I recently received this message that made me smile:
“I feel stuck because I created so many opportunities with tapping I’m overwhelmed with possibility!” – Amy
Amy, first let me say — what a wonderful “problem” to have! But I completely understand that feeling overwhelmed is still feeling overwhelmed, even when it comes from positive circumstances.
This is actually a challenge I hear about more often than you might think. Someone starts Tapping to move past blocks in their life, and suddenly doors begin opening in unexpected ways. What seemed impossible before now feels accessible, and instead of too few options, they’re facing too many.
It reminds me of what I often say about becoming your greatest self — it’s not about adding more to who you are, but about removing the layers that have been obscuring your natural gifts and capabilities. And sometimes when those layers come off, the brightness of possibility can feel blinding!
Let’s explore why this happens and how we can use Tapping to navigate this unique form of overwhelm.
The Paradox of Success: When Good News Feels Overwhelming
Think about it: for years or even decades, your nervous system may have been conditioned to operate within certain boundaries. You knew what to expect, what was “realistic,” and what your limits were. It wasn’t always comfortable, but there was a certain safety in that familiarity.
Then you start Tapping, and suddenly those boundaries expand or disappear entirely. New possibilities emerge that weren’t there before (or that you couldn’t see before). It’s like living in a small apartment for years and then suddenly being given the keys to a mansion. Exciting? Absolutely. But also potentially overwhelming.
Your brain is designed to conserve energy and simplify decisions. When faced with too many choices, it can actually shut down in what psychologists call “decision paralysis.” Studies have shown that people are often happier when choosing from a smaller set of options than when faced with abundant choice.
So if you’re feeling stuck amid all this newfound opportunity, it’s not because there’s something wrong with you. It’s because your brain is functioning exactly as it was designed to.
Why Your Nervous System Might Resist Expansion
Here’s something fascinating about how we’re wired: our brains don’t just resist negative change — they can resist positive change too. That’s because any significant change, even wonderful change, can trigger a stress response in the body.
When you’re suddenly faced with many more opportunities than you’re used to, your nervous system might interpret this expansion as a potential threat. It’s stepping into the unknown, after all. Your primitive brain is whispering: “We’ve survived this long with limited options. Is it really safe to have all these choices? What if we choose wrong?”
This resistance to expansion often manifests as:
- Feeling paralyzed when trying to make decisions
- Procrastinating on taking action with any opportunity
- Feeling anxious or physically tense when thinking about all your options
- A mysterious urge to return to your “comfort zone” of fewer possibilities
- Self-sabotage that might close some of these doors before you have to choose
The good news is that we can use tapping to communicate directly with the nervous system, sending signals of safety that allow you to embrace this expansion rather than retreat from it.
The Too Much of a Good Thing Tapping Sequence
Let’s start with a tapping sequence specifically designed for this “too many opportunities” overwhelm. As you tap, allow yourself to express all the mixed feelings — both the excitement and the overwhelm.
Tapping on the Side of the Hand:
“Even though I have so many opportunities now that I feel overwhelmed instead of excited, I deeply and completely accept how I feel.”
“Even though part of me wants to retreat back to having fewer choices because it felt safer and more familiar, I accept this reaction and I’m open to finding a way forward.”
“Even though I worked so hard to create these opportunities and now I’m frozen by all the possibilities, I honor how I feel and I know I can find clarity.”
Eyebrow: “All these opportunities”
Side of the eye: “I should be thrilled”
Under the eye: “But instead I feel overwhelmed”
Under the nose: “Too many choices”
Under the mouth: “I don’t know which path to take”
Collarbone: “What if I choose wrong?”
Under the arm: “What if I miss out on something better?”
Top of the head: “This abundance of choice is paralyzing me”
Eyebrow: “My nervous system isn’t used to having so many options”
Side of the eye: “It feels unsafe somehow”
Under the eye: “Like I’m stepping into unknown territory”
Under the nose: “Part of me wants to go back to fewer options”
Under the mouth: “At least then I knew what to expect”
Collarbone: “This expansion feels both exciting and terrifying”
Under the arm: “No wonder I feel stuck”
Top of the head: “It’s okay to feel this way”
Eyebrow: “What if I don’t have to figure it all out at once?”
Side of the eye: “What if I can take one step at a time?”
Under the eye: “My nervous system can adjust to this new abundance”
Under the nose: “I can retrain my brain to feel safe with more options”
Under the mouth: “I’m allowed to take my time with these decisions”
Collarbone: “I trust myself to choose wisely”
Under the arm: “These opportunities are a gift, not a burden”
Top of the head: “I can feel peaceful even with all these possibilities”
Take a deep breath and check in with how you’re feeling. Has the overwhelm subsided a bit? Do you feel any shift in your perspective about these opportunities?
A Decision Clarity Framework
Below, I’ve outlined one of the most helpful approaches I’ve found for navigating multiple opportunities. This isn’t about forcing yourself to make a choice right away, but rather about creating the conditions where clarity can naturally emerge.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Separate Exploration from Decision-Making
Set a specific timeframe for just exploring your options without making any decisions. This gives your nervous system permission to relax, knowing you’re not forcing an immediate choice. During this exploration phase, gather information, imagine possibilities, and let yourself freely dream about each opportunity.
Step 2: Connect With Your Core Values and Vision
Ask yourself: Which of these opportunities most closely aligns with my deeper values and vision for my life? Sometimes we get so caught up in weighing practical considerations that we lose sight of what matters most to us.
Try this Tapping sequence to connect with your inner guidance:
Tapping on the side of the hand:
“Even though I’m not sure which opportunity to pursue, I trust that my inner wisdom knows which path aligns most with who I truly am.”
Eyebrow: “What do I truly value most?”
Side of the eye: “Which opportunity feels most aligned with my authentic self?”
Under the eye: “When I imagine each path, which one lights me up the most?”
Under the nose: “If all options could succeed equally, which would I choose?”
Under the mouth: “What would my wisest self advise me to do?”
Collarbone: “I have this wisdom within me”
Under the arm: “I can access it when I get quiet and listen”
Top of the head: “I trust my inner guidance system to lead me”
Step 3: Create a Decision Timeline
Sometimes the pressure to decide “right now” is what creates the paralysis. Instead, create a realistic timeline for when you’ll make your decision. Mark it on your calendar. This boundary can actually create freedom, as your mind knows it doesn’t need to solve everything immediately — and yet it has the comfort in knowing there is a timeline to count on.
Step 4: Use the “Heck Yes or No” Filter
This concept, popularized by author Derek Sivers, suggests that when deciding between opportunities, if it’s not a “heck yes,” it’s a no. While this might seem extreme, it can be incredibly clarifying when you’re overwhelmed with options. Which opportunity makes you think, “Heck yes, I want to do this!”?
Creating Safety in Expansion
One of the most powerful aspects of Tapping is that it helps create a sense of safety even as we expand beyond our comfort zones. When your nervous system feels safe, you can embrace new opportunities without the overwhelm that comes from a triggered stress response.
Try this Tapping sequence specifically designed to help your nervous system feel safe with expansion and abundance:
Tapping on the side of the hand:
“Even though part of me feels unsafe with all these new possibilities, I deeply and completely accept all parts of myself and how I feel.”
Eyebrow: “It’s unfamiliar to have so many opportunities”
Side of the eye: “My nervous system is used to limitations”
Under the eye: “Expansion can feel threatening to my primitive brain”
Under the nose: “But I can teach my body that expansion is safe”
Under the mouth: “I can grow at a pace that feels good to me”
Collarbone: “I don’t have to rush this process”
Under the arm: “My nervous system can adapt to this abundance”
Top of the head: “I can feel safe even as I expand”
Eyebrow: “These opportunities are here because I’m ready for them”
Side of the eye: “I’ve prepared for this expansion”
Under the eye: “I have everything I need to navigate these choices”
Under the nose: “I trust myself to make decisions that honor me”
Under the mouth: “I can embrace abundance without overwhelm”
Collarbone: “Expansion is natural and safe”
Under the arm: “I deserve these opportunities”
Top of the head: “I can feel peaceful and excited at the same time”
“What if uncertainty isn’t something to fear, but rather a space of infinite possibility?”
Making Friends with Uncertainty
At the heart of this “too many opportunities” overwhelm is often our discomfort with uncertainty. We want guarantees that we’re making the “right” choice, that we won’t regret our decision, that we’re maximizing our potential.
But what if uncertainty isn’t something to fear, but rather a space of infinite possibility?
I love how the poet John O’Donohue describes this: “The bright foreground of possibility is restrained by the dark background of uncertainty that the new will be lost to the old. Possibility always involves risk; it is an adventure that seeks to become intimate with the unknown.”
This adventure with the unknown is exactly what you’re embarking on, Amy. And while your primitive brain might interpret this as threatening, your higher self recognizes it as exhilarating.
Try this Tapping sequence to make peace with uncertainty:
Tapping on the side of the hand:
“Even though uncertainty makes me uncomfortable and I want guarantees that I’m making the right choice, I deeply and completely accept myself and how I feel.”
Eyebrow: “This uncomfortable uncertainty”
Side of the eye: “I want to know which choice is best”
Under the eye: “I want to be sure before I decide”
Under the nose: “But life doesn’t offer those guarantees”
Under the mouth: “And that makes me anxious”
Collarbone: “I’ve been trying to control outcomes”
Under the arm: “When actually, that’s not even possible”
Top of the head: “This need for certainty is what’s really blocking me”
Eyebrow: “What if uncertainty isn’t my enemy?”
Side of the eye: “What if it’s actually a field of possibility?”
Under the eye: “What if I don’t need to know everything to move forward?”
Under the nose: “I can take one step and then see what unfolds”
Under the mouth: “I can trust the process of my life”
Collarbone: “I can make friends with uncertainty”
Under the arm: “It means I’m growing beyond my old limits”
Top of the head: “I welcome this new chapter with all its unknowns”
Practical Steps for Moving Forward
Beyond Tapping, here are some practical approaches that can help you navigate this abundance of opportunity:
1. The Micro-Commitment Approach
Instead of feeling you need to fully commit to one path, look for small, reversible steps you can take to explore each opportunity. What’s the smallest action you could take that would give you more information about whether this path is right for you?
2. Create a Personal Board of Directors
Identify 3-5 people whose judgment you trust and who know you well. Share your opportunities with them and listen to their perspective. Sometimes others can see our path more clearly than we can ourselves.
3. The Future Self Check-In
Close your eyes and imagine yourself one year from now, having chosen each of your different options. Which future self seems most alive, balanced, and fulfilled? Sometimes projecting forward can provide clarity that thinking about the present doesn’t.
4. The Body Wisdom Practice
Our bodies often know what’s right for us before our minds do. For each opportunity, close your eyes and fully imagine you’ve chosen that path. Notice your physical response. Does your body feel expansive or contracted? Energized or depleted? Your physical response can provide important clues.
5. The Temporary Decision
Sometimes we get stuck because we think our decisions are permanent. Give yourself permission to make a “temporary decision” — one you’ll revisit in 3 or 6 months. This can free you from the paralysis of thinking you have to get it exactly right the first time.
“This overwhelm you’re experiencing is actually a gift. It’s a sign that you’ve successfully expanded beyond your previous limitations.”
The Gift of Overwhelm
As counterintuitive as it might seem, this overwhelm you’re experiencing is actually a gift. It’s a sign that you’ve successfully expanded beyond your previous limitations. You’ve created space for new possibilities. The discomfort you’re feeling isn’t a sign that something’s wrong — it’s a sign that you’re growing.
This kind of growing pain is different from the pain of constriction. It’s the discomfort of expanding into new territory, of your nervous system adapting to a new level of possibility. And with each expansion, your capacity grows.
The work now isn’t to shrink back to what felt comfortable before. It’s to expand your capacity to hold these possibilities, to make decisions from a place of clarity rather than fear, and to trust yourself in the process.
Moving Forward with Grace
Amy, the fact that you’ve created so many opportunities through Tapping speaks to your commitment to growth and your willingness to move beyond old limitations. That’s something to celebrate!
Now, the invitation is to bring the same tools that helped you create these opportunities to the process of navigating them. Use Tapping to:
- Calm your nervous system when it feels overwhelmed
- Connect with your deeper wisdom when making decisions
- Create a sense of safety as you expand into new territory
- Cultivate trust in yourself and in the unfolding of your path
Remember that this journey isn’t about finding the one “perfect” choice. It’s about learning to navigate expansion with grace, making decisions that honor your authentic self, and trusting that you have the resilience to adjust course if needed.
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke offers wise counsel that seems particularly relevant to your situation:
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Live the questions now, Amy. Tap through the overwhelm. Trust the process. And know that this abundance of opportunity isn’t a problem to solve — it’s a beautiful confirmation that you’re expanding into more of who you truly are.
Looking for more support with decision-making and overwhelm?
- The Tapping Solution App – Features specific guided meditations to help you address overwhelm, choice paralysis, and more! Here are a few meditations in the app I recommend:
- I Trust in My Inner Wisdom to Guide Me – This short Quick Tap is a great one to use before making a decision or whenever you want to connect with your inner wisdom.
- Release Overwhelm – This is a powerful session to help you acknowledge any overwhelm and release it so you can make space for greater insight, clarity, and peace.
- Motivate me to Make a Decision – Sometimes we just need a little motivation! This session is great to help clear away any fear about making a decision, so you can move forward.
- Limiting Belief Buster: I Have to Suffer to be Successful – It’s so powerful to address this limiting belief, and to empower yourself to experience ease in your success!
- I Am Deserving of Success – This is another great Quick Tap to help you connect with a feeling of ease as you experience success and the opportunities it provides.
- I Am Trust – This powerful session can help you feel deeper trust as you navigate opportunities, changes, and more.
- Inner Wisdom and Clarity: Vagus Nerve Toning – This is a great one to help you connect with a sense of peace and to get clarity on how to move forward. It’ll help you strengthen your connection to your inner compass.
Note: You can access these meditations by clicking the links above using your mobile device, or type the name of the meditation into The Tapping Solution App’s search function.
- Find a Certified EFT Practitioner – For personalized guidance on addressing this, if you want more specific and strategic support
I’d love to hear from other readers who have experienced this “too many opportunities” overwhelm. What helped you move through it? Share your experiences in the comments below!
Until next time… Keep Tapping!
Nick Ortner