The only thing standing between you and the life you want is a list of micro-blockers

Not ”massive, insurmountable obstacles.” Just micro-blockers.

Aug 30, 2024

For most of the time that I lived in the Bay Area, I rented a house with two friends. (Both of whom now subscribe to this newsletter — Hi guys! 👋🏽)

Because we weren’t in SF proper, we had ✨a lawn✨.

But I’ll be honest… Our lawn looked like crap.

It was a dry, overgrown, crazy mess.

We never mowed it. Our landlord didn’t do anything about it.

When Uber Eats drivers would come to our door, they would regularly look horrified and offer to help us out 😱

Now, I won’t speak for my roommates… (I promise I’m not passive aggressively attacking you guys 😂)

But why did I never do anything about this lawn?

It’s not that I didn’t WANT to have a nice lawn. That would have been great!

And it’s not that I’m not capable of mowing a lawn. Of course I am!

So why didn’t I do anything about it?

The only thing that stood between me and a nice, normal lawn was a list of micro-blockers.

Here are some of the micro-blockers on that list—

Should I hire someone, or should I try to do it myself?
Where would I get a lawnmower?
How do you even turn a lawnmower on?
What if I stand like an idiot in my front yard struggling with the mower, and everyone laughs at me?
What if I hire someone but they totally fleece me?
What kind of clothes should I wear while mowing the lawn? Do I have the right clothes?
Is it even worth it to tackle this project?

There’s a reason I call these “micro-blockers” and not ”massive, insurmountable obstacles.”

These aren’t super complicated issues that require tons of analysis to work through.

These aren’t super scary issues that require me to face my greatest fears and most deep-seated traumas.

They’re just simple, small micro-blockers.

I probably could have worked through them in an hour or two, with a little thinking, a little googling, and a little conversation with my roommates.

It doesn’t even matter if the ultimate answer I got to was hire someone, do it myself, or decide that the project isn’t worth it.

No matter what the answer, at least I would have felt settled about it.

And yet, despite how simple and small these micro-blockers are…

If I don’t work through them, I can’t create a nice lawn.

In fact, I didn’t work through the micro-blockers.

I didn’t create a nice lawn.

And I also didn’t feel settled about NOT creating a nice lawn.

So what’s the un-mowed lawn in your life right now?

Maybe it’s senior level meetings that you want to speak up in more boldly…

But you find yourself shrinking back and sticking to presenting the slides without throwing your opinion into the mix.

Maybe it’s a career pivot that’s been idly in the back of your mind for a while…

But you can’t seem to take the first step toward it, and you’re not sure why.

Maybe it’s an opportunity that you think you’d be a great fit for…

But you keep saying “I’ll reach out to them tomorrow” and kicking the can down the road.

And what if the only thing standing between you and the things you want…

Is NOT a bunch of huge, complex, scary obstacles that will take months and years to work through…

But rather a simple list of micro-blockers that you could knock out relatively quickly, one by one?

I don’t know whether you should mow the lawn or not.

But I think you should work through your micro-blocker list…

Make a proactive decision rather than sliding into the default…

And feel SETTLED and ALIGNED about whatever you decide.

And that’s exactly what I help my clients do in coaching.

So come talk to me, and let’s start today :)

Book a free consult call

What my clients have to say…

“Pooja has a really good balance of validating your emotions but also giving feedback and being upfront like, ‘Hey, I’ve seen this pattern in you.’

That made me trust her and her frameworks — she is really looking out long term for the client’s best interest.”

—Client | CEO, PE-backed company

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