046: You Made the Decision... Now Don't Lose Your Momentum

Last week, we talked about why you feel stuck even when you already know what to do. We explored how fear often disguises itself as procrastination and walked through a simple framework for making difficult decisions.

But what happens after you've finally decided?

For many women, that's where the real challenge begins.

The excitement fades. Life gets busy. Old habits start calling your name. And before you know it, you're wondering if you've made any progress at all.

In this episode of Sustainable Success Tuesday, Fredricka Davis shares five practical shifts that will help you protect your momentum, strengthen self-trust, and continue moving forward long after the motivation wears off.

If you've ever made a commitment to your health, your business, your relationships, or yourself-only to slowly drift back into old patterns—this episode is for you.

Because sustainable success isn't created by making one big decision.

It's created by what you choose to do after you've made it.

In This Episode

•  Why making the decision isn't the hardest part 
•  What causes most people to lose momentum after a breakthrough 
•  The hidden mistake of announcing your goals too soon 
•  Why small wins build lasting confidence 
•  How to remove friction so success becomes easier 
•  Why discomfort doesn't mean you're on the wrong path 
•  The importance of protecting your identity before your results 
•  How to create sustainable momentum instead of relying on motivation 
•  A simple reflection that will help you make better decisions every day 

This Week's Challenge

Complete this sentence:

"The woman I'm becoming is someone who..."

Write it down somewhere you'll see it every day.

Then, before making decisions this week, ask yourself:

"Does this decision belong to the woman I'm becoming... or the woman I'm leaving behind?"

Small, consistent decisions create extraordinary change over time.

Reflection Question

Where am I expecting momentum without creating the conditions for it to grow?

Resources

Visit www.FredrickaDavis.com for coaching, workshops, upcoming programs, podcast episodes, and resources designed to help you build a healthier, more aligned, and more sustainable life.

Connect with Fredricka and other women who are becoming inside the      Limitless Living for Women Who Are Becoming group.

Next Episode

Next week, we're shifting into one of the most important conversations successful women can have.

The Habits Successful Women Outgrow

You'll discover the behaviors, patterns, and beliefs that quietly keep capable women working harder than they need to and what to replace them with instead.

Because growth isn't always about adding more.

Sometimes it's about finally letting go of what no longer serves you.

Remember

Be Rooted.

Be Resilient.

Be Limitless.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Leaving a review helps more women discover the podcast and become part of our growing community.

Grab Your Free Reset Guide and more at www.fredrickadavis.com

Continue the conversation inside the here: Limitless Living community.

If this episode resonated with you, you can also send Fredricka a message through the Fan Mail link in the show notes. Your questions may be featured in a future episode.

And if you know someone who needs to hear this conversation, please share the episode with them.

Your reviews mean the world to Fredricka and help other women discover the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Hello and welcome back to the Limitless Living Podcast. I'm your host, Frederica Davis, wellness expert, entrepreneur, speaker, and creator of the Limitless Reset Method. If you're new here, welcome. And if you've been listening for a while, thank you so much for spending a little bit of your week with me. It really means more than you know. So it's Tuesday, and here on Sustainable Success Tuesdays, we don't just talk about success. We talk about building a life, a business, and a version of yourself that actually feels good to live. Because honestly, I don't believe success should come at the expense of your health, your relationships, your peace, or your joy. I believe success should really support your life, not slowly drain it. So last week we talked about something that resonated with so many of you. And that was about why you feel stuck, even though you already know what to do, or likely you know what to do. And I walked you through the four-step framework of listen, name, navigate, and move. And maybe last week's episode helped you admit a truth that you may have been avoiding, or maybe you finally made a decision that you've been putting off, or decided it's time to take your health a little more seriously. Maybe you found yourself deciding to leave your job because it's just been draining you for too long, or finally have a difficult conversation with somebody that you've been putting off. And maybe even you decided to start your business that you've been thinking about, or write the book, or ask for help, or just simply stop settling. If you did, first I want to say kudos. I am incredibly proud of you. That's the first step. Making a difficult decision takes courage. And what I've learned after literally more than 40 years in wellness, business, and working with women is that making a decision isn't actually the hardest part. I know sometimes it feels like it is. And sometimes we get stuck in the confusion or we just feel like we don't haven't gotten all of our clarity yet or whatever. But the decision part is actually not the hardest part, believe it or not. It's living and stepping into the decision that often is the hardest part. Because the moment you decide to change, life has a funny way of inviting you right back where you started or right back into your old habits. That means your old way of thinking or routines that you're used to, maybe your old comfort zones or the comfort zone you have now. And you just don't expect that because you get caught up in the excitement of it. And then if you don't fully step into it, you start to believe with all of these old habits seeping back in or thought patterns or fears, and you start questioning things and you start believing that maybe you made a wrong decision. When really, it's very likely that you're experiencing resistance. Now, I want to talk about how to protect your momentum. Once you make that make that decision for something you know you want or a change that you want, I want you to get into that momentum and be able to stay in it because momentum in the beginning, especially, is incredibly fragile. It's exciting to make the decision, but it's incredibly easy to lose the momentum right after doing so. So have you ever noticed how easy it is to get all fired up after a conference or a workshop, or maybe it's a great book you read that struck a chord, or um a positive and inspiring conversation you had with somebody, or a coaching session, or maybe it's even one of these podcasts, and you start thinking to yourself, that's it, everything's going to change. I got this, I'm doing this. And then all of a sudden, you take a peek and you see that the laundry is still there, or Monday rolls around with all that is entailed with that. Emails start rolling in, the kids still need things, maybe clients call or bills come in, or you get sick, or life happens. You get the picture. You know, car breaks down, whatever. And then somehow that exciting decision gets pushed off until tomorrow. Or then maybe it's next week. Okay, well, next week didn't work out. I'll get to it someday. I know I'm gonna get to it. I'll get to it someday. Have you thought things like this? I have, if I'm being truthful. And here's the thing: it's not because you didn't mean it when you said you wanted to change. It's not because you're lazy either. It's because you didn't build a way to protect the momentum when you first made the decision. Now, I think about momentum, kind of like planting a seed. When you plant a seed, you don't dig it up every day to see if it's growing. You're not uprooting it and disturbing it and questioning it, right? You are watching it, but you're protecting it. Chances are you're watering it, you give it sunlight in the right conditions. Maybe you put a little glass or plastic dome over top of it to keep the moisture in there and keep it humid. Well, that's almost like a little protective bubble, right? When we do that, and you're you're getting that little seed to start growing, and you're really caring for it and giving it the right conditions. Well, the same thing is true for change. If you don't protect it in the early stages, especially in the early stages, then that momentum that comes with it, it never has a chance to become strong and carry you through. So I want to give you a few shifts to help you with this so that you can hold on to that momentum and move forward with whatever changes it is that you have in your hopes, your dreams, and in mind for yourself. So, number one, stop announcing everything. So, something I have learned over the years, I've watched so many people do it, but not every dream needs an audience. Now, there is a lot to be said for writing things down that you want, writing your dreams down, putting it on paper, saying it out loud, even telling somebody to help make it real, but you want to be really selective with this. Not every decision needs a social media post. I promise you. Not every change needs everyone's opinion. And sometimes we announce things because we are simply so excited. Yet other times, even underneath, and we might not even realize it in the moment, we are announcing them because we're looking for validation from others. Now, if you've got a trusted friend who's positive, who always cheers you on, who you know is going to be in your corner and help you move towards this, that's different. But when people start to question us about changes we might want to make, or they don't understand them. Maybe they don't have the same vision that you have. They just haven't been able to see it yet. Or they've been so used to seeing you in one way, one role, or the you that you were, not the you that you're becoming, they can't wrap their brains around it as easily. They just don't understand and they don't support us. The sad truth is they often don't support you. This can also come from them watching you want to change or actually even making the changes. And it can be a reminder to them, but they have not yet. And they might not mean to be unsupportive, but because it reminds them what they wish they were doing, but they aren't doing, even if it's a different dream, that can be uncomfortable for the people around you. So be very cautious about who you're announcing everything to. And some dreams, especially in the beginning, they grow better in private. And they grow and build momentum based on your own actions. So some changes need room before they're ready to be shared. Protect your momentum by protecting your peace. You don't owe anybody an explanation about what you're becoming, who you're becoming, why you're becoming, or while you're becoming whatever it is that you're becoming. Now, shift number two is going to be make your first win a small one. Now, I'm all for the big wins, that's great, but this is where I see a lot of you get tripped up. You make one big decision, you're gonna overhaul this, you're gonna overhaul that. I don't care whether it's your disorganized house or you're gonna overhaul your diet or you're gonna overhaul your business or you're gonna overhaul your marriage, you're gonna whatever it is, doesn't matter. Then you immediately expect yourself to become this entirely different person overnight, or accomplish like this monumental set of tasks overnight. And we'll use the example of I've decided I'm going to get healthy. Okay. Now that's a great goal and a great change in your life. And that's something we should all be striving to become healthier, right? But what happens is we often look at this as this giant thing, and we start to want to overhaul everything, overhaul my exercise, overhaul my eating, overhaul my schedule, overhaul my sleep, overhaul everything all at once, right? And because that becomes too big, too overwhelming, and too big of a task, we get derailed really easily. So what if we just started with one walk? So if you're not walking at all, what if you just said, I'm gonna do one walk this week? I know that is gonna feel like a snail's pace of improvement. However, one walk this week, if you weren't doing any at all, is a huge improvement. Shoot for the 10% rule, I always say. You know, if you're doing nothing, do 10% more. If you're doing uh, well, 10% of nothing is nothing, really, I guess, right? But you get the picture. Do one thing. And then if you're doing three days of 30 minutes a week exercise, add another 10 minutes to each day. That's not much, right? Add another five minutes to each day. You get the picture. So, how about adding one balanced meal or one glass of water or one workout, one promise that you keep to yourself? I'm gonna say that one again. How about adding one promise that you actually make to yourself and keep? Because here's what we are really building in all of this as I'm talking about this. We're not just building results and focusing on results, results, results, results all the time. It's more important for you to build self-trust. Because every time you keep one small promise to yourself, you become someone who trusts yourself a little bit more, and then a little bit more, and then a little bit more, and so on. Now, this really matters in the scope of everything in your life and who you become. So, shift number three, I want you to remove the friction. And can I just tell you something? I don't really rely on willpower nearly as much as people think. I have people so often say to me, you know, Freddie, you just you, you know, you just have a stronger drive. You just have more willpower than I do. You're just used to doing that. I can't do that. I and and um, you know, I wish I had your willpower. I've heard that multiple, multiple times. And here's the thing, I absolutely do not rely on willpower because I fall off the wagon on different things every so often. And and trust me, I want to tell you, there's no willpower involved in that in those moments. I rely on systems. That's what I really rely on. So when my systems fall apart, or if they're not fitting me at that moment in life, then they don't work. But when you find the right systems, when you create simple systems in your life that fit you and your life, things start to fall in place. And it's not really willpower, it's just that you have these things in place that make it easier for you to do the things you want to do and meet those goals and those challenges and those changes. So, for example, I want to walk more. I have made a very conscious effort that my body needs to move and walk for multiple reasons because I have autoimmune disease, I have psoriatic arthritis, I have fibromyalgia, I have chronic Lyme. I have to move. Now, if I don't have some simple little systems in place to make that easy, it's not gonna happen. So, one of the things that I do, and this is a part of a system for me, is I keep my sneakers, a pair of socks, my bike shorts or walking shorts or whatever. It's pretty hot here in Pennsylvania right now, having a major heat wave this week. It's gonna hit a hundred degrees. And I keep my tank top, the whole nine yards, downstairs so that it's right there, ready. There's no excuse for me. My moisture wicking, reflective baseball cap, everything. It's all right there. So I can shift and say, okay, that's enough. I've been on the computer too long today, or I need to switch gears, or my I need a mental break, or I need to do this quick before I go to the office. And I can put them on, go out and do what I need to do, come back in and take them off and change again. And I have them in a spot and that's it. Makes it super easy. That's a system example. So if my shoes, my clothes weren't right there, ready, easy, ready to rock, it would not happen as easily or as often. Now, I have chosen to really prioritize healthy eating. And by healthy eating, I was eating healthy 90% of the time, anyway. But the way that I need to eat now to address my autoimmune condition, to address my inflammatory response, is a little bit different. So if I am choosing to not be in pain all the time, part of my focus has to be on that. And how am I ever going to do that with the schedule that I keep? I have to have some systems in place. You get the picture at where I'm going here. So healthy food, number one, has to be available easily to me. Because boy, if it's not available easy, if I don't have it to take with me to the office, it's a lot harder to stay on track. This is not about willpower. This is about having these little systems, these little habits, if you will, that I've established. And this has not happened overnight. But these are simple things. So in order to have healthy food available easily, I get my groceries delivered. I have said that before. And I have some go-to foods that are things that I don't necessarily get crazy sick of that make this easy for me. I like to do a little food prep, even if it's not a whole day in the kitchen. If I do an hour or two of food prep and have my proteins and my different veggies and things ready, it's a heck of a lot easier. So this is a system for me. So I want you to start thinking about having systems that help you remove the friction for the changes you want to make. So if you want to create or start a new business or write your book or create more, block the timeout. I block the timeout to focus on things. When I am working on my book, I actually turn the phone off, I turn the notifications off, and I am strictly writing my book. And this is a system I have to do this. And I've blocked into my schedule so that I actually have time. Now, I don't wait until everything feels perfect. So you can't wait until everything feels perfect. If you wait for everything to feel perfect, you'll never ever make the changes that you want to and stay in the momentum stage. So I want you to ask yourself this week what keeps making the right choices harder than they need to be. What are those obstacles in your world that are making the right choices harder than they need to be? And then I want you to remove one obstacle. That's it. Doesn't have to be 10. Maybe you're going to remove the obstacle of grocery shopping and you're going to have it delivered. Maybe you're going to, and everybody, while you're listening to this, I just want to tell you, I spend less money, I don't buy things I don't need because I see them while I'm in the store. I save time and I can actually sit on the sofa with my husband and enjoy his company while we're maybe watching a TV or something. And I'm grocery shopping. Bim, bam, boom, it shows up to the door the next morning. That's all I'm going to say. But for you, maybe one of the obstacles you're going to remove is the constant meal preparation or the not knowing what to cook each night or not having enough time. And you're going to choose to establish a system of some meal prep. Maybe it's going to be putting your phone in another room while you work or laying out your clothes the night before or having a special place that your workout gear is in that's easy to access all the time. So success isn't always about doing more. Sometimes it's about making the right things easier, right? Making your choices fewer, reducing decision fatigue, making things easier. Now shift number four, this is expect resistance. It is almost guaranteed. Just learning how to expect resistance has definitely changed the way I see things and my life. Because just because something feels uncomfortable doesn't mean it's wrong. In fact, in my experience, the discomfort is often proof that you're growing and you're probably moving in the right direction. When I actually started my businesses, I was petrified. It was very uncomfortable. When I wanted to grow, each time I wanted to grow my business and expand into a new location or try a new service or take a new class or change our menu or whatever, it was always uncomfortable. It still can be every once in a while in business. When I wanted to pivot, and I found myself years ago winding up in a coaching capacity with people, and then I wanted to train to do that more formally, and then I wanted to pivot a little bit more to become more of a coach and strategist and so on. That was uncomfortable until it wasn't uncomfortable. And getting healthier, I'll use that one. When I decided that I did not want to choose to go on immunosuppressants, I did not want to go on steroids. I did not want to look at surgery. I did not want whatever our Western medical system had to offer me. And I wanted to heal myself. The thought of saying, oh, yeah, I'm not going to eat as much ice cream. Or I'm not going to have that glass of wine because I tend to notice that I get inflamed afterwards. That was irritating. That was a little uncomfortable in the beginning. Sometimes discomfort, though, is proof that you're growing. You're listening to yourself, you're recognizing things and you're starting to make different. And I have another example. You know, when I started to learn how to say no better, that was very uncomfortable. That was part of setting boundaries. And I'm going to remind you all, no is a complete sentence. So when you're starting to learn to be a little bit truer to yourself, and perhaps that'll mean you're a little less available to do everything and be everything for everyone. No has to come in there somewhere. And that can feel really uncomfortable. Once you get past that, though, and you realize when to say no and not to say no, you will have grown. So the no, saying no, and then the discomfort means you're growing. So when I started slowing down enough to take care of my health again, because I had gotten sidetracked with taking care of everyone else, it felt uncomfortable to slow down and take care of myself in those moments. And it was not because what I was doing was wrong. It will feel uncomfortable simply because it is feeling unfamiliar. Your brain loves familiar. Your nervous system loves familiar. Even when familiar isn't serving you, even when it's not good for you, even when it's not safe for you, if it's what is familiar, your brain and your nervous system will often keep pulling you back to it. Because to your brain and your nervous system, initially, what is familiar feels safer than what is unknown. So don't mistake unfamiliar and uncomfortable for it being wrong. So shift number five is protect who you are becoming. Now, this may be one of the most important things I say today. It's stop measuring yourself by only your results. Instead, start measuring yourself by alignment. And that goes for whether you're measuring results on the scale by a number or dollars and cents in your business. And yes, these are all good metrics for whatever you might be doing, whether or not it's working, but they can be overwhelming, they can stop you in the tracks, and one bad day, one bad number can take away all that momentum. So when you are measuring yourself by your efforts and by the alignment that you are experiencing, that can make all the difference in the world. So ask yourself did I make decisions today that matched the woman I'm becoming? Is what I'm doing in alignment with who I want to become, who I am becoming? So maybe you didn't lose the weight yet. Maybe the business isn't where you want it to be yet. Maybe life is still feeling a little too messy. But did you show up differently today, yesterday, this week? Did you keep your word? Not just to everybody else, but to yourself. Did you choose courage over comfort? Did you choose no over appeasement? These are all victories. Did you choose no over self-sacrifice? These are all victories too. An identity, your identity, needs to change before the results will start to become visible. So this week's challenge that I want to leave you with is I want you to write one sentence, and I want you to complete this. The woman I'm becoming is someone who finish that sentence, write it down. Maybe it's someone who keeps promises to herself. Maybe it's someone who prioritizes herself. Maybe it's someone who speaks up. Maybe it's someone who protects her peace. Maybe it's someone who takes care of her body. So what is yours? Now, every decision you make this week, I want you to ask yourself one question about that decision. Does this decision belong to the woman I'm becoming? Or does it belong to the woman I'm leaving behind? That one question has the power to change everything. Now, I've got one more reflective question for you for this episode, and then we're gonna close. Where am I expecting momentum without creating the conditions for it to grow? Ask yourself that. Where am I expecting momentum without creating the conditions for it to actually grow? Sit with this for the week. Journal about it, be honest with yourself. And again, like everything we talk about, awareness is really where everything starts. And that's where change begins. So one of the things I believe with all my heart is this sustainable success is not built through giant breakthroughs. It's built through small decisions that we make consistently over time. And it's built through protecting your momentum. It's built through becoming the kind of woman who follows through, not perfectly. Lord knows, not perfectly, but consistently. And that's what we're doing together here every Tuesday. It's not just talking about success, but it's learning how to operate in a different way. If today's episode encouraged you, I would love for you to share with someone you know who might be standing at the beginning of their own next chapter. And if you haven't done so already, I'd be grateful if you'd leave a review. It actually helps more women discover the show and become part of this incredible community that we're building. So you can find more resources, coaching opportunities, et cetera, at my website, frederica davis.com, and join the and click the link in the show notes for that or the um. So come join us in the limitless living community. I'll put up some photos of my meal prep if you are curious as to what I did this week. I actually took some photos just for that purpose to give you some ideas. I'm gonna throw it in the group, and that is limitless living for women who are becoming. On Facebook, it's free. I'll put the link in the show notes, as well as my website where you can find more resources. So next week on Sustainable Success Tuesday, so we're gonna talk about one of the biggest habits successful women learn to outgrow. Not because somebody tells them to, but because they realize it is quietly keeping them from the life that they want. So I think it's gonna challenge you in the best way possible. Until then, Thursday is our wellness reset Thursday show. And Saturday we talk about passion and purpose and reinvention and all the wonderful things for what's next for you. So until then, be rooted, be resilient, and be limitless.