002: My Go-To Strategies to Stop Procrastinating and Start Planning!

Hey, have you heard the news? There is a new style of CEO on the block, the modern CEO. And she is changing the way businesses are run. She's setting her own hours and her own salary. She's creating a business around what matters most to her. Freedom, impact, and family. Her corner office looks nothing like what you'd see on Wall Street. It's a kitchen table, your grandma's lakehous, a spacious home office, the living room floor surrounded by kids, and in my case, baby dolls or the local coffee shop. Your business, your way. This modern CEO is here to stay. Hey, it isn't always going to be easy, and Lord knows it isn't always pretty. But it's a lot more fun when we're in it together. And I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to the Modern CEO podcast. Hello. Hello. Welcome to episode two of the Modern CEO podcast. I'm your host, Amber McHugh, and I am so excited to be here with you. If you listen to the first episode, you know we were talking about resistance and I had massive resistance to launching this baby. I had massive resistance to launching this podcast. So if you haven't listened to that episode yet and you are experiencing a little bit of resistance to putting something big in the world, also, you might want to check that episode out, because in this episode we're going to build on that and we're going to talk about how do you actually get in action and stay in action when you are experiencing that resistance? And we're going to dive deep into how we do that. How do you avoid Netflix and all the distractions that could come with that? Or, oh, maybe I just need to walk over there to the juice to get another juice. Then I'll start, Then I'll be ready to dig into the podcast episode. And I've got to tell you, I recorded that first episode. Oh, I can't even count how many times I recorded that first episode before I said, fine, it's fine. Just go, just run with it. Because there was so much resistance. Like lots of sweaty palms when I was going through that and a little bit of anxiety in my chest, but it is out there. And guys, I gotta tell you, I'm feeling less resistance as we move into episode two. Woo. Woo. That's something to celebrate. And, you know, proof's in the pudding once you get started on something, right? So often the most difficult step to take is the first step. So that's why I try to make that first step as easy as possible. And in this episode, we're going to talk not only about the first steps, but we're going to talk about how do you get in action on all of the steps when you are feeling resistance, you know, the first thing that it may be good to call out is what does resistance look like for you? Because you have to know when you are doing something or rather when you are not doing something because you are experiencing resistance and just procrastinating as a result of that. And sometimes there is a decision, you might make a strategic change in your business to decide not to do something. So you would put it off. And that's okay, right? There are times in our business where we make a plan and we decide that we are gonna do something, but things change. So we change our plans, we change our mind. But guys, there are other times when we don't change our mind when we're still going to do this thing, but we just put it off. And that's what I wanna talk about today. So what does it look like when you are putting it off? And let me give you some examples. For me, that looks like watching some shows on Netflix or Hulu. I love all the new shows Hulu is coming out with. I would love to hear and catch up with you if you are watching any of them at the Path. I have a lot of fun watching. Oh, and I can't remember the name of it right now, but there is one about the psychics. Might just be called the psychics, I'm not sure, but the psychics. Good stuff, Good stuff. I love what they're putting out there. And in the last episode I mentioned some of my Netflix favorites. But I know sometimes I will sit down and enjoy a show because it is time to relax. But then there are other times when I use it as resistance. I use it as a crutch to keep me in that space of feeling safe and not doing the thing that I am nervous about doing. So keep an eye out if you also anybody else, any other Netflix or Hulu watchers there that use that for resistance. You know, for me, it also feels like when I'm spinning, I'm kind of spinning in my head. Head. I'm bouncing around. What should I do? What should I do? Oh, I should go over here and check Facebook. Oh, I gotta check into my clients. Oh, I've gotta email this thing to so and so. I can find any number of things to do. I mean, I will even do laundry over doing a podcast episode when I was in that space of resistance. And I don't really like to do laundry. Another feeling I experience when I'm feeling resistance is having lack of confidence. I don't know if I can do this. Will it be any good? You know, I shared in the last episodes, I'm too late to this party. How will I differentiate, right? All of these questions come up, and sometimes that's good because it helps you create something new in the market. But if you dwell in that space too long, it pulls, pulls, pulls you down. The other thing that sometimes comes up for me is an unknowing, right? An unknowing of what to do. So taking that first baby step, taking the smallest step, is sometimes the best thing you can do to get your confidence back up, to prove, hey, you can do this. And number two, once you take the first step, the next step will likely be revealed to you. And I've got some ideas on what some of your first steps might be. And I know that I have success in moving away from resistance and getting into action when I have knowing again, that, yeah, this is exactly what you need to be doing when I am in action. So as long as I'm in action, I am good. I am good on this thing. There's a belief that this will happen, right? This is what success and progress look like in the face of resistance. And I also have a clear goal outlined. And for me, very specifically and very clearly, the goal around, for example, launching this podcast was simply to launch the podcast. I'm. I am a big believer in tying metrics to your goals. But more than that, I want goals to be measurable. So you can look at a goal and say, hey, I did that, and we will know, right? We can measure against. Is that podcast launched? You know, we can measure against that goal. Our goal is to launch the podcast. We can identify that it was or wasn't launched, and we know that we've met that goal. So it feels great. That is what success looks like. So I want that goal defined first. So now you've identified personally, you know, what does resistance look like to me? So you have some red flags in your mind and you know, when, like, whoa, I'm a little bit off track here. And then contrast it with, what does success look like for you? What does success look like for you when you're moving away from resistance and closer to your soul's calling and your vision and that thing you need to be doing. Now, another. I know some people get caught up on goals, but I wanna share with you another couple of reasons why I think it's so important to set A goal for the project that you are working on for that thing that you are bringing to life now. Number one, and because I am all about your happiness, one of the first things that I wanna call out is that people who are working toward a meaningful goal are generally happier. So positive psychology shows this. So I am all about it. Like, okay, that is something really small I can do. And I know, I personally feel more fulfilled when I do have a meaningful goal I'm working toward. I don't feel good when I'm sitting around all day binging on Netflix. I feel great when I am productive and I'm contributing and I'm working toward a meaningful goal and I'm serving my clients. So. And the research backs us up. So, number one, if you are feeling resistance to even creating that goal, know that it makes people happier to have and work toward a meaningful goal. Number two, the other reason I want you to have a goal in place as the first start to kick starting and getting in action on that thing that you are working on next is that it jumpstarts the manifesting process. When you lay out your goal so clearly that you know what you're going to do, you know when you're going to do it by, you know what you're going to give to receive and achieve this goal, and you know what it looks like to have accomplished that goal. It's measurable. The manifesting process is kickstarted. Because you have set the intention. I personally recommend that you post that goal front and center, a place where you can look at it all the time, and it sort of starts to become ingrained into your subconscious and the universe and people, and the actions that you take will begin to align toward those goals. Now, the other thing that we are going to add once we have the goal in place is to build the plan. So I'm using this example of bringing a podcast to life because that's very recently what I was experiencing resistance around. And I realized that when I was experiencing this resistance, my counter to that was very simple because I had a plan in place. When I caught those signs, when I could identify, oh, this is what I'm feeling. Okay, this is resistance. This is what you're doing. You're going onto Netflix right now when you need to be recording that podcast, that is resistance. So when I would catch myself in those moments, I knew that I could just go right back to my plan because I had a clear plan in place that was gonna tell me exactly what I needed to do next to bring this podcast to life. And I think that it's so important to have that plan in place. Because if you are one who, when you are feeling resistance, goes into that space of spinning mode, right? You're like, okay, what do I do? Let me go over here and check this out. Let me go check on my clients, Let me go email this person back. Let me do any number of other things, right? You can instead not have to think about what do I need to do next, right? Cause you're spinning. It's gonna be hard to make decisions in that space. You can just go back to your plan and you know exactly what to do next because you set yourself up for success. And I am saying this not as someone who recommends this to people and doesn't practice it. I literally did this and thought these thoughts as we were bringing this baby to life. So I was taking real time notes on this. I'm like, this could be really valuable to share. So this is legit. This is really what was happening. So I'd experienced that resistance. I'd be doing something outside of what I needed to be doing, which was record my podcast episode, because that was the last step and where I was feeling the most resistance. And I just went back and I looked at my plan and identified my next step. So I was feeling the resistance. And my thought was, go look at your plan. You know what you need to do next, because it's all right there. So as you have that predefined plan built out, I don't recommend taking more than just 20 minutes to build your first plan. Especially if you're in that place of resistance and you're having trouble getting to the first step, right? So you've got your goal in place. That can be a pretty great first step. Identifying the resistance, that could be a pretty great first step. And then build the plan and don't take more than 15 minutes, right? Set a time timer if you need to, to restrict and contain and know and convince yourself like, this is just gonna be 15 minutes. It's gonna be 15 minutes of my time where I map out my high level game plan for what I need to do to bring this thing that I am bringing to life to life. And because you are bringing this thing to life, it is your time and it is your soul's calling. So you will bring this thing to life. So take about 15 minutes, 20 minutes to map out that plan. And I highly Recommend Operating in 90 day planning cycles. So simply put, that is just identifying, instead of identifying a plan for the entire year, you're just Gonna build out a detailed plan for what you're going to accomplish around this goal in the next 90 days. Because let's be real, plans change, strategies change, the market changes. What our clients need from us may change. So, so we can be nimble, right? We're just working 90 days at a time. Plus, if I would have given myself all year to bring this podcast to life, you know, I would've waited till November or December 31st. Instead, I just gave myself 90 days. So by the end of that 90 day period, I needed to have first episodes recorded. This baby needed to be shipped and off my plate. And by golly, we are gonna meet that deadline and meet that goal because I am working the plan. So in the 90 day plan, you're just going to identify what is it that you need to do the first 30 days, the next 30 days, and then in the last window of 30 days to accomplish these goals. And we'll link up a template for you below this podcast episode. And if you go to theplanathon.com we actually have a more extended video that describes this 90 day planning process that you could grab through that link as well, but definitely break down. All right, to bring this podcast, to bring that thing that you are bringing to life to life, what do you need to do in the next 30, 60 and 90 days to make it happen? Then when you sit down at the start of every week, you're gonna look back at that 90 day plan and you're gonna identify, okay, to stay on track. And I don't want you to look at the whole 90 day plan. You're just gonna look for the 30 days. You're gonna look for the next 30 days to stay on track and getting everything done that I need to get done in the next 30 days. What do I have to do this week? Right? So you're gonna look at that plan and you're gonna break it down and pull out just what you need to do this week. And then every day that week, you're gonna have identified what you need to work on to bring this baby to life. Now, the beauty of this is that every time you sit down to work, you're going to know exactly what you need to do. You'll lose. You'll get rid of that time spent thinking, okay, what should I do? Right? You are going to save yourself time because you will sit down knowing exactly what needs to happen. In addition, these stats might just blow your mind. Guys, I loved coming across this research that identifies that in one study that was completed they identified that when you plan first and you have a game plan, and you don't just jump right into the deep end without your floaties, when you have your game plan in place, you will carve about 20% of the time off that you would have spent executing. So let's say that this project would have taken you 100 hours without a plan. It's actually gonna take you 80 hours now. So you are carving time off just by slowing down a little bit, taking time to create this plan. And then every time you go to execute, every time you need to do something, you're gonna know exactly what needs to be done. And. Or if you get into that wheel spinning mode, right, you can come right back to this plan, which, again, you know, I did. So I came back to my plan again and again to make sure we could bring this plan to life and that I was on track to execute, execute and launch the podcast. Specifically, by the end of the 90 days, I wanted everything off my plate. So, just to summarize and what I want you to do, as I'm reading through and talking through this summary, I want you to think about what is your action step? What is the next step that you need to take? You might have listened to this episode and already gone through some things in your head, so take time to write those things down. That could be your first action step. And then identify. All right, how am I going to get in motion on that thing you're bringing to life? Because you are bringing it to life. The first thing that we walked through in this episode was resistance. What does resistance look like for you? Second, we looked at success. What does it look like when you're making progress toward your goal and you are moving away from resistance? What does it feel like? What does it look like? Third, do you have a clear goal for this thing that you're bringing to life? You know that you'll bring it to life by a certain time. You could have metrics around it, right? Whatever it is, have a clear goal so you know when you have reached that goal. And number five, create the plan. Map out and outline what you are going to do in the next 30, 60, and 90 days to execute and bring your thing to life. And then every week when you sit down, you are going to be able to identify. Okay, to stay on track with that plan, here's what I need to do weekly and then daily, you'll have that mapped out as well. So I cannot wait to hear from you and what you think about this. And if you are willing to go that extra step and take a little bit of extra time to just map out a plan. Map out a plan for how you are going to bring this baby to life. And be sure to let me know how it goes and especially let me know when you bring your podcast equivalent to life. Whether it's a course or a program or a new newsletter or a new business idea that you have. Whatever it is that you're bringing to life and experiencing resistance to, I cannot wait to hear all about it. And before we wrap up this episode, I just want to leave, leave you with one more thought. Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling. Oh yes, I absolutely sing to myself to get myself motivated, excited about what I'm working on and back in action. So do what you gotta do. And if that helps you too, I am so glad. Thank you so much for listening. Listening to the second episode of the Modern CEO Podcast. I will catch you in our next episode.