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42. The One Where You Just Do the Thing
19 Plays1 month ago
In this short and punchy solo episode, Victoria dives into something we all experience - putting things off, overthinking, and building simple tasks up into something far bigger than they need to be.
After sharing her own honest (and very relatable) struggle with getting back to the gym, she unpacks how quickly our minds can create excuses, distractions, and stories that keep us stuck.
This episode is your reminder that sometimes… the answer isn’t more planning, more thinking, or more “perfect timing.”
Sometimes, it’s simply: just do the thing.
In This Episode, We Cover:
- How easily we build small tasks into overwhelming obstacles
- The fine line between valid reasons and self-sabotage
- The role of self-awareness in catching your own excuses
- “Paralysis by analysis” and how overthinking keeps us stuck
- Why action creates momentum (and motivation follows after)
- A simple mental trick to help you move through resistance
- Real-life examples of pushing through discomfort (gym, bungee jumping, everyday tasks)
Questions to Reflect On:
- What have I been putting off that I know would make me feel better?
- Is this a genuine reason… or an excuse?
- What’s one thing I could do today that would take less than 10 minutes?
- Where am I overthinking instead of taking action?
Your Challenge:
Pick one thing you’ve been avoiding - big or small - and just do it today.
No overthinking.
No overplanning.
No waiting for the “right time.”
👉 Count it down if you need to: 3… 2… 1… go.
Final Thoughts
This episode is your loving nudge (or kick up the butt 😉) to stop delaying and start doing.
Because the truth is…
You already know what to do.
Now it’s time to follow through.
Connect with Victoria
Instagram: @the.victoria.r
Website: www.victoria-r.com.au
Email: hello@victoria-r.com.au
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Transcript
Insights from Christy McVie's Interview
00:00:38
Victoria R
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Mindful Educator podcast. Thank you so much for joining me this week. so hopefully last week you were able to tune in and hear the interview that I did um with Christy McVie.
00:00:51
Victoria R
ah Honestly, i reckon the information that she shared was so, so useful, um especially for parents, for educators,
00:01:02
Victoria R
anyone kind of working with children and it's such a minefield when you kind of are trying to navigate protective behaviours and technology and keeping your children safe. So yeah, it was really lovely being able to speak to her and she just seems like an amazing person as well. That was the first time I'd actually spoken to Christy and yeah, she's lovely. so make sure you're following her along.
Exploring Mind-Body Correlation
00:01:24
Victoria R
um And this week I just wanted to have a bit of a chat about um just our minds and a few things that I've kind of come across. So me being me, I am actually um doing some more study in regards to this. So i'm actually doing some um kind of nervous system, emotional processing type study, and it's been so interesting. And I just love learning this sort of stuff and learning more about how our minds and our brains and our bodies and everything works and how it all kind of correlates with each other. And one thing that has been coming up for me a lot is
00:02:01
Victoria R
You know how when you're kind of something, there's something that you need to do and or there's something that you want to do but you build it up to be bigger than Ben-Hur in your
Overcoming Barriers to Gym Return
00:02:11
Victoria R
mind. So, you know, for example, for me, it's been getting back to the gym. So i haven't been to the gym, it's probably been well over a month and, you know, different reasons for this. You know, we've been away, we've been renovating our rental unit, we've been doing, you know, like there's been lots of other stuff happening.
00:02:29
Victoria R
And it kind of was building up to be something really big in my mind. And I just, you know, i was like, oh, I'm too tired or I'm too sore or you know, how all the excuses start coming out.
00:02:42
Victoria R
And it's like, wait a minute, why have I got all these excuses when I literally just need to put my sneakers on and just go, like, let's just stop complicating this. And the thing is I went and I like i felt so much better afterwards. like So I went this morning, I was like, no, enough of your bullshit, Victoria. Yeah.
00:03:03
Victoria R
and let's just get this done. And obviously I'm all for respecting how you're feeling at the time and your energy levels and all the rest of it. But sometimes you just need to give yourself a kick up the ass. Let's be honest.
00:03:17
Victoria R
And I think we can really fall into this trap where we're like, oh, you know, this has happened or I'm feeling this way and I'm not quite feeling it and blah, blah, blah. And this is literally where all the excuses start coming out. And this is where we kind of need to have that ability to call ourselves out on our own shit.
Identifying Excuses vs. Legitimate Reasons
00:03:38
Victoria R
And it's such a tricky thing to do because, you know, we can make excuses until the cows come home and you hear it, you hear it a lot, especially in coaching. You hear, it you pick up on the excuses that people have. And I'm not saying that they're not valid because there are definitely some valid um reasons as to why people may not be able to do stuff.
00:03:58
Victoria R
But it's kind of that fine line between, know, you know, having a legitimate excuse and then just enabling, all right? And you've got to kind of have that discernment, all right, where where am I sitting? And you need to be honest with yourself here. Am I just, you know, literally...
00:04:13
Victoria R
like trying to pull the wool over my own eyes or can I genuinely not go and commit to this? And this is where we having that self-awareness and having that ability to move through that and to pick yourself up on those things is such a good skill to try and work on. And this happens to all of us. I reckon you get the most highly motivated, successful people in the world and they will still have times
Acting Without Overthinking
00:04:38
Victoria R
like this. And it's literally okay.
00:04:41
Victoria R
I've recognized that there's a bit of a pattern here or I've recognized that what I'm saying to myself and what I'm not doing is not necessarily in alignment with who I'm wanting to be or who I am. So how do I kind of get myself over there? And sometimes it literally is just, just do the darn thing.
00:04:59
Victoria R
Stop overthinking it. Stop coming up with all the plans. Stop writing like, you know, your five-step routine on how to get there. Just freaking do it.
00:05:11
Victoria R
And I find this can be so useful with most things. And I know it's like anything when you overthink it, it's like the, what's the, I know I've said this word, but I've said it before, like the paralysis by analysis. I've said that before. And I know it was something that i keeps coming up because it's so true. And for me, so many years ago, went bungee jumping. And for me, it was a case of like, this way before kids.
00:05:37
Victoria R
I literally just had to count down and pretend I was diving off a block into a swimming pool because the longer I stood there, the more excuses I would come up with as to why I couldn't do it. And that same technique is what got me, you know, jumping off the jetty here in town. Again, like, you know, the jetty is not that high, but when you're standing there looking to jump in, it's like, ooh, okay, this is really high and that's really far down and I don't think I can do this and I'm not really that great and everyone's going to be looking at me. And like you could, you literally, that's like your brain just has this weird narrative where And so it was like, okay, I'm just going to count down from three, three, two, one, jump.
Navigating Gym Challenges
00:06:10
Victoria R
Like that's literally kind of how I had to do it. And this is how I might write. If something is playing on my mind, if I'm, you know gas, it's almost like gaslighting yourself. I'm like gaslighting myself as to why I'm, you know, can't do something or whatever it might be. How can I just move through this? And so for me, it was like, you know what, Victoria, get up, get into your workout gear. And i was like, oh,
00:06:34
Victoria R
maybe I just go for a walk. matt I might just go for a walk. I'm not really feeling it today. you know, I'm still a bit sun, a bit tired from going to Perth on the weekend. i'm learneded there but Like this is literally my inner monologue this morning. And I was like, no, enough of this, enough. Like drop the kids at school and let's get to the gym. And so that's what I did.
00:06:55
Victoria R
to be the I messaged my sisters and I'm like, oh man, I think I've walked into the gym on like bro day. It was just, there was men everywhere. was like, oh, okay. Normally it's really quiet at this time of day, but there was a lot of people, but I'm like, no, no, we're here. We're doing it. And so I, it's actually been that long, like that the sweat app that I use, my membership has finished.
00:07:21
Victoria R
didn't even know because I haven't been on there in over a month. So I was like, Ooh, Ooh. And so like, there was lots of reasons as to why I could have easily just turned around and gone back home. You know, the fact that there was so many men in the vicinity, it was really busy. which for our small gym, that that doesn't happen very often. The fact that my app that I use and do my workouts from my subscription had expired.
00:07:46
Victoria R
So there was lots of little things and it was like, no, let's just do it. And like I said, I have felt so much better from doing that as a result. And It's actually helped as we knew
Benefits of Consistent Gym Attendance
00:07:59
Victoria R
it would. Like, come on. It's helped with my focus today. It's helped with my motivation. I feel really good within myself.
00:08:06
Victoria R
And I'm like, why do we keep putting these things off? And it's not just the gym. Like, that's it for me. But what is it for you? What is something that you've been putting off? It's like, you know, we put off making those appointments. We put off um doing the paperwork, mind you.
00:08:22
Victoria R
paperwork like no one I know people mention like you know that side of adulting wasn't great but it's like really how many papers do we need to fill in how many forms do we have to do anyway I'm getting distracted um so what is it that you have been putting off that is actually something that will either a make you feel really good after Or B, actually isn't that hard and could be done within like 10 minutes. so have a bit of a think and whatever it is, let's just do it.
00:08:53
Victoria R
Let's just get it done. If it's you trying to get back into exercise, just freaking go and do it. And let me know after this afterwards how you felt because I guarantee you probably feel a hell of a lot better. um If it's something that you've been putting off that literally would be less than 10 minutes,
00:09:09
Victoria R
in total that it will take you to do. Just do it
Motivation to Stop Procrastinating
00:09:13
Victoria R
Okay. so this is my little public service announcement to us all to stop delaying, stop procrastinating. Let's put our big girl knickers on and let's just get the shit done because guaranteed you're going to feel a hell of a lot better for having done it.
00:09:32
Victoria R
All right. So that's my little motivational talk for you on a Wednesday, a very short um episode today, because yeah, let's not, you know, put your foot around this. Let's just get it done.
00:09:44
Victoria R
All right. And yes, I will be going back to the gym because I really enjoyed it. And this is the thing. I know I enjoy it. And I was putting it up maybe bigger in my mind than what it actually was. So there you go. Even the best of us can do that.
00:09:57
Victoria R
Guarantee every human goes through this at some time. So let's just move our way through that. And if you need to, just count down and jump. All right. Have a great day, everyone.