1465 | How to Deal With Overwhelm

About this episode

Carl Richards reflects on managing feelings of overwhelm in a complex world.

In this episode, Carl reflects on what it feels like to live in a world where the list of things that matter seems impossibly large, while the list of things we can actually control feels painfully small. Revisiting one of his earliest sketches, he explores the overlap between concern and agency, and why focusing on the small, local things we can actually do may be one of the most grounding responses to overwhelm, uncertainty, and modern life. Want more from Carl? Get the shortest, most impactful weekly email on the web! Sign up for the Weekly Letter from Certified Financial Planner™ and New York Times columnist Carl Richards here: https://behaviorgap.com/

People in this episode

Host: Carl Richards

Topics covered

• overwhelm
• agency
• concern
• modern life
• uncertainty
• control

Keywords

• overwhelm
• agency
• concern
• control
• modern life
• uncertainty

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, Certified Financial Planner™, Behavior Gap

More episodes of Behavior Gap Radio

• 1478 | You Already Know · June 12, 2026 · 9 min
• 1477 | Feelings Function as Information · June 10, 2026 · 7 min
• 1476 | Without Feeling, Thinking Gets Worse · June 9, 2026 · 5 min
• 1475 | Feelings Are at the Center · June 8, 2026 · 4 min
• 1474 | Financial Planning Begins With Feeling · June 5, 2026 · 9 min
• 1473 | A Partner, Not a Path · June 4, 2026 · 3 min