23. Procrastination Tips: Push Through Resistance & Get Things Done
Scheduling is one thing, but actually following through is where the real magic happens. When you’ve finally carved out some time from your busy schedule, do you sit down to work on your business, only to find yourself reorganizing the kitchen, cleaning out your closet, or calling each of your friends individually?
Well, guess what? That's not a sign from the universe telling you to give up. It's actually your golden ticket to success, if you know how to use it. It’s time to dive into the world of resistance so you can see that your pesky procrastination is actually your secret superpower for building the business and life you’ve always dreamed of.
Tune in this week for a deeper understanding of what resistance really is and why it shows up, all framed around Steven Pressfield’s book: The War of Art, which I recommend to everyone. I give you actionable strategies to push through resistance and get things done, and I share five simple, practical shifts that have made a massive impact for me and the moms I work with in embracing procrastination.
If you're looking for the right environment to start your networking journey, look no further than my group, the Mom Entrepreneurs Circle. Sign up below for mutual support, advice sharing, and the tools you need for both you and your business to thrive. We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month and participation is totally free!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why feelings of resistance are actually a sign that you're on the right track.
How to recognize common forms of resistance like guilt, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.
The importance of creating a sacred space, establishing a routine, and finding accountability.
3 strategies for addressing resistance before it strikes.
Why celebrating small wins is crucial for building momentum and positive associations with your work.
5 techniques for dealing with the overwhelm of resistance in the moment.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
Click here for step-by-step instructions to leave a rating and review to let me know what you think, and don’t forget to share the podcast with others who you think would benefit!
7. The Transformative Power of Networking for Mom Entrepreneurs
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead by Tara Mohr
Full Episode Transcript:
You know that feeling when you finally carve out some precious time to work on your business only to find yourself suddenly fascinated by the dust bunnies under your couch? Well, guess what? That’s not a sign from the universe telling you to give up. It’s actually your golden ticket to success if you know how to use it. Today we’re diving into the world of resistance and I’m going to show you how to turn that pesky procrastination into your secret superpower for building the business and life you’ve always dreamed of.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hi, mom friends, can you believe we’ve made it this far? I hope you’ve been able to follow along on the podcast and take action in your business. Personally, I’m really proud of the consistency I’ve maintained over these past few months. Even through my maternity leave, I carved out a lot of time pre maternity leave to plan and record episodes so that I could focus on my family and it was a huge commitment. It just goes to show that when we commit to something, amazing things can happen even in the midst of life’s biggest transitions.
Now let’s talk about something that every single one of us faces on this entrepreneurial journey, resistance. And you know what I’m talking about. It’s that mysterious force that seems to pop up every time you’re about to do something important for your business. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that you need to reorganize your entire kitchen before you can possibly write that email sequence. Or perhaps you’ve suddenly remembered every single friend you haven’t called in the last year right when you were about to work on your website copy. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in excellent company.
Today we’re going to dive into this universal experience of resistance inspired by Steven Pressfield’s game changing book The War of Art. I recommend this book to my clients all the time because it’s such a powerful tool for understanding and overcoming the obstacles that stand between us and our dreams. By the end of this episode, you’ll not only understand what resistance really is and why it shows up, but you’ll also have practical, actionable strategies to push through it and get things done.
There are five simple and practical shifts that I’ll share that have worked for me and the moms I work with. So, stick with me here because I know I talk a lot about the power of scheduling. Episode 18 and 12 do a beautiful job of giving you the tools to organize and schedule all the things we need to accomplish in our life and business. But the biggest question I receive after people start implementing these tips is, now how do I actually do it when the time comes? We then have to actually follow through and do the thing we scheduled in order for all of this to really work and I know for all of us, resistance is our nemesis.
Let’s start by unpacking what Steven Pressfield calls resistance in The War of Art. Now, I want you to picture resistance as this sneaky shape shifting creature that lives in all of us. It’s like that mischievous toddler who always seems to know exactly when you’re about to hop on an important call. Suddenly they need a snack, a diaper change, and to show you their latest grand masterpiece all at once.
Pressfield defines resistance as the invisible internal force that rises up against any creative endeavor or personal growth. It’s that voice in your head saying, “You can do this tomorrow, or who do you think you are to start a business.” It’s the sudden urge to clean out your closet when you should be working on your business plan. And here’s the kicker, resistance is actually a really good sign. It means you’re onto something important. Pressfield argues that the more resistance you feel towards a task or goal, the more vital it is to your personal growth and success. It’s like a compass pointing you towards what truly matters.
But here’s where it gets tricky for us moms, we are masters at juggling a million things. We can change a diaper while on a conference call and somehow remember to order more diapers at the same time. So, when we feel resistance towards working on our business, it’s really easy to rationalize it away. I should really focus on the laundry right now or my kids need me more than my business does. This is where we need to pause and recognize resistance for what it is. It’s not a sign that your business isn’t important or that you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur.
It’s actually a sign that you’re on the right track, that you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and into growth. Pressfield talks about professionals versus amateurs. Professionals, he says, show up every day, no matter what. They know resistance will be there and they do the work anyway. Amateurs, on the other hand, let resistance win. They wait for inspiration or the perfect moment. So, my fellow mom entrepreneurs or aspiring mom entrepreneurs, it’s time for us to put on our professional hats.
Recognize that resistance is part of the process. It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, it means you’re doing something right. The next time you feel that urge to alphabetize your spice rack instead of working on your business plan, smile to yourself and say, “Hello, resistance. I see you, but I’m not letting you win today.”
On that note, there is another great book that I love called Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead by Tara Mohr. And she recommends actually naming feelings like resistance and fear in order to sort of name it to tame it. It’s a psychological tool. So, when you’re having your conversation with resistance, give it a name. Make it fun and something that you can joke about. It really does help diffuse the power of the emotion. And of course, I’ll add links to both of these book resources in the show notes, so be sure to check them out.
Now that we understand what resistance is, let’s talk about why it’s so common for us moms who are venturing into entrepreneurship, because let me tell you, if you’re feeling resistance, you are in great company. Think about it, as moms we’re already juggling so many roles, we’re chefs, chauffeurs, nurses, teachers and sometimes it feels like we’re running a small country from our living room. And now we’re adding entrepreneur to that list. Of course, resistance is going to show up.
Even the most successful mom entrepreneurs feel resistance. That polished Instagram mom who seems to have it all together, she battles resistance too. The difference is she’s learned to recognize it and push through it. So, let’s break down some common forms of resistance that we face as mom entrepreneurs so that you can see it coming and recognize it. The first one is the guilt trip. This is when resistance whispers, you should be spending more time with your kids instead of working on your business. Remember, by pursuing your dreams, you’re setting a powerful example for your kids.
The second is impostor syndrome. We all know and love impostor syndrome. It’s the who am I to start a business, I’m just a mom. Or who am I to start a business, I’ve always worked in corporate. This is resistance trying to keep you small. But your experiences as a mom and as a corporate employee are actually a superpower in business. And I know I’ve talked about that countless times on this podcast.
The third is the perfectionism trap. This is when resistance whispers, I can’t launch until everything is perfect and of course it will never be perfect. And like I always say, done is better than perfect.
The next one I want to bring up is the time excuse. So, this is resistance whispering, I don’t have time to work on my business. And this is actually resistance in disguise because we make time for what’s important to us. So, if building a life and business you love is important to you, you absolutely will make time for it, just like you make time for all the tee-ball practices and dance recitals and all of that really fun stuff for your kiddos.
The last form of resistance that I want to mention is the comparison game. This is when resistance whispers, look at how much progress other mom entrepreneurs are making or other entrepreneurs in general, I’m so far behind. Remember, you’re seeing their highlight reel not their behind the scenes. And don’t compare your start to somebody else’s middle or end. They went through all the same resistance struggles that you’re going through now. And like I said before, they still have those resistance struggles. They have just figured out a way to power through them.
Now, here’s the important part, fearing these forms of resistance doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for entrepreneurship. It means you’re human and more importantly, it means you’re pushing yourself to grow. So, I want you to try something. Next time you sit down to work on your business and feel resistance creeping in, just pause for a moment, take a deep breath and say to yourself, this resistance means I’m doing something important. It means I’m growing. Then do one small task, just one. Maybe it’s sending an email or brainstorming product names for just five minutes.
And by doing this, you’re training your brain to push through resistance, you’re building that resistance muscle. And let me tell you, as someone who’s been on this journey and worked with countless mom entrepreneurs, that muscle gets stronger every time you use it. Resistance is not a stop sign. It’s a proceed with awareness sign at best. It’s your invitation to step into your power as a mom entrepreneur. So, the next time you feel it, smile and say, “Challenge accepted.”
Okay, now that we’ve identified resistance and normalized it, we are all dealing with it, let’s arm ourselves with some practical tools to overcome it. These are strategies that I’ve gathered from The War of Art, other authors, and really my own experience working with mom entrepreneurs. Before you even get to a point where you’re sitting down and tackling the resistance in the moment, which we’ll talk about in just a minute. There are a few things that I want you to do to set yourself up for success in advance.
Number one, create a sacred space, designate a specific area for your business work, even if it’s just a corner of your dining table. This physical space becomes a trigger for your brain to switch into business mode. So, try and make it special. Add a plant, a motivational quote or a picture that reminds you of your why.
The second thing is I want you to establish a routine. Pressfield talks about the importance of showing up every day. So, create a business routine that fits into your mom life. Maybe it’s waking up 30 minutes before the kids to work on your most important tasks, or dedicating your lunch break to your business. Maybe it’s an hour or two every Saturday morning that you post up at a coffee shop and enjoy your favorite drink and hunker down on the work. Consistency can be such a powerful tool here. So, the second thing is, establish a routine.
The third, and I’ve talked about this before too is, create accountability. I’m always talking about accountability. It’s one of the main pillars of my coaching program, which of course coaching is all about accountability. But even if you don’t commit to a business coach for accountability, you can create your own. If you’ve been networking like I recommend in episode seven, you’ve probably met some amazing business mom buddies. Ask someone to meet with you each week or biweekly to check in on tasks or projects.
Knowing someone is expecting you to show up can be a powerful motivator. I have a business buddy that I meet with for two hours every Friday morning from 8:00 to 10:00am. And we sit in a Zoom room on mute and work on content development. So many of these episodes and my emails have come from that time. Her and I chat for maybe five or ten minutes and then we get to work and I love, love, love it.
Shout out to my business buddy, Shandra, who is a health and vitality coach. She helps women business owners over 38 realign their body, mind and emotions. And she also hosts a free monthly table talk that opens up transparent conversation around women’s health and what’s normal and what’s absolutely not normal. So, I’ll link to her info in the show notes. If you’re struggling with exhaustion, mystery illnesses, or just want to connect with other seasoned female business owners, go to jenna.coach/23.
I also wanted to mention her just because that’s another networking opportunity. So, for anyone out there who is still in the, I don’t know where to find people to network with land, that’s another really great link to follow. Now, when resistance is staring you in the face, or rather, the laundry is staring you in the face at the exact moment you sit down to reach out to those potential clients. There are a few things I recommend doing in the moment. So, the strategies I just talked about were how to set yourself up for success before the moment. These are five strategies that help you in the moment when resistance is most difficult to deal with.
Number one is start small. When resistance feels overwhelming, commit to just five minutes of work. I know I talked about that briefly earlier. Often you’ll find that once you start, you’ll want to keep going. It’s like tricking resistance. It’s you telling yourself, I’m just going to work for five minutes and that often turns into an hour of productive work. You get into a groove. It feels great.
The second is the five second rule. So, this comes from Mel Robbins and it’s brilliantly simple. When you feel resistance, count backwards from five to one then take immediate physical action. It could be opening up your laptop, picking up your pen, or standing up if you work at a standing desk. This technique interrupts the habit of hesitation and activates your prefrontal cortex, which helps you push past resistance. Which is connected to the third tip that I have, which is doing a physical reset, stand up, stretch, or do a quick set of jumping jacks. The physical movement can reset your mental state and energize you to start working.
The fourth tip is the all or nothing approach and this isn’t an official name. But it’s a concept that I want to bring up and talk about because I think it’s super helpful. Let’s say you have an hour set aside to write a proposal, and you sit down and really don’t want to do it. The all or nothing is simply that if you don’t do the proposal, you commit to doing nothing else during that time. Chances are you’ll get bored and decide to just go ahead and work on it even though you don’t feel like it. This one takes some mental strength, but I love it because it gives us an out that we can take. We can sit there and do nothing and stare at our screen, or we can work on the thing we planned.
The fifth tip I have is to celebrate small wins. At the end of each work session, no matter how short, acknowledge what you’ve accomplished. This builds momentum and positive association with your work. Sometimes I also recommend having some sort of treat at the end of a session that you decide ahead of time. I do things like plan a walk, to listen to my favorite podcast, or honestly sometimes I eat Oreos when I’m done with a work session. When you have something to look forward to at the end, a little prize for yourself, it makes it more fun.
These strategies are all about taking immediate action to overcome that initial resistance. Remember, the hardest part is often just starting. Once you’re in motion, it’s much easier to stay in motion. I encourage you to experiment with these techniques and find the one that resonates with you and keep them in your resistance busting toolkit. The key is to have multiple strategies at your disposal, because what works one day might not work the next.
Remember, every time you push through resistance, you’re strengthening that muscle. You’re proving to yourself that you can do hard things. And let me tell you, as moms, we’re already experts at doing hard things.
Okay, so to recap what we’ve gone over today. First, we’ve really defined resistance as that internal force that rises up against any creative or growth oriented endeavor. And remember, resistance is actually a sign that you’re on the right track. We’ve also normalized resistance. Those feelings of guilt, impostor syndrome, perfectionism, they’re all common forms of resistance. Feeling them doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for this, it means you’re human and you’re growing.
The third thing we’ve talked about was arming ourselves with practical strategies to overcome resistance, both before you sit down to work and in the heat of the moment when you’re noticing everything else that’s more important, that just needs to absolutely get done at that moment.
The key takeaway here is this. Resistance is not your enemy. It’s a natural part of a creative process. It’s a sign that you’re pushing yourself to grow. By recognizing it, normalizing it, and having strategies to work through it, you’re actually setting yourself up for success in your long term entrepreneurial journey.
Now, here’s what I want you to do. This week I challenge you to schedule some real focus time on your calendar for your business. And if you’re sitting there like, what the heck is focus time. Please go back and listen to episode 18, go to jenna.coach/18. Before you sit down for that focus time session, make sure you’ve created a sacred space, some sort of routine, and have called on someone for accountability. Then when you sit down for that focus time session, notice the resistance that comes up. Don’t judge it, just observe it. Then use one of the five strategies I mentioned to push through it and do what you had planned even though you want to do everything but what you had planned.
Remember, building a business is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Every small step you take, every moment of resistance you overcome is bringing you closer to your goals. Be sure to tune in next week because I’ll be talking about free work and all the pros and cons that come with it. I get a lot of questions about whether we should give away our expertise for free when we’re starting out and I do in fact have strong opinions about this so be sure to catch that episode.
Until then, keep showing up, keep pushing through that resistance and keep building the life and business you love. You’re doing amazing things and I’m so proud of you. I will see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hi, mom friends, can you believe we’ve made it this far? I hope you’ve been able to follow along on the podcast and take action in your business. Personally, I’m really proud of the consistency I’ve maintained over these past few months. Even through my maternity leave, I carved out a lot of time pre maternity leave to plan and record episodes so that I could focus on my family and it was a huge commitment. It just goes to show that when we commit to something, amazing things can happen even in the midst of life’s biggest transitions.
Now let’s talk about something that every single one of us faces on this entrepreneurial journey, resistance. And you know what I’m talking about. It’s that mysterious force that seems to pop up every time you’re about to do something important for your business. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that you need to reorganize your entire kitchen before you can possibly write that email sequence. Or perhaps you’ve suddenly remembered every single friend you haven’t called in the last year right when you were about to work on your website copy. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in excellent company.
Today we’re going to dive into this universal experience of resistance inspired by Steven Pressfield’s game changing book The War of Art. I recommend this book to my clients all the time because it’s such a powerful tool for understanding and overcoming the obstacles that stand between us and our dreams. By the end of this episode, you’ll not only understand what resistance really is and why it shows up, but you’ll also have practical, actionable strategies to push through it and get things done.
There are five simple and practical shifts that I’ll share that have worked for me and the moms I work with. So, stick with me here because I know I talk a lot about the power of scheduling. Episode 18 and 12 do a beautiful job of giving you the tools to organize and schedule all the things we need to accomplish in our life and business. But the biggest question I receive after people start implementing these tips is, now how do I actually do it when the time comes? We then have to actually follow through and do the thing we scheduled in order for all of this to really work and I know for all of us, resistance is our nemesis.
Let’s start by unpacking what Steven Pressfield calls resistance in The War of Art. Now, I want you to picture resistance as this sneaky shape shifting creature that lives in all of us. It’s like that mischievous toddler who always seems to know exactly when you’re about to hop on an important call. Suddenly they need a snack, a diaper change, and to show you their latest grand masterpiece all at once.
Pressfield defines resistance as the invisible internal force that rises up against any creative endeavor or personal growth. It’s that voice in your head saying, “You can do this tomorrow, or who do you think you are to start a business.” It’s the sudden urge to clean out your closet when you should be working on your business plan. And here’s the kicker, resistance is actually a really good sign. It means you’re onto something important. Pressfield argues that the more resistance you feel towards a task or goal, the more vital it is to your personal growth and success. It’s like a compass pointing you towards what truly matters.
But here’s where it gets tricky for us moms, we are masters at juggling a million things. We can change a diaper while on a conference call and somehow remember to order more diapers at the same time. So, when we feel resistance towards working on our business, it’s really easy to rationalize it away. I should really focus on the laundry right now or my kids need me more than my business does. This is where we need to pause and recognize resistance for what it is. It’s not a sign that your business isn’t important or that you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur.
It’s actually a sign that you’re on the right track, that you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and into growth. Pressfield talks about professionals versus amateurs. Professionals, he says, show up every day, no matter what. They know resistance will be there and they do the work anyway. Amateurs, on the other hand, let resistance win. They wait for inspiration or the perfect moment. So, my fellow mom entrepreneurs or aspiring mom entrepreneurs, it’s time for us to put on our professional hats.
Recognize that resistance is part of the process. It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, it means you’re doing something right. The next time you feel that urge to alphabetize your spice rack instead of working on your business plan, smile to yourself and say, “Hello, resistance. I see you, but I’m not letting you win today.”
On that note, there is another great book that I love called Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead by Tara Mohr. And she recommends actually naming feelings like resistance and fear in order to sort of name it to tame it. It’s a psychological tool. So, when you’re having your conversation with resistance, give it a name. Make it fun and something that you can joke about. It really does help diffuse the power of the emotion. And of course, I’ll add links to both of these book resources in the show notes, so be sure to check them out.
Now that we understand what resistance is, let’s talk about why it’s so common for us moms who are venturing into entrepreneurship, because let me tell you, if you’re feeling resistance, you are in great company. Think about it, as moms we’re already juggling so many roles, we’re chefs, chauffeurs, nurses, teachers and sometimes it feels like we’re running a small country from our living room. And now we’re adding entrepreneur to that list. Of course, resistance is going to show up.
Even the most successful mom entrepreneurs feel resistance. That polished Instagram mom who seems to have it all together, she battles resistance too. The difference is she’s learned to recognize it and push through it. So, let’s break down some common forms of resistance that we face as mom entrepreneurs so that you can see it coming and recognize it. The first one is the guilt trip. This is when resistance whispers, you should be spending more time with your kids instead of working on your business. Remember, by pursuing your dreams, you’re setting a powerful example for your kids.
The second is impostor syndrome. We all know and love impostor syndrome. It’s the who am I to start a business, I’m just a mom. Or who am I to start a business, I’ve always worked in corporate. This is resistance trying to keep you small. But your experiences as a mom and as a corporate employee are actually a superpower in business. And I know I’ve talked about that countless times on this podcast.
The third is the perfectionism trap. This is when resistance whispers, I can’t launch until everything is perfect and of course it will never be perfect. And like I always say, done is better than perfect.
The next one I want to bring up is the time excuse. So, this is resistance whispering, I don’t have time to work on my business. And this is actually resistance in disguise because we make time for what’s important to us. So, if building a life and business you love is important to you, you absolutely will make time for it, just like you make time for all the tee-ball practices and dance recitals and all of that really fun stuff for your kiddos.
The last form of resistance that I want to mention is the comparison game. This is when resistance whispers, look at how much progress other mom entrepreneurs are making or other entrepreneurs in general, I’m so far behind. Remember, you’re seeing their highlight reel not their behind the scenes. And don’t compare your start to somebody else’s middle or end. They went through all the same resistance struggles that you’re going through now. And like I said before, they still have those resistance struggles. They have just figured out a way to power through them.
Now, here’s the important part, fearing these forms of resistance doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for entrepreneurship. It means you’re human and more importantly, it means you’re pushing yourself to grow. So, I want you to try something. Next time you sit down to work on your business and feel resistance creeping in, just pause for a moment, take a deep breath and say to yourself, this resistance means I’m doing something important. It means I’m growing. Then do one small task, just one. Maybe it’s sending an email or brainstorming product names for just five minutes.
And by doing this, you’re training your brain to push through resistance, you’re building that resistance muscle. And let me tell you, as someone who’s been on this journey and worked with countless mom entrepreneurs, that muscle gets stronger every time you use it. Resistance is not a stop sign. It’s a proceed with awareness sign at best. It’s your invitation to step into your power as a mom entrepreneur. So, the next time you feel it, smile and say, “Challenge accepted.”
Okay, now that we’ve identified resistance and normalized it, we are all dealing with it, let’s arm ourselves with some practical tools to overcome it. These are strategies that I’ve gathered from The War of Art, other authors, and really my own experience working with mom entrepreneurs. Before you even get to a point where you’re sitting down and tackling the resistance in the moment, which we’ll talk about in just a minute. There are a few things that I want you to do to set yourself up for success in advance.
Number one, create a sacred space, designate a specific area for your business work, even if it’s just a corner of your dining table. This physical space becomes a trigger for your brain to switch into business mode. So, try and make it special. Add a plant, a motivational quote or a picture that reminds you of your why.
The second thing is I want you to establish a routine. Pressfield talks about the importance of showing up every day. So, create a business routine that fits into your mom life. Maybe it’s waking up 30 minutes before the kids to work on your most important tasks, or dedicating your lunch break to your business. Maybe it’s an hour or two every Saturday morning that you post up at a coffee shop and enjoy your favorite drink and hunker down on the work. Consistency can be such a powerful tool here. So, the second thing is, establish a routine.
The third, and I’ve talked about this before too is, create accountability. I’m always talking about accountability. It’s one of the main pillars of my coaching program, which of course coaching is all about accountability. But even if you don’t commit to a business coach for accountability, you can create your own. If you’ve been networking like I recommend in episode seven, you’ve probably met some amazing business mom buddies. Ask someone to meet with you each week or biweekly to check in on tasks or projects.
Knowing someone is expecting you to show up can be a powerful motivator. I have a business buddy that I meet with for two hours every Friday morning from 8:00 to 10:00am. And we sit in a Zoom room on mute and work on content development. So many of these episodes and my emails have come from that time. Her and I chat for maybe five or ten minutes and then we get to work and I love, love, love it.
Shout out to my business buddy, Shandra, who is a health and vitality coach. She helps women business owners over 38 realign their body, mind and emotions. And she also hosts a free monthly table talk that opens up transparent conversation around women’s health and what’s normal and what’s absolutely not normal. So, I’ll link to her info in the show notes. If you’re struggling with exhaustion, mystery illnesses, or just want to connect with other seasoned female business owners, go to jenna.coach/23.
I also wanted to mention her just because that’s another networking opportunity. So, for anyone out there who is still in the, I don’t know where to find people to network with land, that’s another really great link to follow. Now, when resistance is staring you in the face, or rather, the laundry is staring you in the face at the exact moment you sit down to reach out to those potential clients. There are a few things I recommend doing in the moment. So, the strategies I just talked about were how to set yourself up for success before the moment. These are five strategies that help you in the moment when resistance is most difficult to deal with.
Number one is start small. When resistance feels overwhelming, commit to just five minutes of work. I know I talked about that briefly earlier. Often you’ll find that once you start, you’ll want to keep going. It’s like tricking resistance. It’s you telling yourself, I’m just going to work for five minutes and that often turns into an hour of productive work. You get into a groove. It feels great.
The second is the five second rule. So, this comes from Mel Robbins and it’s brilliantly simple. When you feel resistance, count backwards from five to one then take immediate physical action. It could be opening up your laptop, picking up your pen, or standing up if you work at a standing desk. This technique interrupts the habit of hesitation and activates your prefrontal cortex, which helps you push past resistance. Which is connected to the third tip that I have, which is doing a physical reset, stand up, stretch, or do a quick set of jumping jacks. The physical movement can reset your mental state and energize you to start working.
The fourth tip is the all or nothing approach and this isn’t an official name. But it’s a concept that I want to bring up and talk about because I think it’s super helpful. Let’s say you have an hour set aside to write a proposal, and you sit down and really don’t want to do it. The all or nothing is simply that if you don’t do the proposal, you commit to doing nothing else during that time. Chances are you’ll get bored and decide to just go ahead and work on it even though you don’t feel like it. This one takes some mental strength, but I love it because it gives us an out that we can take. We can sit there and do nothing and stare at our screen, or we can work on the thing we planned.
The fifth tip I have is to celebrate small wins. At the end of each work session, no matter how short, acknowledge what you’ve accomplished. This builds momentum and positive association with your work. Sometimes I also recommend having some sort of treat at the end of a session that you decide ahead of time. I do things like plan a walk, to listen to my favorite podcast, or honestly sometimes I eat Oreos when I’m done with a work session. When you have something to look forward to at the end, a little prize for yourself, it makes it more fun.
These strategies are all about taking immediate action to overcome that initial resistance. Remember, the hardest part is often just starting. Once you’re in motion, it’s much easier to stay in motion. I encourage you to experiment with these techniques and find the one that resonates with you and keep them in your resistance busting toolkit. The key is to have multiple strategies at your disposal, because what works one day might not work the next.
Remember, every time you push through resistance, you’re strengthening that muscle. You’re proving to yourself that you can do hard things. And let me tell you, as moms, we’re already experts at doing hard things.
Okay, so to recap what we’ve gone over today. First, we’ve really defined resistance as that internal force that rises up against any creative or growth oriented endeavor. And remember, resistance is actually a sign that you’re on the right track. We’ve also normalized resistance. Those feelings of guilt, impostor syndrome, perfectionism, they’re all common forms of resistance. Feeling them doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for this, it means you’re human and you’re growing.
The third thing we’ve talked about was arming ourselves with practical strategies to overcome resistance, both before you sit down to work and in the heat of the moment when you’re noticing everything else that’s more important, that just needs to absolutely get done at that moment.
The key takeaway here is this. Resistance is not your enemy. It’s a natural part of a creative process. It’s a sign that you’re pushing yourself to grow. By recognizing it, normalizing it, and having strategies to work through it, you’re actually setting yourself up for success in your long term entrepreneurial journey.
Now, here’s what I want you to do. This week I challenge you to schedule some real focus time on your calendar for your business. And if you’re sitting there like, what the heck is focus time. Please go back and listen to episode 18, go to jenna.coach/18. Before you sit down for that focus time session, make sure you’ve created a sacred space, some sort of routine, and have called on someone for accountability. Then when you sit down for that focus time session, notice the resistance that comes up. Don’t judge it, just observe it. Then use one of the five strategies I mentioned to push through it and do what you had planned even though you want to do everything but what you had planned.
Remember, building a business is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Every small step you take, every moment of resistance you overcome is bringing you closer to your goals. Be sure to tune in next week because I’ll be talking about free work and all the pros and cons that come with it. I get a lot of questions about whether we should give away our expertise for free when we’re starting out and I do in fact have strong opinions about this so be sure to catch that episode.
Until then, keep showing up, keep pushing through that resistance and keep building the life and business you love. You’re doing amazing things and I’m so proud of you. I will see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
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