As a professional, you should anticipate hitting the wall a few times in your career. You know—the times you find yourself running from one thing to the next, overwhelmed and frazzled, just barely keeping your nose above water. Your life and work are hectic; a never-let-up pace of meeting client demands, firm responsibilities and personal obligations. And it they may last for many months or even years. This is perfectly normal and should be expected.

The question isn’t that you periodically hit it, or whether it’s fair or right. The question is how you handle it—and that depends on what you’re thinking.

So rather than engage in a lengthy discussion, I’ll cut to the chase. Every wall you hit is about you and your resistance to change. I know you think it’s because of the volume of work, or the complexity of the problems, or the unreasonableness of clients, or the firm’s outrageous expectations, or whatever. It’s not. Those elements only create an environment where you have to approach things differently. But you’d rather have the promotion, compensation and stature while still working as you did when you began your career.

For instance, you really resist being responsible for projects when you’re not in control. So instead of empowering others and holding them to the same high standards you expect from yourself, you stress about what to do when they don’t come through. In order to avoid the uncomfortable situation, you just do it yourself. It’s no wonder you’re overwhelmed and frazzled.

Or, you agonize over making decisions when you don’t have all the information. So instead of making a decision and moving on, you stress over all the what-ifs and what-abouts to the point you become paralyzed. It’s no wonder you’re overwhelmed and frazzled.

This week, make it a point to learn from those who have been through it. They have figured out that the volume and complexity won’t end and have changed their thinking to continue their effectiveness and their sanity.