Most peoples’ whiteboard plans are sound on paper but fail in execution because of three misjudgments.

1. How much time you actually have

2. How much money you have available for said plan

3. Your ability to regulate your nervous system

One big aha I’ve had over the past two years is that many of what are considered “Plan Failures” or “Client Failures” are actually nervous system failures.

[This is one of the reasons every private client I have MUST work with my head nervous system / mindset coach Helen… who is amazing by the way]

Let’s assume your plan is solid (which might not be true, but for the sake of argument - let’s say it’s sound). Let’s say you know how much money and time you need, and it’s accurate to the plan.

Real life ALWAYS throws curveballs right?

We know this.

And the minute your brain detects a threat….

• Your ad costs are higher
• People aren’t engaging with your content
• A chat log is quiet during a presentation
• Live sales aren’t coming
• Your bank account is getting squeezed
• You’re losing sleep
• Your team // or customer complaints are taking your ego to task
  ​

Your pre-frontal cortex - the place where you do thinking, planning, strategize - goes offline.

And your lizard brain takes over. There is a threat. Must neutralize threat. Must find safety immediately.

If you do not know how to deal and manage this, you will - because of BIOLOGY - go round and round in circles, sabotaging your plans and going back to the safety of whiteboard planning.

Which the brain loves by the way.

Not too much energy. No danger. Yes yes, stay at the whiteboard.

And the worst part is… every time you try and fail because of this, you might externalize it (webinars are dead - challenges suck - funnels don’t work), or you might internalize it (I’m not good enough, my ADHD sucks, nobody likes me).

When the fact is… the plan was good. You might have mis measured your time & money (easy to fix), and you forgot your nervous system was in the room.

I have a client who found herself stuck in this cycle for awhile. She blamed her offer, her personality, her customers, the funnel type, everything. Finally this year, she committed to her solid plan, slowly optimized, and most importantly, worked on her nervous system.

It was unbelievable to see the transformation in the midst of a difficult plan execution. And she said to me just last week “Julie, I had a $30,000 month in January.”

It made my whole month to hear that.

If you recognize this loop in yourself, reach out please. Yes, you need a plan on paper. But you also need a real life plan too. And someone who can help you manage the real logistical and biological constraints that you are working with.

xx Julie

P.S. I dove into this topic with some examples today. You can listen by clicking below!

• Listen on Apple​
• Listen on Spotify​
• Listen on Browser​