237. 4 Words to Beat Fear, Excuses, and Inaction

When your energy is low, support is thin, and fear is loud—do it anyways. In this live episode of The Mindset Cafe, Devan breaks down the four-word discipline reframe that turns hesitation into action. You’ll learn how to move without motivation, build identity-based habits, neutralize fear, and create systems that make consistency automatic. We’ll cover practical scripts, micro-commitments, rejection handling, and a 30‑day “Do It Anyways” challenge to hardwire momentum in business, fitness, and relationships. If you’re tired of waiting for “perfect”—this is your playbook to show up regardless and win the long game.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Mindset Cafe
• 2:02 The Power of "I Do It Anyways"
• 4:23 Eat The Frog: Tackling Big Tasks First
• 9:35 Business Owners: Trading 9-5 For 24-7
• 13:41 Actions Over Feelings
• 17:08 Small Wins Create Lasting Motivation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

focus now to settle for less. It's all in your head how you think you manifest. So get ready to rise, because we about to be the best. Gotta switch it up. Gotta break the old habits, get your mind right, turn your dreams into habits. No negative vibes, only positive thoughts. What is up, guys?

Speaker 1: 0:18

Welcome to another episode of the mindset cafe podcast. It's your boy, devin Gonzalez, and I just want to say thank you guys so much for all the support and you guys continue to engage in and listen and leave the reviews. I really appreciate it. I know there's been a lot of episodes with guests on recently and I wanted to switch it up a little bit. So there'll still be guest episodes, but I want to start, you know, throwing in you know, some just solo episodes just to talk about topics with mindset, talk about some topics with fitness and so forth, but really just to give you guys you know, some tools and some strategies and some things that can help, instead of just listening to people's stories. I know I mean I've gained so much from listening to people's stories. I know I mean I've gained so much from listening to people's stories, but at the same time, sometimes it's nice just to get you know, a tool or a strategy.

Speaker 1: 1:12

So that's what you know we're going to start today off with is, you know, a little phrase, a little mindset shift to essentially kind of reprogram yourself into doing the things that you need to do. Right, and it's a forward, you know phrase that really shifts the control from feeling, from your feelings, to you know, actions. Right, it's just that cognitive speed bridge per se that lets you acknowledge your feelings but then still take action. Right, you're not denying the fear, you're not denying the anxiety, you're not denying the tiredness, but you are denying the fact that not, actually, I won't say you're denying, I will say that you're acknowledging it, but you're not just accepting it. And that phrase is I do it anyways. Right, and that phrase is I do it anyways. The phrase and everything really comes from I was thinking about how I want to start off these solo episodes and I just had. So we, me and my wife just had our second child and people were talking about how are you going to run the gym and do the podcast and you know franchise and this and that, and they're gonna like you have. So you're gonna, you know you're gonna be tired, right, it's like I won't I. You know, I, yeah, I might be tired, but I do it anyways. Right, and that's the real shift, that I don't.

Speaker 1: 2:39

I, I thought it was common sense, but I guess, again, one of my, my sayings is that common sense is only common to the person that knows it. Right, I'll say that again, common sense is only common to the person that knows it. And for me, regardless of how I feel tired you know stressed if I know I need to get something done, I just do it. I don't want to wait and put it off, because now that task is going to feel a little more anxious to get completed versus just getting it done. For example, you get home, you're like man, I got to take out the trash. Most people sit on the couch like I need to decompress first and then I'll take out the trash. It's like just take it out real quick and then you can decompress. Just get the things that you need to do done first and then you have all the time to relax. Right, you're still drained after your work, right? People will make the excuse well, I'm too tired to go to the gym.

Speaker 1: 3:38

Look, do it anyways. That's what separates people. Right? You're nervous to give a sales pitch? Right, just do it anyways. Dial into that prospect list and do it anyways. You're anxious to apologize to someone? Right, it's easy to just send the text that says can we talk? Right, just do it anyways. Right, your feelings are just that. They're your feelings. Right, your feelings are just that, they're your feelings. Right, your feelings aren't going to get you the outcome that you want. Your actions are going to get you the outcomes that you want.

Speaker 1: 4:12

So remember that little phrase as you're going through your day and you're anxious about something, you're trying to put something off right? There's a book I read called Eat the Frog, which pretty much says that you do the biggest task of the of your day first. Right, most people want to do little tasks in, in, get little wins under the belt and be like I did so much today. It's like, but you didn't do anything that moved the needle forward, right, you didn't do anything that for you that was going to actually progress your fitness journey, your life, your relationship, your business. It's like you put people, put off the task that they need to do until the end of the day and then, nine times out of 10, you don't end up completing it because you're like man, I'm now like, even today, at the end of the day, I got to go, you know, grab my daughter from preschool.

Speaker 1: 5:02

Right, I put the tasks off that are most important to the end of the day. Well, I have to get my daughter from preschool at a certain time. Like there isn't. There's no exception on that. So if I don't complete the task I need to do now, I have to wait to do it tomorrow. And then what happens tomorrow? I start off with little tasks and you know, it's just that snowball effect. Right Now, all of a sudden, you get another big task. So, just like the book, eat the frog. It's like I. I truly believe it might not have to be the first task of the day, but it should be one of the first tasks of the day. Is your biggest task? What's going to move the needle forward? Work on that, get that out of the way, and then you can do all the minuscule, the small stuff after the fact. Right, we just started the challenge again at a strive 11,.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Right, and one of the big tasks essentially in someone's in the, in the, in the challenge, is planning your meals. Right, yeah, we have the software that automatically plans the meals for you, but you have to go in and make sure that you're actually going to eat those meals, right, cause you have the option of changing meals and all that stuff. But you, but you plan your meals for the week. Now the next task is to print out the grocery list and go buy the stuff and then cook the stuff, because planning the meals is quick, it's easy. Yeah, I plan my meals Awesome, gold star but you didn't go buy your groceries today. Well, I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 6:24

It's easy to say that, but then who knows what tomorrow has in store for you? Because I think that's the biggest thing is, we always try to give ourselves the out of. I'll just do it tomorrow, but in the back of our mind, we know that something more than likely is going to end up coming up tomorrow. That's going to make us push it. One more day, and one more day becomes a week, and a week becomes a month, and then, all of a sudden, you're looking at the calendar and, damn, now it becomes a new year's resolution again, right?

Speaker 1: 6:51

So, regardless of how you feel, regardless of what you have going on, if you need to do it, do it right. You do it anyways, because your results the goal. It doesn't care how you feel, it doesn't care what you have going on, it just cares that the tasks that need to get done, or the things that you need to do, get done so that you could accomplish that goal. If you want to win first place, if you don't run in the race, you don't get first place you have to do the task of running right. Other things you know kind of going with.

Speaker 1: 7:34

It was like people that are, let's say, an athlete right, they might be, might be able to, you know, say, like I'm an athlete, so I train, even when I'm sore because I'm an athlete, they give themselves an identity. Right, if you're in sales, like I'm a closer, so every single day I prospect, every single day, you know I, I call, right. But are you doing the other things that you need to do? Right, you know I'm a, I'm a, let's say, an awesome dad, right, so I show up for my, my kids, that's awesome, that's awesome. But what else are you avoiding and doing? Right, and I'm not saying don't show up for your kids, obviously do.

Speaker 1: 8:12

But I was saying like there's, there's something that you know you need to do that has been prolonged for more than a day, more than a week. Right, just do that first step. You may not know all the steps that are involved, and that's okay, because if you think you know the whole plan, you're a little delusional, right, in most cases. Right, you're going to open a business. I was talking to someone the other day. You're going to open a business. You know, I was talking to someone the other day. They they asked for advice on in business. Right, and tell me, they gave me their whole game plan and everything. And I was like, oh, that's awesome, and went to kind of play devil's advocate, give them a little bit of you know, real world examples of what can happen. And instead of listening to vice or, you know, trying to see a solution to it, it was, oh, that that won't happen. Okay, it's not in your plan that it's going to happen, but it may. Right, there's a lot that happened with opening up strive 11, launching the franchise. That I didn't plan for, right, but it happens.

Speaker 1: 9:16

That's life, that's the game, and that's why they say the game isn't for everyone, because you don't know what's around the corner, but when a task presents itself or a problem presents itself, you do what needs to be done, regardless of how you feel. You don't feel like prepping your meals, do it anyways. You don't feel like getting a workout in today because you're sore, do it anyways. That's what's going to separate you from average, right? Because most people are going to do exactly what you're thinking is I'm sore, I'm not going to work out and they're not going to work out. You're sore, you go work out anyways. Now you just took a step and got a little bit further than them and then you did it again. You did it again. All of a sudden, three days in, they're not sore anymore, they go work out. You did three workouts for their one In a year. Let's say right, you've done 300. They've done 100. What's the difference in your body versus their body going to be? What's the difference in your body versus their body going to be? Right, that's that's huge.

Speaker 1: 10:27

Think about, in business, you, when you run a business this is where a lot of business owners, you know, I think, don't understand when they say it's, it's tough is a lot of business owners get into business because they think that you know, you immediately get time freedom and you know, get time freedom and you're going to be feet up Kronos on the beach and, whatever the case may be In reality, you're trading a nine to five for a 24 seven. You may not physically be at the business, but your phone is still on, you're still dealing with problems. Went to florida to, you know, um to meet with, like the franchisee that we have out there help out with some stuff. My phone was still on and I was still talking with the california location and going over stuff with them. Meanwhile, you know, still talking with the family, doing my whole you know whatever. Baby was born last week and actually a couple of days ago, but last week technically, and still phone was on in the hospital, still sending texts out, right, still following up with my team. My team was awesome and they really crushed it and really held the fort down.

Speaker 1: 11:38

But at the end of the day, I don't get to turn my phone off just because I have things going on and I give kudos to my wife and anyone that's married to an entrepreneur because it is not easy, but at the same time you do it anyways. You do the things you need to do because you know you need to do them to achieve the things that you want to achieve. No one's going to hand you the goals that you want. No one's going to hand you the results you want. No one's going to hand you the life you want. You have to earn it, you have to take it. And by taking it I mean that you have to do so much that is undeniable for you to achieve the goals that you want to achieve. I'll repeat that again you have to do it so much and you have to put in so much effort that it is undeniable for you to not achieve the goal that you set out to achieve. Let that sink in. Let that sink in so kind of. I don't want I mean the solo episodes. I don't want to be too long, you know, I want them to kind of be short and sweet, but I might go a little bit over my goal of today of time.

Speaker 1: 12:56

But one of the things like with this mantra is realizing that it's actions over feelings. Right, and that's a huge part of it. Your tiredness, your anxiousness, your worryness I guess, if that's a word, those are all feelings, right, actions become before your feelings. Actions become before your feelings. So if you need to give yourself 90 seconds to feel whatever you're feeling, then take the action. That's fine, but it's the 90-second rule. Right, minute and a half After that, get it done. Any longer than that.

Speaker 1: 13:41

It's almost like if you're going to jump into a pool and then, or you one of those like you know, um, what's it called when you jump off the rocks into the, into the water, you know jumping off something high, and all of a sudden you see someone standing up there, and they're standing up there for like a couple minutes. It doesn't get easier, right. All of a sudden it starts looking taller, it starts looking scarier, right. So the task that you're prolonging to do is only going to look worse as time goes on. When you just jump in, you don't let that fear sit in, you don't let that anxiousness sink in, you just get into it. And then you cross each bridge as it comes.

Speaker 1: 14:17

That's what my biggest thing is realize that when you do it anyways, it's not because I know all the pieces or because I know what's around the corner, it's I know at least the first step, and then I cross each bridge as it comes. I'm not worried about 10 bridges down, 10 problems down, like I don't know what those are going to be. They might not even be what I think they're going to be. So I'm not worried about them. If there's nothing I can do about it, right, this second, I don't worry about it. I just do the things I know I need to do in the moment and that's it. So realize that if you're letting your fear sink in, if you're letting your feelings set and your feelings, you know, replace you taking action, you're now giving those feelings almost constraint over you, right, it's? It's the excuses that you give yourself are almost holding you hostage in the current position that you're at, current position that you're at. So, regardless of how you feel, if you just take action before all the feelings set in, you're not going to be held prisoner to your current state. You're going to be able to do as much as you need to do so that you make it undeniable for you to achieve, undeniable for you not to achieve the goals that you set out to be right.

Speaker 1: 15:39

With that being said, I wrote some notes. I just want to make sure I cover everything real quick. Oh, one thing like with this too, is with big tasks, right, little tasks not so much. You know, you don't feel like taking all the trash and just do it real quick, right, little task. But how you do one thing is Right and it's a little task. But what? How you do one thing is how you do everything. So, like those feelings, they get easier by those little tasks. You don't feel like you know making that phone call, just make it real quick. Not that big of a deal, right, but that's a little win under your belt. Like you know, it's a brick you get to lay in your foundation. But the big things that you do when you eat the frog, you do it in the beginning of the day. Mark that on the board.

Speaker 1: 16:23

Today was a win. You did what you needed to do. You did something that moved the needle. Mark that on the board. All of a sudden you look up on the board and you have a bunch of little gold stars Awesome. That's motivation right there for yourself. Internal motivation, because you feeling like you want to do it. That's external motivation and that's not going to last.

Speaker 1: 16:43

You can watch a David Goddard in the video. You could watch, um, you know some YouTube clips and whatever the case may be to make you feel unmotivated, that shit will fade Once you're about to do it. All of a sudden you're staring at the pond and you're about to jump in and that those motivational videos went out the door. The pond and you're about to jump in and that those motivational videos went out the door Right. So realize that just doing it before any of the feelings sink in is key. But give yourself a little little check on the board Every time you do what you need to do. All of a sudden you have a tally of all the things that you've, all the days you've accomplished. It goes a long way for some people, right.

Speaker 1: 17:19

And for big tasks, set a set up clear line. Is what is complete, right? Like a certain project, certain things might have multiple sections to it, right. What are you accomplishing today? Right, if I'm going to launch an ad campaign, right, let's for the business to say well, today I'm going to make all of the ads that I'm going to make the creatives, the images, the videos. Today I'm just making the pictures, right. Boom, I accomplished all the pictures. Boom, that's a win for the day. If I want to start working on the videos now, I can, because I've already accomplished what I need I set out to accomplish for the day. I'm not saying I'm working on the ad campaign today and leaving it there and leaving it vague, because if I don't finish the ad campaign it's not technically a win, just like this year.

Speaker 1: 18:08

Let's say you want to lose 100 pounds, that's awesome. But today my goal is to burn X amount of calories so that I can check off the board and be on my way to losing that 100 pounds. This week my goal is to lose a pound so that again I check off the week that I hit that one goal. Small milestones allow you to finish the marathon. So with that being said, guys, again I just want to say do it anyways.

Speaker 1: 18:35

That mantra, honestly, that thought process, let it become just who you are. Right, people will ask you how you do it with the life you have going on with the family, with this and with that. I just do it anyways. So I hope that helps someone today. I just want to say I do appreciate you guys. I hope you guys liked the solo episodes. We'll do more of them short and sweet and to the point. But again I appreciate you guys. I'll see you guys on the next episodes. We'll do more of them short and sweet and to the point, um, but again I appreciate you guys. I'll see you guys on the next one.