The weather dropped to 58 degrees the other day and right on cue, my brain went into overdrive.
All of a sudden, I wasn't just enjoying a crisp morning—I was mentally inventorying my entire life for fall and winter.
"I need to swap out my closet, buy sidewalk salt, get new windshield wiper blades on the car, check the tires..."
Where did that even come from? One cool morning, and suddenly I’m holding a new 20-item checklist in my head.📋
You'd think that would mean I'm a person constantly ahead of the game.
But honestly? My clothes from last winter are still hanging in the space where my summer clothes were supposed to go. You know, summer...the season we’re now coming out of.
(Yep. Even coaches have closet confessions. At least I'm ahead of the game for winter now. It's kinda like leaving your Christmas tree up year round.)
Why are we like this? It's all because of "the freeze".
⬇️ Btw, watch instead of reading, or read on below.
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We get one new idea or enter one new season, and instead of taking one manageable step, we generate a massive list of everything we think we "have" to do.
...And then we do none of it. 🤷
When your brain sees a list that long, it sees a mountain to climb.
It gets completely overwhelmed, shuts down, does none of it, and eventually abandons pretty much the whole thing.
So here's a quick key to unfreezing:
- Get it out of your head onto paper: Your brain is meant for having ideas, not storing multiple 20-item lists. Writing it down frees your brain. Does it take a minute? Yes. Will you feel better? Yes. I promise.
- Isolate ONE leading action for this week: Ask yourself, "What is a single, small action step that will get the ball rolling and help me feel like I'm taking ground? Think SMALL. Not "Solve X problem." Maybe just "Book an appointment with ___" or "Write an email to ___ to start a conversation about ___."
- Put the rest on explicit pause: Give yourself permission to ignore items 2 through 10 until that first step is done. Real momentum happens piece by piece, little by little, by taking consistent steps—never all at once.
- Observe: Notice how the ball gets rolling. How doing one thing takes you out of operating in information overload—or an information vacuum—and gives you the fuel to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Take a look at whatever giant list is running through your head right now. What would happen if you gave yourself permission to put 90% of it on pause and do just one aligned step this week?
This is exactly why we take a compassionate pause together once a quarter for a Momentum Reset. To build "rescue" tips like this into repeatable habits so they become a natural part of you, instead of falling back into old ways.
September's live, in-person event for Momentum Reset is sold out, but you can still join us right from your desk for our Momentum Reset Virtual Power Lunch September 15-16-17.
It’s a two-hour block of time over lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday where we hop on live together and work through the same info as the live event.
We’ll clear out the brain clutter and map out your realistic, actually doable next steps, step-by-step, so you can move forward with clarity instead of overwhelm.
Don't buy into the lie that you have to carry that giant to-do list by yourself.
Love doing life with you,
Dawn
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