262804066 182. When Your Goals Give You Anxiety (Here's How I Processed It) | Part 1 - Beyond Awareness: Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

Episode 182

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Published on:

30th Sep 2025

182. When Your Goals Give You Anxiety (Here's How I Processed It) | Part 1

I opened Google Docs at 9am and just started typing. Bullet points, random thoughts, full-on word vomit. My brain was spiraling about something I actually WANTED for my son—sending him to Montessori.

I'd been dreaming about this since he was a baby. But as the start date got closer? How will I work with only 2 hours to myself? What if I can't handle being in mom mode all morning? What if I become that overstimulated, impatient version of myself I hate?

In this episode, I walk you through my actual brain dump from February—the fears, the scheduling panic, the limiting beliefs, and exactly how I used strategic journaling to process it all instead of just white-knuckling through.

You'll hear:

  • Why wanting something can still feel terrifying (and what that means)
  • The two things I did OUTSIDE of journaling that regulated my nervous system before the change even happened
  • How to untangle "I'm excited" from "I'm overwhelmed" when they're happening at the same time

If you're staring down a major schedule change—less childcare, a new job, homeschooling, or just life throwing you a curveball—this will help you move from "I can't do this" to "okay, I can figure this out."

Next Tuesday, Part 2 drops with the real update after a month of living this new reality. Did I spiral? Thrive? Find my flow? You'll find out.

Ready to work together?

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About the Podcast

Beyond Awareness: Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Beyond Awareness (formerly Journal Entries) is for successful women in leadership and business who know exactly what they need to do but can't make themselves do it.

You know you need to prioritize yourself, delegate more, set boundaries, stop bringing work home. You've tried therapy, coaching, retreats. You know the solution - but you either can't follow through, or when you DO, it doesn't stick.

Host Samantha Hawley helps business owners and executives earning $100k+ excavate the root beliefs underneath the execution gap. Why do you keep not doing the thing? Why doesn't it feel better when you do? Using strategic journaling and emotional excavation, we go beyond awareness into why you're actually stuck in the pattern.

This isn't about more tactics or tips. This is about understanding why awareness isn't enough and what actually needs to shift for you to change.

You'll hear about: decision fatigue, why you can't prioritize yourself, nervous system regulation, being present with your kids, root cause of overwhelm, why boundaries don't stick, self-sabotage patterns, and how your internal state impacts everything.

Perfect for: Female CFOs, VPs, directors, executives, business owners, and women in leadership who are tired of knowing what's wrong but not being able to change it.
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Samantha Hawley