Hello there, it's Rosie. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday.

So if you've been listening this week, you know I wear a lot of hats. In addition to

being a mindfulness teacher here at Headspace, I'm an author, an independent podcast host,

and a yoga teacher, the list goes on. As I sit here writing this episode in a

themed week about progress, they got me thinking about all of the overachievers out there,

myself included. So this episode is for anyone who can relate to the pressure to do it all.

There's a major challenge that people who are highly motivated face, the constant drive

to achieve and produce. You can call it being an overachiever, a type A personality, or

having shark syndrome, which is probably my favorite description. Apparently in order for

sharks to breathe, they must constantly be in motion. For many people who have this, let's

call it a trait. We've all felt the eventual spontaneous combustion of it. Finding stillness

and stopping isn't quitting. It's a way for you to meet yourself where you are and learn

what is working and what isn't. I went to a meetup during one of my first

forays into the world of mindfulness. It was a group coaching circle that was created

by one of my yogi friends in Venice Beach, California. The topic was learning how to

quiet my so-called inner critic. You know that voice that tells you all the things you're

supposedly doing wrong. I had recently quit my job and I was enjoying my time being unemployed.

Part of me wondered why I hadn't done it sooner. On the other hand, it had only been a few

weeks and I was already starting to feel the self-induced pressure of my mind telling

me I needed to get to work. We sat on Mexican blankets near the shore, seagulls flying above

as the sound of waves softly glaze the sand. Ocean air permeated our senses as we listened

to the lead speaker. Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, she said,

...