciting things coming up, so definitely stay tuned. If you're not following me on social, go ahead and please give me a follow.
It really helps my show, and it helps me be able to reach more people like you with the gospel and with these decision-making tips to help you live less overwhelmed, make better choices, and live your best life. So, go follow me at Anchored Decisions on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. So, bye for now.
Outro
Thanks for listening all the way to the end. If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of it and post it to social media, making sure to tag me at Anchored Decisions, or share it with a friend. This helps me know which type of content to create more of and gives me the opportunity to connect with you as a listener outside of your earbuds.
See you next week for another episode.
Overwhelmed by a Big Decision?
Are you facing a big decision? Maybe it's whether to go back to work, whether to let your mother-in-law move in with you or should you have another baby. Whatever your big decision is, it's time to stop stressing over the decision. Stop losing sleep over, wondering what to do and make your decision with ease and confidence.
You need my Questioning to Confident Decision Guide to help walk you through my signature decision-making framework, The SAIL Method, which will help you sail through your decision. That's Self-Awareness, Impact, and Litmus test to make sure you have covered all of your bases and make an informed decision based off your preferences, passions, personality, priorities, to make sure you're making the best decision for you.
So head on over to anchoreddecisions.com/decisionguide to grab your copy today.
