I didn’t want to write this. But here we are.
I’m writing this blog because I said I would. That’s it, that is the whole reason.
Not because I woke up inspired
Not because I had a creative breakthrough
Not because this felt like the most exciting thing I could be doing today
Because I said I would…
I committed to writing consistently, I decided it mattered, and today, this blog is the thing on my list that I would really rather not do.
Which honestly makes it the perfect example because this is what it’s like running a business. Sometimes the work is not exciting, sometimes I would rather be creating a process or chilling with my bunny… but, I started a blog which means blogs need to be written.
There’s an idea that floats around online that says if you love your business enough, everything should feel aligned and energizing. Sounds great, right? If something feels heavy, boring, or annoying, you must be doing something wrong.
That narrative causes more damage than people realize.
Sometimes the thing you do not want to do is still the right thing to do… because it supports something bigger that you DO actually care about.
Writing the blog
Sending the follow up
Closing the loop on something you already mentally moved past
Having the conversation you’d rather avoid
Most days as a business owner are not about passion, they are about follow through, consistency and commitment
The quiet importance of follow through
Following through is not glamorous, but it’s one of the most important skills you build as a business owner.
Your brain learns from patterns, not intentions. If you regularly say you’re going to do something and then don’t, your brain updates its expectations. It basically learns, “Plans are optional, timelines are fake, don’t relax yet, the chaos is coming.” Your brain learns that your commitments are negotiable which over time erodes trust in your own plans and decisions.
So the next time you make a plan, your brain doesn’t fully engage. It keeps everything feeling unresolved, heavy, and slightly stressful, because experience says it probably won’t get done anyway.
You put things off > You stop trusting yourself > things take longer to do > you get mad at yourself so you shut down > nothing gets done… and repeat
Then suddenly EVERYTHING starts to feel heavier… the boring stuff you already dislike and the work you normally enjoy.
And then BOOM… burnout.
BUT, when you do finish something you said you would do, you reinforce trust with yourself (and the pattern). It’s the quiet little gold star your brain hands you when no one’s watching. There’s no parade or confetti (unless of course you use ClickUp and then there IS confetti!) it’s just that subtle “Oh sh!t, I actually do what I say now” feeling that hits way harder than it should.
Why doing the hard stuff gives you more freedom
Doing the stuff you don’t love is what protects the stuff you do love.
I know. Annoying… but true.
When you actually follow through on the stuff you don’t love… things start clicking… and you realize that you probably spent way more time avoiding the hard/boring thing than it actually took to do…
And then magical things happen…
You realize it was just step 1 you hated… not the entire process
You spend less time dreading your business
You realize you didn’t actually dislike the task… your brain was just lying to you
You stop over promising because you know you’ll have to deal with it later
You stop saying yes out of guilt, pressure, or that weird panic where you think being helpful equals being a good person
You get picky with your time
It becomes easier to delegate or automate
This is where freedom happens!
You stop carrying tasks around in your head like unfinished business and start making clearer decisions about what actually deserves your time. These avoided tasks are no longer sitting in the background draining your energy.
The hard stuff stops feeling so heavy once it’s done and once the weight is gone, everything else feels easier to manage.
This is not about forcing yourself
You’re not doing hard/boring things because you hate yourself or because “real business owners grind.” You’re doing the hard things because they need to happen AND so they STOP being the hard things.
Think about paying your phone bill… no one’s passionate about it (I don’t think anyways…), and ignoring it costs you money and makes things worse, so you just do it. That is what I want all of your “hard” tasks to be… just tasks that need to be done to keep your business moving forward.
I’m not writing this blog for joy or personal fulfilment, I’m writing it because past me put it on the calendar and present me is honouring the agreement and it fits where my energy is today. I respect my word and I’m building a business that doesn’t fall apart the second I’m tired, distracted, or over it.
That being said…
Sometimes you have to recognize that you don’t have the capacity to do the task correctly
Sometimes you have to reschedule the task
Sometimes you need to take the task off of your list because it didn’t actually need to be done
Sometimes you need to reprioritize because life happens
Life happens but it’s important to know the difference between avoidance and re-priotitizing (it’s a slippery slope and lying to yourself only hurts you and your business.)
Avoidance feels GREAT in the moment. It’s cozy. It’s comforting. It whispers, “We can deal with this tomorrow,” while tomorrow quietly piles up behind you like dishes in the sink.
Following through isn’t about discipline or toughness, it’s about future damage control. Choosing a little discomfort now means future-you isn’t going to feel betrayed when the pile of dishes is all over the counter, the laundry hasn’t been done in weeks and it all has to be done NOW because you have guests coming over.
Following through is self respect, self preservation, time management, emotional regulation, decision making, boundary setting, and not making your life harder than it needs to be.
How to actually follow through on the things you do not love
People say just be disciplined or push through, without acknowledging how busy and overloaded most business owners already are.
Following through requires more structure, NOT more motivation or discipline.
Here are a few simple ways to make follow through easier:
1. Make sure your to-do list isn’t in your head
A mental list of the things you have to get to is a good way to make sure you avoid things. Memory is not a process or a task manager.
It doesn’t matter where your to-do list lives, but you need to have one.
Notes on your phone
Handwritten book
Google Doc
Google Tasks
Task management tool
If you think it, write it down.
2. Set a specific day and time for each task or bucket of tasks
If something lives on your to do list without a date and time, it’s optional. Your brain knows this, even if you don’t want to admit it… which means it just gets pushed off.
Stop saying “I’ll do it this week.” That’s not a plan and your brain will absolutely ignore it.
Decide when it’s happening.
Tuesday at 10am
Thursday after client calls
Friday afternoon when you’re wrapping up for the week
Once it has a time, it stops taking up mental space and you’re not renegotiating with yourself every day like, “Should I do it now? Later? Never? Who can say?”
You just have to show up and do the task.
3. Do it earlier than you wanted to
Here’s the sneaky part people don’t expect. Doing the thing earlier than you want to makes your life quieter. If you set it for Friday, but you have time and energy on Wednesday - do it sooner!
The longer you avoid something, the heavier it gets.
It sits in the back of your mind
It drains energy
It creates low grade stress while you’re doing completely unrelated things like answering emails or trying to relax
Meanwhile the task itself is usually… fine.
4. Just commit to starting the task
You just have to start the task…
You don’t have to finish it, you don’t have to have the final perfect copy… you just have to START.
Your brain will catch up once it realizes this is happening.
5. Pay attention to the things that you put off
When you put the same things off over and over and over, sometimes it’s because your system sucks. You don’t have an efficient way of doing it, you have to remember how to do it, you can’t remember your login to get into that app…
Those are areas where you can add in systems and support to make your business easier
Email automations so that you don’t have to sort through 100 newsletters to find the client email
Bookmarks on your Chrome Profile so when you get a new computer you don’t have to set it all up again
Your Google calendar on your phone so you don’t have to juggle your apple calendar and your work calendar
Discontinuing the service you now realize you hate doing even if your clients want it
Realizing that Blog you wanted to start is causing more stress than it’s worth and deciding not to move forward
The goal isn’t to love every task in your business
If that was the requirement, none of us would be self-employed anymore.
The goal is to make sure the tasks that fall on your list are essential at moving your business forward and are completed. Once you’ve mastered that, you can add in all the nice to have tasks that you now have space to do because you’re not spending your time avoiding all the other things.
When you finish the thing you said you would do, even if it was annoying, boring, or deeply unglamorous…
You feel lighter
You feel less chaotic
You feel less like everything is hanging by a thread
Once the chaos is gone, the parts you used to consider the hard stuff… suddenly feel easier.
And yes, now that this blog is done, I get the deeply satisfying joy of checking it off my list…not because it was fun (although once I started, it was actually fun)... but because I did what I said I would do.
If this made you feel a little called out, welcome to the club.
