279: 5 Tools For When You Feel Scattered, Stuck, or Behind

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The Power of Minimums: Thriving in Seasons of Change

We’ve all been there — stuck in the cycle of going full speed ahead until we crash, then spending weeks trying to restart. It’s exhausting, unsustainable, and leaves us feeling like we’re never fully in control.

I’ve learned that the antidote isn’t doing more. It’s defining your minimums — the non-negotiable actions you can commit to even on your worst week.

Defining Your Minimums

Your minimum is what you can get done when everything is going sideways — when the kid is sick, work is on fire, and you’re barely holding it together.

Instead of setting a “perfect week” standard you can only hit when life is smooth, ask:
What can I do every week, no matter what?

For me, that looks like:

• Four workouts a week (scheduled in advance, treated like appointments)

• Posting on LinkedIn four times a week (to keep ideas flowing and my audience engaged)

• Three daily outreach actions to grow the Life of And message

• Intentional connection with my husband — even if it’s just going to bed at the same time or saying yes to pickleball when I’d rather stay in

By defining these, I know I’m moving forward even when life feels chaotic.

Making the Unknowns Known

Anxiety thrives in vagueness. I realized part of my stress was from not having clear information.

Examples:

• Instead of wondering how many volleyball games my daughter had, I downloaded the schedule and added them to my calendar.

• For our upcoming house project, I set a meeting with the construction lead to map out high-demand weeks so we can plan around them.

When you turn unknowns into knowns, you take back control of your mental energy.

The Cookbook Method

This is my favorite takeaway from my coach, Brian Kavicky. Your “cookbook” is simply a list of the weekly behaviors that lead to your desired results. It’s not fancy — mine is just a spreadsheet — but it’s powerful.

Like in sales, you can’t directly control the final number, but you can control the actions that get you there. In life, your cookbook might include workouts, client calls, date nights, or creative work sessions. The point is: track the behaviors, not just the outcomes.

Owning Your Role

It’s tempting to blame the season, the schedule, or other people for why things feel off. But I’ve found freedom in asking:
What role am I playing in where things are?

When you own your part, you reclaim your power to change it. And in seasons of convergence — when multiple big things are happening at once — that clarity is everything.

The Takeaway

You will crush the areas where you focus. If you’re scattered, you have no chance of crushing anything. In this season, my focus is on hitting my minimums, staying in sync with my people, and executing my cookbook.

The pace may shift, but the progress is steady — and that’s how you go the distance without burning out.