Here’s what I do when I feel overwhelmed with all the things on my plate – ideas, possible projects, possible solutions to challenges, many different ways I can go about achieving my goals.
Like, what is right? What is more important? What should I do first, last?
Let’s face it, nobody has enough time to do it all.
We have to learn how to make better choices in an environment of almost infinite possibilities and options - and not knowing what the future holds for us.
There’s only one way to go about resolving this issue,
Start from the top.
Yesterday I did an exercise called the Impact Filter, from the book "Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork" by Dan Sullivan & the Strategic Coach team.
It asked me to clarify project focus:
“What do you want to accomplish? What’s your motivation?”
Project importance:
“What difference will it make? What impact will it have?”
Ideal outcome:
“What does the completed project look like? What’s the payoff?”
Project success criteria:
“What specific results must be true for this project to be a success?”
When you do this kind of work - when you really do it - most of the things that you thought were great ideas and important suddenly don’t make any sense.
Most of the stuff filters out.
That’s how you navigate the world of complexity.
You start at the top. You set up the filter. And then you simply don’t let anything else through.
Whether you’re deciding what to have for lunch to hit your health goals, or choosing the next initiative to grow your business or transform your team - your entire organization,
Setting up great filters is what allows you to make choices and prioritize fast, so you get the most important things moving forward.
Always start with the filter.
Your to-do list is a vanity metric without it.
Most mornings I start with chocolate-flavored coffee, vanilla almond milk. Most dinners I finish with sugar-free hot chocolate. It’s sweet. Comforting. Ticks all the boxes - without wrecking my health & fitness goals.
If I followed every craving I have, I’d be 20-30kg heavier, dealing with blood sugar issues and who knows what else.
I often joke that I inherited my dad’s sweet tooth. He could down a can of condensed milk in one go - I could beat him easily. One birthday in my 20s, I asked everyone for chocolate only as gifts. I ate over a kilo that day. It never got too sweet.
So how now do I eat zero added sugar, skip candy and cake, and stay photo-shoot ready?
I don’t rely on willpower. I ask better questions.
When a craving hits, I pause and ask,
“How do you want to feel like tomorrow morning, Angela? How do you want to look and feel in a week, month or year? Doing workshops, speaking on stage, being in pictures and being recorded? And will chocolate get you there?”
And then I end up cooking lots of veggies and protein. I sip my sugar-free cocoa. I still love what I eat. I just choose what loves me back, and is aligned with my vision of future self.
Yesterday, at the end of a coaching session, I suggested a client set a daily alarm with one simple prompt,
“How can I invest in my strongest self today?”
I guarantee you, there will be more exercise and better eating even when I don’t say a word.
Are you good at asking questions that move you and others to dreams, goals and better future?
You can’t argue with data.
When you're frustrated, angry, sad, doubtful - it's data. It means something knocked you off balance, and your job is to figure out what it was and what to do with it.
Maybe it's time to re-evaluate your values. Maybe your perspective needs a reset, so traffic doesn’t ruin your whole day.
Maybe it’s time to act. If what you’ve been doing isn’t working, change your approach. (Don't follow insanity principle)
Emotions are messengers. They carry lessons. Or prescriptions.
What you do with them depends on who you are and what result you want.
Ignoring data doesn’t make it disappear. That’s the only truly unhelpful - and often harmful way to deal with data.
Reality doesn’t go away just because we’d rather not look at it.
You step on a scale and don’t like the number. You’ve got two choices,
Change your priorities so the number no longer bothers you.
Or change your actions to get the result you want.
Getting angry won’t help.
Thinking it’s unfair won’t move the needle.
Same goes for business. If nobody’s buying what you're selling, getting mad at the world is wasted energy. Use your frustration to get curious.
Change the product. Change the pitch. Change the audience.
Get feedback. Test something new.
Life doesn’t care if you’re upset.
People don’t always meet your expectations either. That’s not their fault. It’s your cue to adjust - your expectations, your strategies, your stories.
Your frustration isn’t a signal that the world is broken.
It’s a mirror showing you where and who you are.
So don’t fight the data.
Use it.
Change the input.
Or change what you care about.
That’s how you build a life you can enjoy, get results you’re proud of, and stay kind to the people around you.
And my favorite saying these days to remember,
"The Universe is optimizing for the whole. Not for you."
“Well, looking back, I can definitely say my confidence at work has gone way up.”
That’s what a client said to me the other day.
I paused and asked, “What do you think contributed to that?”
She didn’t even need a moment.
“Doing the work. Taking action. Getting more experience.”
And then she added something important,
“You know, Angela, it’s more and more clear to me that sitting around thinking about my confidence doesn’t actually help. Or thinking about the project I need to do. What helps is doing it.”
Boom. There it was.
The thing we all kind of know but still miss somehow.
We act like confidence is what you are supposed to just have, but really - it’s a byproduct.
Confidence is not what you need before the action.
It’s what you get from taking it.
I nodded and said,
“And you’re also someone who’s great at that - jumping in and figuring it out as you go, aren’t you?”
“Yeah… most of the time,” she laughed.
So I told her what I tell myself, and what I want to tell you, too:
“Next time you’re doubting yourself, remember - your confidence comes from action. And you’ve got plenty of evidence that every time you take action, you figure it out.”
We all go looking for this secret formula to become confident. To take the leap, to take the next step.
Some magic mindset shift, mindset unlock, some guru to tell us a secret.
But what if you’ve had the formula this whole time?
The magic bullet is your willingness to take action - BEFORE you feel ready.
If you’ve done something enough times, you know this already.
At some point, you didn’t feel confident doing the things you now do without blinking.
Writing emails. Hosting meetings. Speaking up in a room full of execs.
You used to overthink.
Now it’s just Tuesday.
What changed?
You did it. Repeatedly. Until it wasn’t scary anymore.
And yet people ask:
“But how do others look so confident doing something for the first time?”
The answer is also very simple.
I feel the most confident doing something new - when I’ve prepared.
When I take on a coaching session with a brand-new client...
When I say yes to a project I’ve never done before…
When I stand in front of a room to deliver a talk for the first time…
It’s never blind confidence.
It’s earned confidence.
Earned through prep. Through planning. Through learning my material.
The more I prep, the more the more confident I get.
I bet you knew this already.
And I bet if you look back, you’ve experienced the same.
When you walked into that room ready.
When you rehearsed your talking points.
When you knew your stuff.
That’s not fake-it-till-you-make-it. That’s do-the-work-till-it-shows.
So here’s your real confidence pill.
Take action. Get experience. Prepare.
That’s it.
We don’t need to wait until we feel confident to begin.
We build confidence WHEN we begin.
You’re not lazy. You have a human brain.
“I’ve been putting this Canva and Instagram thing off for weeks. Something else always comes up. What’s wrong with me? Why can't I get it done?”
I hear this all the time.
When clients feel stuck in growth, it’s rarely about skill. It’s about how the brain chooses what matters.
And the brain? It’s wired for now. It protects your job, your belly, your social status. That’s its job. To keep you safe and alive. Keep you fitting in.
But the work that actually moves your future forward, or makes your future self proud?
It lives in a dangerous quadrant:
Important. Not urgent.
Posting to grow your brand.
Pitching that scary partnership idea.
Building the thing that won’t pay for months but will build your dream future.
These are the tasks your brain snoozes on. Because the cost of not doing them isn’t immediate. But long term? It’s everything. It's your life we are talking about.
Here's how we fix this with clients.
Step 1: Create urgency.I ask, Why does this matter? What happens if you never do it?
Make a case for your dream like a lawyer in court. I want my clients fight for their aspirations, their future, their growth.
Step 2: Plan the action.
Then I ask, What’s the tiniest next step? Where, when, and how will you do it?
It’s not about motivation. It’s about clarity. Micro-moves with a clear time and place - clear commitment.
"What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity" ~ "Switch: how to change things when change is hard"
They call if/then plans we make with ourselves - implementation intention and, consistently, in research, it's one of the most effective ways to get ourselves follow through on things we never get to doing (cause your decade away life plan isn't that urgent)
Step 3: Add accountability.
Say it out loud. Share it with someone (a coach?). We feel bad when we can't do something we promised.
So, what important-but-not-urgent task have you been pushing off?
Today, try this:
🗓 Add it to your calendar.
🧠 Write out the “why” so you remember it’s not optional.
👯 Tell someone you trust.
Let the small step become your new pattern.
When I’m stuck in my business, unsure what move to make in life, torn between competing priorities - these 3 questions always help.
I use them with clients too - especially when we’re navigating the messy, in-between space of transition. When we don’t have all the answers yet but we still need to move.
1. What’s the ultimate goal?
Not the short-term number. Not the scale.
Not “be more productive” or “learn to communicate better.”
The real goal.
The one behind the goal.
Very often, we get stuck because we stubbornly keep walking a path, even though walking it was never the actual destination.
So ask, what’s the goal of the goal? Where are you trying to end up? What’s your destination card?
2. Why is it important to get there?
It’s never about just losing weight.
Or becoming a better speaker.
Or managing your calendar more ruthlessly.
It’s about fulfillment.
It’s about becoming the kind of person you want to be.
Legacy. Alignment. Living your values.
Feeling proud of yourself not because you checked everything off but because who you are while doing what feels right.
Ask, what inside you is not satisfied right now?
3. What’s the next step?
Not a 5-year plan. Not even next week’s plan.
But directionally, what feels right?
What can you do right now?
Not: “If I had X, then I’d…”
But: “From where I am, what action moves me in the right direction?”
A concrete, describable step.
Something you can write down, explain, and know when it’s done.
Ask, what can I do today that makes me feel like I’m on the right path again?
If you are walking through uncertainty, ambiguity, transition now (who isn’t?) – take 10 mins, use these questions, write your answers – start walking.
Go with the flow, listen to your body…
Should you?
As a coach I often ask my clients to tune in to their inner compass. I’m working on getting better at helping people find their own way, their own answers VS looking for answers from the outside world.
At the same time I urge my clients to always question their inner voice.
To not always listen to your body, to not always follow your instincts, to not always do what feels comfortable and familiar.
Question everything. Especially yourself.
When I have a red-eye flight, and I barely have any sleep, my cravings for food and especially sweets go waaaay up. Do I eat those sweets? I tell my brain to shut the F* up, eat some veg and chicken, and make it to bed early that night.
When I’m struggling to figure out a challenge in my business, and everything in me tells me to do what I’ve always done – heck no I’d listen to my gut. I might feel like a dumb ass trying what I’ve never done before, feeling like I’m doing everything wrong but I will not stop till I’m done. Even though walk in the park feels waaaaay better.
Often it would feel easier for you to just go with the flow, do what everybody else does, take the edge off … and that’s precisely what you don’t need to do IF you want to grow beyond current limits.
You have a habitual self. Which isn’t always the one you want to stick with to grow.
So how do you use your compass then, if you sort of can’t listen to it either?
This 2-step process will help:
- Learn to feel the difference between what feels good and what feels right. The second one is almost always points to a path of growth.
- Get into a habit of asking yourself when in doubt, “What is it I truly want? What future me will be proud of?” – do that.
Hope this helps. Let’s tune up our inner guide, the only one who knows THE way.
10X views overnight.
"Wow Angela, all the hard work is paying off!"
I wish that were the story. But, I didn’t get smarter. I didn’t change my content. I didn’t outwork anyone.
I simply changed where I was showing up.
It’s one of those lessons that stings because it goes against what we’re told:
“Work harder. Be better. Stay consistent.”
Yes, hard work matters. But placement matters more.
You can be brilliant - yet invisible - if you’re shouting into a crowded room where no one’s listening or you're talking to the wrong people. (Don't show up at a bakery or beer fest talking about the latest nutrition trends.)
So what changed for me?
I stopped trying to yell louder in a crowded room and chose to speak clearly in a room with less people talking. Where my voice could be heard. Less effort - more results.
In my case, I changed the geography where my post was shown.
Sometimes, 10x results come not from doing more, or some genius strategy or a prompt - but from choosing WHERE your value is valued. Or even seen!
So yes, work hard, become worthy of someone's attention.
But don’t make it harder by playing the wrong game in the wrong arena.
Find the overlooked spaces. Be the loudest whisperer in a quiet room. And that’s, my friends, is what they call leverage.
Coach Angela
Helping Your Work Meet the World
Every Sunday, I open my calendar.
I look ahead to see what my week is going to look like.
Coaching sessions. Meetings. Calls. Building new business.
I make sure there’s enough time to prepare - so that nothing feels like an emergency.
If something needs more work, or I’m not sure how to tackle it yet, I put early reminders in place.
Every morning, I start by opening my calendar again.
I ask myself:
What’s coming up?
What could go wrong?
How can I get ready today to make things smoother today?
You’d be surprised how much calmer life feels when you plan for the worst.
When you expect setbacks - and prepare - nothing frustrates you.
Are you strategic with your own life?
When it comes to work and others, most people show up prepared.
Social accountability is strong. We don’t want to let others down.
But what about your own life?
Your health.
Your fitness.
Your passion projects.
Your growth. Your rest.
Are you showing up for yourself with the same level of commitment?
Or are you telling yourself the story:
"I just got too busy."
You’ll always be busy.
There will never be “more time” - 24h cycles isn't going away.
You have to make time for the essentials - health, growth, joy.
You have to become life-strategic.
There’s always a way.
You can eat better - even if you’re busy.
You can exercise - even if your schedule is packed.
You can write, create, dream - even if you have lots of emergencies.
(The author of the Harry Potter series, began writing the books during her breaks and in her spare time. She often wrote during train delays)
Simplicity is the key.
Spending one hour on Sunday prepping meals 🍲
Picking up healthy snacks at the grocery store 🥜
Scheduling your passion projects work like a client meeting 📝
You don’t need perfect conditions.
You need a small plan - and a little prep.
Every Friday morning, I hike a mountain.
No buses. Ubers are unreliable where I live at the time.
I used to get frustrated - sometimes missing the hike, sometimes being late.
Until I realized... You can book an Uber in advance.
All it took was thinking a little into the future.
Strategy isn’t for big goals in business. It’s for your daily life lived well.
It’s for every small thing you say matters to you.
You have a brain that can time travel. Let's use it.
Before you say, "I can't,"
Ask, "If I were committed, what could I do to make this happen?"
You'll be surprised how much smoother life gets.
Coach Angela,
Helping Your Best Deploy Life StrategyAlex Hormozi shared this story, this metaphor,
Often, people lay a few bricks and, seeing no immediate progress, abandon the bridge to start anew elsewhere. This results in multiple incomplete bridges and no path to success."
Today I want to talk about crackers.
I’m a trained nutritionist, and I love talking about food.
Over the years, I’ve learned that food teaches us much more than what’s on our plate.
Every time you eat, you change your body and mind from the inside out.
Your blood chemistry changes. Your brain chemistry changes. Your emotions shift. You make different decisions. You take different actions. (Heck, there are entire books written about it - "This is your brain on food".)
But today isn’t about food.
For a while, I noticed my hunger was all over the place. I blamed it on my workload, the winter here in South Africa, maybe some “supplement deficiency”...
Until I ran some numbers and realized - I wasn’t eating enough of one essential nutrient: Omega-6 fats.
So I picked up some seed crackers.
A day later?
No more crazy hunger.
Focus back to top-notch.
Energy stable.
Mood stable (so stable, it feels weird).
Even lost some weight - because I wasn’t eating mindlessly.
And here’s where it gets bigger than crackers.
In life and business, sometimes the real problem isn’t that complicated.
You’re not broken.
You’re just missing one key piece.
Finding it, though, is a challenge.
Getting the right feedback.
Asking for outside eyes.
Learning from people who’ve done it already.
It speeds up the search.
One thing.
Be ready to bruise your ego.
Be ready to work hard (unlike eating crackers) to find and fix that missing piece.
Coach Angela,
Helping you complete bridges
PS It’s Sunday Reflection time✍️ If you want to get better at spotting your strengths (to help you win) and blind spots (that hold you back) - you need to build self-awareness. Here’s the template I use every week to grow mine.
