0:00
Have you ever found yourself staring blankly at a computer screen or paralyzed by an endless to do list in front of you? Or maybe you've had those nights where you're lying awake and your mind's racing with all the things that you should be doing for your business, but you can't seem to start
0:18
or perhaps you're really great at keeping yourself busy, but not on the tasks that are actually going to move your business forward.
0:28
If any of this sounds familiar, then you are in the right place, my friend, because I'm going to dive into how to beat that fear and overwhelm that often leads to procrastination, in other words, staying busy that so many of us solopreneurs face to stick around. Welcome to the ease and impact podcast. I am Frankie j and if you're new here, make sure you hit that follow button, because what I'm about to share may completely transform how you show up in your business. You know, a few years ago, I was where you are now. I was that person who was constantly busy and wearing that like a badge of honor, you know, juggling all those those multiple tasks, feeling productive but not actually moving forward, because at the end of the day, I'd have all these things ticked off my to do list, but then I'd feel deflated as I realized that none of it was actually directly linking to generating more revenue and impact in my business. And here's what I discovered, it wasn't my to do list or even my lack of time. It was something much deeper. What if I told you the very things that you feel are holding you back, the fear, the overwhelm, the procrastination, are actually your biggest opportunities for growth that you were just missing one element. And if you could grab that, you could learn to transform these challenges into your biggest advantages.
1:52
So let's talk about that one thing up front,
1:56
discipline. Now, before you roll your eyes, you know, in a world that we live in where we're obsessed with quick fixes and hustle culture, you know, discipline might sound fairly old fashioned or even boring, but what if discipline wasn't what you think it is? What if it's actually a secret ingredient that successful solopreneurs have been using this whole time? The interesting thing about discipline is it isn't about punishment or rigid routines. But if you grew up around you, know, same age as me, discipline brings, perhaps images of the military or really strict parents or something equally restrictive or punishment based, but it's actually something a lot more powerful. It's about showing up for yourself,
2:40
even when, especially when you don't want to, it's actually a gift you're giving your future self, because without realizing it, you're showing yourself love and respect. And once you understand that everything in your business, your life becomes that little bit easier. There are two ways that I fostered discipline in my life without even realizing it, and these ways I didn't even expect. So the first is my journey through sobriety, and the next is the Shakti mat. So if you don't know what that is, it's a bed of nails. Now I'm going to give you a tip that explains why these two things worked, but these two things both hard and uncomfortable, but each started with small acts of doing so one day at a time, or just five minutes, little by little. Now, while sobriety and a bit of nails may not be what you need, here is one tip as to why these worked and what you can use to start cultivating discipline in your life, and that's to start tiny,
3:42
okay, manageable. Choose one small habit. It could be as simple as making your bed every morning, and do it without fail for 30 days now, I go through four other ways to cultivate discipline inside my free PDF, five ways to beat overwhelm and fear. And you can find a link to that in the show description. And this guide is also going to go even deeper into all of the elements that I'm talking about today, but with discipline now resonating in the back of your minds, I want to go through five additional strategies that really transformed not just my business but my life as well. Strategy number one is what I like to call mastering your mindful minutes. Now you might be thinking, Oh, God, not another meditation kind of talk or lecture, right? But here's the thing, it isn't about achieving a perfect Zen state or sitting in lotus position for hours, and I don't even know what that is, but it's about creating small, powerful moments throughout your day that act as circuit breakers for stress and overwhelm. It doesn't have to be a big commitment either. You can just start with five minutes. Now, if you're like me at all, you might be thinking, I've tried meditating. I can't meditate. My mind races. I can't shut it off. I feel like a failure. You know, meditating just isn't for me. I can't I can't do it. You.
5:00
Well, that was totally my experience, too. I think it's about finding the right teacher to guide you. Now I'm not here to teach you meditation, but I have some suggestions and ways to get you started. And what's worked for me in that free PDF I spoke about earlier. Make sure you grab that in the link in the description to the show. The second strategy is embracing 90 day cycles. Now you know that overwhelming feeling where you have, like, a million ideas buzzing around and you just want to implement them all at once? Well, I heard a great quote once, and I don't know who said it, but it was people overestimate what they can get done in a day and underestimate what they can get done in a year. And I don't know about you, but that completely, completely resonates with me,
5:43
because I will set myself, you know, a project almost, for that, for that day, whether it's gardening, whether it's business, and I'll be like, I'm gonna get this, this, this, this, this all done, And I'll get maybe two of them done,
6:02
and I just feel deflated and like a failure.
6:05
But if I sat back and went well, this is the overall project, and here's the part that I can work on today, knowing that the next six months, the year is there,
6:16
I can go from that overestimating what I do in a day and not underestimating what I can do in a year. So maybe that quote resonates for you as well, but with a 90 day approach, it kind of completely transforms that quote. You don't have to do everything. You focus on one significant project that moves the needle, and because we do it in 90 days, it's long enough to achieve something meaningful, but short enough to maintain that enthusiasm and that focus for it. Strategy number three is what I call creating a flexible work structure. Now, I know those sound like opposing points, flexible and structure, but remember also the discipline I spoke about earlier, that comes into play here, and I'm kind of a rebel against structure. I don't know if you're a bit of a rebel too, but here's where everything changed for me, is realizing that structure actually created the freedom that I was striving for, because with with the right systems in place, I was spending less mental energy on decisions and more on The actual things that matter, and I say flexible because things come up so kids have, you know, school activities on, or they're sick home from school, or there's a good swell coming, because I'm a surfer, and that's the way I sabotage my discipline with swell. But when I know my working structures, and I know my non negotiables and where I can be flexible within that structure, then it creates a space where I can be more adaptive. The fourth strategy tackles with something we all face and at various points throughout our life and our business, and it's limiting beliefs. So you know that voice in the back of your head, that little gremlin that's saying you're not ready or you're not good enough, you know what? If I told you there was a way to transform those thoughts from roadblocks into stepping stones. So it's not about eliminating the thoughts in their entirety, but it's about understanding and having practical tools in place to work through them. So there's one really awesome tool that I love. I find it so powerful, and it's called what ifing. And I go through how to do that inside that free PDF I was speaking about. So definitely you want to check that out. But limiting beliefs,
8:33
when you have the tools they don't have to hold you back. And finally, strategy number five is what I call emergency toolkit for the overwhelming moments. Because let's get real. Even though we have systems in place, overwhelm is going to show up. And it's not about avoiding it completely. It's about having proven strategies that you're ready to deploy when you need it most. And over the last especially two years,
8:59
I've had my fair share of overwhelm, and I figured out what's worked for me, what questions to ask myself, what actions to take, what tools to deploy in order to help myself through those moments. And I've put them all into that free guide for you, all of them. Now I've barely scratched the surface on these strategies today. You know there's so much more, the specific tools, the apps I use the step by step implementations of real world examples, but that's why I've created it in a comprehensive guide. So everything is there for you to download for free with the link in the description. My goal today was to use starting point. Hopefully you have leaving this podcast in a better frame of mind, a better state, knowing that things are possible than when you started? So before we wrap up, I want you to remember something. The fact that you're feeling overwhelmed isn't a sign that you're doing something wrong. It's often a sign that you're ready for the next step in your growth. The question is, are you
9:57
going to step up to embrace it? If this episode resonated with you.
10:00
Make sure you hit that follow button. Download the full guide, and hey, I'd love to hear your questions and your thoughts. Ask me any of your questions in the comments, or leave me your biggest takeaway in the comments as well. What one of the five strategies resonated with you most? Let me know the next episode drops at 10am on Tuesday, New Zealand time. Don't forget that your journey matters. I'm here to support you every step of the way. Just because you're doing it solo does not mean you have to do it alone. All right. Thanks for listening.
