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You can build a ton of shit that technically works.

A product that converts. A workflow that saves time. A system that looks brilliant on paper.

And still be completely burned out.

I see this constantly. In corporate teams. In creator businesses. In people who look “successful” but are simply drowning.

The issue isn’t that things don’t work. It’s that nothing talks to each other.

Every piece needs babysitting. Updates. Decisions. Your mental bandwidth.

And your gut feels it, right? That persistent background noise. That sense you’re constantly propping up your own creations instead of them working for you.

That’s not scaling. That’s fragmentation.

In my 9-5, I’ve watched teams build tool after tool. All justified. All useful on their own. Zero integration into a coherent system.

The outcome? People exhausted, confused, and weirdly unproductive despite being slammed.

Same pattern in creator businesses. One newsletter over here. A lead magnet nobody downloads. An offer you now feel obligated to support. Scattered Lovable apps no one actually needs.

Separately? Fine. Together? A disaster.

High performers think differently. They don’t ask “Does this work?” They ask “What does this build toward?”

Because if something doesn’t compound into your larger system, it’s draining you by default.

Here’s your GUT check: List everything you’re maintaining right now. Products. Content. Workflows. Commitments.

Then ask the brutal question: “If I killed this, would everything collapse or get clearer?”

If it doesn’t strengthen your core system, it’s stealing energy from it.

Build less. Integrate better. Make your systems work for you instead of the reverse.

Have a GUT time building compound systems instead of energy vampires.

That’s how you win.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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Most people quit right before it gets boring.

They push hard at the start.

They show up loud.

They sprint on motivation.

Then the novelty fades.

The results slow down.

And suddenly it feels pointless.

That’s where they leave.

I’ve watched this pattern for years.

In my teams.

In the business.

In online writing as well.

When things were chaotic, many wanted out.

When systems needed patience, they escaped.

When progress required repetition, they searched for something “better.”

It happened in 2021 in my 9-5.

I had to grow a 40-member team in 2 months. No clear structure or purpose.

It existed only in my mind.

But for them?

Pure chaos.

Clients were complaining, I was busy hiring, and they played firefighters all the time.

“Have faith in me” I used to tell them. Some did, and stayed.

Because I stayed too.

Because I could see what others couldn’t yet.

The boring basics were starting to work.

Structure isn’t sexy.

Consistency isn’t exciting.

Repeating fundamentals doesn’t give you dopamine hits.

But it gives you something better.

Leverage.

Calm.

Authority.

And some room to take a deep breath.

Every meaningful breakthrough I’ve had came from doing simple things longer than others were willing to.

Writing when it wasn’t viral.

Fixing systems instead of chasing new ones.

Repeating the same standards even when no one was watching.

That’s the real unfair advantage.

Not intensity.

Not talent.

Not luck.

Staying when it’s boring.

Most people leave right when compounding is about to start.

Have a GUT time staying longer than others.

That’s how you win.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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Steve Jobs had a simple belief: hire A-players. Then get out of their way.

Why?

Because A-players hire other A-players. They raise standards naturally.

B-players don’t. They hire C-players so they can look smart.

C-players hire D-players to feel safe. That’s how mediocrity spreads.

I’ve seen this play out in my reality too.

The moment standards drop, performance follows.

People don’t become worse at work, just the bar stopped demanding.

And this very much applies to writing online. Most writers think this is corporate BS.

“I’m solo.”

“There’s no team.”

“It’s just me and my Substack.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

Sure. But that’s the lie.

When you write alone, you are the entire hiring committee.

You hire your standards.

Your discipline.

Your tolerance for average.

And here’s the brutal truth.

If you tolerate mediocre writing from yourself, you’re acting like a C-player.

And C-players don’t build exceptional things.

I’ve heard this many times: “Don’t make it perfect, make it exist first”.

That’s valid when you’re new, but it’s mediocrity if you keep it in the long term.

A-player writers edit harder.

They delete lines they like.

They don’t publish “good enough.”

They don’t let weak thinking sneak through just because they’re tired.

They ask different questions:

What would my high-ticket client think when they read this?

Your results are never random.

They’re a reflection of the standard you allow.

So raise the bar.

Then rise to meet it.

That’s how solo creators build world-class work.

That’s how they stand out from the 99% of the rest.

With non-negotiable standards.

So have a GUT time raising your bar.

That’s how you win.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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Something bugs me a lot lately.

It’s the way of thinking I see in some people.

I have a project in my job, which requires some tech development from a 3rd party vendor. It’s a minor fix of an existing process, but they charge % of the development as an annual support fee. I had to approve the payment, so I requested to either remove this support fee or remove the support fee of the original development of that same process.

Once I said that, the room went awkwardly silent.

As if I said something forbidden.

Then someone said “but it has always been this way” and then “why do you care, it’s not your money”.

It’s not MY money, but it’s the money of the company that hired me to take care of such inefficiency.

This way of thinking bugs me a lot.

Zero (personal) responsibility.

Zero efficiency.

That’s why companies, especially corporates, are screwed. They’re full of people who “don’t care”, or worse - they care but they have given up to the status quo.

They’ve accepted the fate of being mediocre.

They come to work thinking what to have for lunch and how to leave early.

But that’s normal.

What bugs me is the behavior of the leadership. The people who see this and allow this to happen.

Because, once again, “it’s not their company”.

That bugs me a lot.

Because if you act from that mindset, you’ll never be able to make it in your own company (when you create one).

You’ll never be able to achieve something of your own.

Because it’s much easier to achieve it with someone else’s company. If you just take responsibility.

I learned this while turning around two multi-million corporations from negative to positive revenue growth.

But most people never reach that level of consciousness.

They run away from responsibility as if it’s some bear in the woods.

Only to realize they’ve been running from their own success.

So today take some GUT time to be personally responsible, even for what’s not “yours”.

It all starts with one simple ask: “What can I personally do to change what I don’t like?”

That’s how you win.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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There’s a myth that productivity comes from doing more.

Filling every hour.

Proving how hard you work.

But here’s what I’ve learned leading teams.

The people who work the hardest rarely innovate. The people who work smartest rarely look busy.

And the ones who change everything?

They’re the ones a little bit “lazy.”

In the good way.

I had a girl on my team years ago.

Young.

Brilliant.

A professional shortcut-hunter.

She questioned everything.

Why are we doing weekly reports manually?

Why are we copying data between three tools?

Why are we reviewing the same thing twice?

Honestly… she annoyed the entire team.

In their eyes she was doing nothing, just complaining. They called her lazy and stupid.

But she simply refused to accept work that didn’t make sense.

One day she walked over to my desk.

“I rebuilt the reporting workflow,” she said.

“I cut it from three hours to twenty minutes.”

She wasn’t bragging.

She was confused why nobody had done it sooner.

That’s when it clearly showed to everyone.

Her “laziness” wasn’t laziness.

It was intelligence in motion.

A refusal to burn energy on tasks that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Hard workers repeat.

Lazy smart workers reinvent.

Every major innovation in history comes from a lazy person.

Someone saying: “I’m not doing it this way. It’s stupid.”

Someone who was thinking how to do this easier, faster, cheaper.

Your gut knows this.

It resists pointless labor.

Sometimes it’s just your intuition calling out inefficiency.

People call that procrastination.

I call it genius.

So today take some GUT time to be strategically lazy.

That’s how you innovate.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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Years ago, I had someone on my team who was brilliant.
Young.
Sharp.
Fast mind.
But inexperienced.

The team was in chaos back then.
I had just stepped in.
I was rebuilding the structure brick by brick.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was progress.

But she didn’t see that progress.
She only saw the chaos.
And she wanted out. Immediately.

She got a new job fast.
More money.
A nicer title.
And, as she proudly told me, “way more stability.”

I told her she was making a mistake.
Not because I needed her. I could replace her in 2 weeks.
I just saw the pattern.

She wasn’t choosing what she wanted.
She was running from what she didn’t.

It’s human nature. You want the escape from the current pain, but when you think about what you actually want, you get stuck.

Twelve months later, she walked back into my office.
Same look I’ve seen so many times:
“I thought it would be different, you were right.”

Her new job?
Even worse chaos.
More politics.
More pressure.
Less growth.
More work, even in the weekend.

Running didn’t save her.
It repeated her reality.
Just in a different building.

So I took her back.
Because she was smart.
And because she was ready to learn the lesson she avoided the first time.

We rebuilt her together.
Slow. Intentional.
One decision at a time.

And here’s the truth she finally understood.

People who choose from fear repeat patterns.
People who choose from clarity create direction.

When you decide from escape, you move in circles.
When you decide from want, you move forward.

So before you make your next decision, ask one question:

“Am I chasing what I want, or am I just running from discomfort?”

Only one of those paths leads to growth.
The other leads you right back to where you started.

That’s how you have a GUT time choosing with direction, not escape.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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Years ago, I walked into a meeting I wasn’t ready for.

One of those “how bad can it be” meetings that turns into a gladiator ring the moment you sit down.

I had slides.

I had data.

But the conversation went off-script in the first five minutes.

“How dare you come to me unprepared?!” - my boss asked.

My heart dropped.

My throat tightened.

My brain tried to exit the room without me.

Then something strange happened.

I stopped thinking.

My gut took over.

I answered questions I hadn’t prepared for.

I pushed back with clarity I didn’t know I had.

I spoke like someone who trusted herself.

And when I walked out of that room, I didn’t feel confident.

I felt like a winner.

That day taught me something I didn’t have words for back then.

I have that covered in depth inside the Quest.

Confidence won’t come out of a thought or a feeling. It comes with evidence.

People try to think their way into it.

Plan into it.

Learn into it.

Strategize into it.

No wonder they stay stuck.

Your nervous system doesn’t believe words.

It believes proof.

It believes the moment you act before you feel ready.

The moment you move while your brain is still negotiating.

The moment your gut whispers “go” and you obey.

Confidence comes after the action. Never before.

That’s how you have a GUT time earning your proof.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

Here’s something no one likes hearing.

Your comfort is costing you more than your failures ever will.

Here’s the truth I found out by living it:

Dragging their energy through tasks that don’t stretch you.

Repeating days that don’t challenge you.

And don’t move you towards your dreams.

That slow internal decay feels safe.

But it’s not.

It’s death by softness.

In the Quest, I talk about the Achiever’s Mindset.

Not the motivational quote stuff.

The real thing.

The version that forces you to meet your potential instead of tiptoeing around it.

And here’s the truth high performers eventually learn.

Not taking risks is the biggest risk.

People say they want success.

But they protect their comfort more than their future.

They overthink, overplan, overlearn.

All passive forms of fear dressed up as productivity.

Achievers move differently.

They feel the fear, and they act anyway.

They don’t wait for courage.

They generate it through motion.

Discomfort is not a sign you’re doing something wrong.

It’s a sign you’re waking up.

So here’s your GUT technique for today:

Pick one thing you’ve been “preparing” to do.

Stop preparing.

Start doing.

Small step. Immediate action. No ceremony.

Clarity comes from movement.

Power comes from choice.

Growth comes from discomfort.

Choose the path that stretches you.

That’s how you have a GUT time.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business with less stress, using AI and automations.

Today I watched Tony Robbins talk about decisions in his AI Summit.

He said every decision has three stages.

• First: decide. Where you make the decision

• Second: commit. Where you commit to making it happen.

• Third: resolve. Where you feel relieved from the final outcome.

Simple. But only one of them gives relief.

The last one. And that’s where most people never arrive.

Because deciding feels powerful.

You get that dopamine rush. You see the vision.

You feel ready.

But then comes the part where you hit the wall.

Doing the thing when no one’s watching.

When the first rush is gone.

When your brain starts whispering, maybe later. That’s hard…

That’s the stage where most dreams die.

Not from lack of talent.

From a lack of commitment.

I’ve seen this in my 9-5, it happens every time I hire a new person. They come motivated, excited, even a bit delusional (in a healthy way).

Then reality hits hard.

Some quit. Some persist.

That’s my test - those who stay are the ones who I need on the job.

In my work, it’s called situational leadership. When you’re new to the task, no matter how experience you had before, you' always face the wall at stage 2.

In the online writing world it’s called consistency.

But it’s simple discipline in execution.

That’s the path.

There’s no other path.

Every breakthrough I’ve ever had — in business, in writing, even in my health — happened because I stayed through that second stage.

The boring, disciplined middle.

That’s where the real decision lives.

Because deciding is not saying yes once.

It’s saying yes every day until the resolution arrives.

That’s how you have a GUT time.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business with less stress, using AI and automations.

Every process in your body has a priority.

And the gut is always first in line.

It’s your survival engine.

When something feels off in your gut, the rest of you — your heart, your mind — will quietly step back.

They wait until balance is restored.

It’s biology, not spiritual fluff.

Your nervous system (you know, that elegant dance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic, i.e. the stressed and the relaxed states) decides what gets power.

Fight or rest.

Survive or heal.

When danger appears, your sympathetic system takes the wheel.

Adrenaline floods in.

Muscles tighten.

You move. Fast.

That’s why when a car rushes toward you, you don’t think.

You react.

Your body keeps you alive before your brain can join the conversation.

And after the danger is gone — that’s when your parasympathetic system whispers:

“Breathe. Balance. Heal.”

The problem?

Most of us never let that part do its job.

We keep our bodies in permanent survival mode. Like driving a car on the lowest gear.

Always one email, one deadline, one fire to stop.

Our gut stays tense.

Our balance never returns.

That’s why you feel foggy after conflict.

Why your creativity disappears when you’re stressed.

Why your heart feels numb even when your calendar looks full.

Because your system is still in fight mode.

But here’s something I realized the hard way:

Stress isn’t the enemy. It’s meant to save you. It’s only when you don’t exit the stress state that it starts to destroy you.

The gut knows this.

It’s been managing your balance long before you learned to call it “stress management.”

So here’s my small GUT technique for today.

It’s so simple that everyone forgets about it.

But it’s so essential to our system.

When you finish a stressful task, don’t move to the next one.

Pause.

Let your system switch back.

Breathe slow. Eat real food. Feel your feet.

That’s not wasting time.

That’s restoring power.

That’s sharpening your axe for the next battle.

Because when your gut is calm, your heart opens.

And your mind starts to work again.

That’s how you win the battle.

It all starts with having some GUT time.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business with less stress, using AI and automations.

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You keep thinking about “finding your purpose.”

But “finding” is passive language.

What I’ve learned the hard way:

You don’t find purpose. You build it.

Brick by brick. Decision by decision.

Through moments that hurt, but still matter.

Most people get stuck not because they don’t know what to do, but because they’re addicted to preparation, planning and strategizing. Or worse - to learning.

Standing still, no action. Waiting to get ready.

Guess what - you’ll never be ready.

Waiting for the perfect next step feels productive, but it isn’t.

Because all that thinking is still passive.

You can’t “think” your way into clarity.

You have to move your way into it.

It’s like having a baby - you’ll never feel ready, but you do it anyway. That’s how you learn what to do next. That’s how you become a good parent. By doing it.

Every piece of progress I’ve ever made — on Substack, in business, in life — started in chaos. I didn’t know the full plan.

Sometimes I knew the next brick. But most of the times I knew I’m gonna find a way. And that’s always enough.

That kind of courage comes from experience - action, not thinking.

And that’s how purpose is built - not through vision boards, but through movement.

Through the act of showing up before you’re ready.

If you feel stuck right now, stop trying to find your purpose.

Start building it.

Take the next small action.

Write the next post.

Publish the imperfect draft.

You’ll figure it out while doing it.

Not before.

That’s how you grow.

That’s how you lead.

That’s how you make money.

That’s how you have a GUT time creating a life that feels like yours.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

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For a long time, I thought success was about knowing more.

Take writing online for example.

Studying algorithms. Reading other writers. Perfecting my positioning.

But the truth?

I was hiding behind “strategy.”

Here’s what I realized:

Every time you say, “I’m still figuring it out,” what you really mean is: “I’m scared to move.”

And here’s the thing: while I was learning, others were publishing.

While I was refining, they were testing.

And while I was trying to get it right, they were already getting results.

There are three kinds of people:

Those who lead the change,

Those who follow it,

And those who fight against it because it doesn’t fit their plan.

Guess which ones win?

The ones who act first.

Because clarity doesn’t come from thinking. It comes from doing, then adjusting.

Here’s the technique I use now: it’s simple, but it changed everything:

Alternate thinking and doing.

Think for an hour, act for an hour.

Plan one day, publish the next.

Don’t wait until it’s perfect, let the doing teach you what the thinking can’t.

When I started alternating, momentum returned.

Ideas connected. My writing got sharper. My results got real.

So if you’re stuck learning how to grow — stop.

Learn a little, act a lot.

That’s how you lead.

That’s how you win.

And that’s how you have a GUT time building your empire.

Yana

P.S. I host a FREE Masterclass about how to build your $5k/month online writing business (it’s free for a limited time).

Attachment.

We’ve developed this for millennia. It’s in our DNA. It’s tied to our survival mechanism so hard that it seems almost impossible to untie.

When a baby is born, it needs someone to take care of it for at least 12 months. We, humans, are one of the very few species on this Planet who need that. Most animals’ newborns can take care of themselves shortly after birth. For humans? If there’s no one around, survival is at risk.

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It’s hard-coded in our primitive brain:

Having someone around = survival. That’s how important relationships are.

The problem?

It’s valid when you’re a newborn, not when you grow up.

Yet this “code” stays.

When you care about someone, it’s a life-or-death situation. You can’t afford to lose them. You have to keep them at ALL COSTS.

That’s the primitive survival mechanism speaking into your head. That’s why some people pass away shortly after they lose their closest.

This is not real. Your brain makes it real, but it’s not.

You can survive alone.

I’ve worked with people in my 9-5 for decades. I keep seeing this same old pattern: attachment.

Of course, we need other people in our lives, but not for survival.

One thing I know about relationships is this:

Every relationship has a purpose.

Some people come for a one-time thing. A helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, a one-night crush. Then you never see them again.

Some people are meant to stay for a while.

Some for a longer while.

And some for life.

But they all have a purpose.

Some to teach you.

Some to grow you.

Some to help you.

And some to simply walk by your side.

But they all go.

You lose them sooner or later. And that’s ok. It’s how it’s meant to be.

What makes it hard to accept: attachment.

Every relationship has a purpose, and that purpose is time-bound. So if you hold on to attachment, you’re stuck in a loop of that very same moment and can’t move on until you let go.

Don’t hold on to attachment.

It’s a false emotion designed to keep us alive.

A technique I use:

• Don’t hold on to attachment. Hold on to who you are.

• Figure out the purpose of this person in your life. Sit with it for a moment.

• Keep the purpose, let go of the attachment. Every time you feel a loss, remember the purpose.

When you figure out the purpose, you’ll also know if it’s time to let go. And suddenly everything comes to its place.

If this is hard, here’s something easier.

It may sound “cold” or “unacceptable,” but it’s how our brains are programmed to operate.

Here it is:

Have more people with the same or similar purpose around you. It tricks your brain into “safety” and the attachment never triggers. The “life-or-death” situation expires because now you have a “replacement”. It’s a healthier place to be.

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And remember to have a GUT time.

Yana

P.S. I’ve covered the attachment-survival link in depth in this video.

Some people succeed easily while most of us struggle.

That’s what I used to think.

And so I struggled.

Until I decided to change the way I was thinking.

And that’s when things started to work for me.

Take my paid newsletter for example.

I’ve grew it to 6k subscribers and $5k/month consistent revenue in less than an year, working just 2 hour per day.

Easy?

Not at all.

But did it happen?

Very much YES!

How?

I just simply refused to stop at the roadblocks.

For me they don’t exist.

Because my thinking was already shifted:

• from “This is not working” - what most people think

• to “I have to find the way it works” - I was confident there is one

I call it the pain paradox: people make taboos out of what they can’t easily achieve, but so desperately desire.

And suddenly not having something becomes the norm.

That’s the thing about social pressure, it’s a hell of a drug.

Most people crave acceptance more than money.

So they copy opinions they don’t even believe in.

Take money for example - just because it’s tough to make a lot of money, people who do are perceived as some evil creatures.

“Having a lot of money is a bad thing” often means “I have no clue how to make them”.

“I hate AI” often means “I’m scared I’ll fall behind the AI hype.”

“I’m not selling in my writing” means “I need money, but I’m terrified to ask for it.”

That pretending is actually pain.

How to deal with it?

Growth mindset.

Shift your focus from the limitations to the opportunities. And suddenly you’ll be able to see them.

That’s what I did.

If I can, you can too.

And remember to have a GUT time!

Yana

A behavioral pattern that feels so natural that it’s almost invisible to recognize.

You have to observe yourself intentionally to notice what’s happening.

Just recently, I learned it’s called “Parkinson’s law”.

It goes like this:

The more time you have to complete a task, the longer it takes to complete it.

It’s the core of procrastination → when there’s no real time pressure you procrastinate.

It was happening to me all the time in my 9-5. And still does sometimes.

I had to learn how to deal with it the hard way.

You know how?

When my boss gives me a task with a 5-day deadline, he asked me the next day why it’s not done.

Every time this caused frustration. Until I realized he was doing it on purpose. Because he know about that behavioral pattern.

So he intentionally shortened the time so that I can speed up delivery.

Because the truth is, when you leave it for the last moment, tons of unexpected roadblocks appear. And then you delay.

In business, one delay can cause millions of revenue loss (not exaggerating here).

So I stopped frustrating myself and started acting on these tasks immediately. So that next time he asks I was already on it.

When I started writing, I noticed this pattern kicked back in me.

And then I realized: I had no boss to kick my ass.

I was my own boss for my writing business.

And that’s a great power that comes with great responsibility. Your success and failure depend on you entirely.

So I had to find a way around it.

But here’s the thing: everything I tried failed.

Because I had tons of internal motivation but zero external motivation. And that’s the type of motivation you need to kick yourself in the ass.

So I had to create one.

Here’s what I did:

• Started a newsletter, so that I have real metrics to measure how I’m doing.

• Enabled payments: this also created another layer of responsibility - to deliver.

• Announced new project I’m gonna build in public - this made my paid members take over the role of my boss.

Now I had to deliver.

Now I had real time pressure coming from my paid subscribers, even if they were silent. I knew that if I don’t deliver, I’m gonna lose them.

And it worked.

Try it. It might work for you too.

If you’re a writer, put yourself at high stakes. And make sure you have external motivation, bound to time pressure. But make it real.

Here’s what’s NOT real:

• Accountability tracker or buddies

• Deadlines or goals you set yourself

• Your friends, family, or other people around you

All of the above create fake urgency and your brain knows that. You need real one.

And by the way, this works for any new task you try to complete, not just writing - go to the gym, meditate, do some breathing, cook at home, etc.

And remember to have a GUT time!

Yana

I’ve worked with people for almost 20 years now. I’ve seen high achievers, I’ve seen low performers.

What sets them apart is not how smart they are.

Neither is how much they work.

It’s also not talent.

It’s their thinking.

The conversation happening in their head.

Especially when there’s a failure.

The thinking pattern of winners:

• failure ->

• what to avoid in the future ->

• what was positive to be replicated in the future ->

• what are my current resources to move forward -> move

The thinking pattern of losers:

• failure ->

• why it went wrong ->

• who to blame -> how to punish them -> stay stuck

Same moment. Different mind.

The blame loop feels smart because it sounds analytical. But it isn’t. It’s a past-obsessed story that keeps you stuck.

The high achiever loop is uncomfortable because it removes your favorite escape path: “It wasn’t me.” It puts you back in the driver’s seat. Now and next.

The difference?

You take personal responsibility for what’s happening.

Because think about it:

You can always (ALWAYS!) do something to improve any shitty situation you’re in. If you can’t, then it’s none of your business.

Read that again.

Most people fail at two steps:

1. They blame others and fail to see what actions they can personally take to improve the situation in their favor, OR

2. They can’t do anything, but they stay stuck in a situation, which is not theirs in the first place.

Here’s a simple 2 - step technique I use to grow my people to high achievers:

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Step 1: Personal responsibility: whenever you face a negative situation (even thought or emotion), think: “What can I PERSONALLY DO to improve this?”

Forget about what others say or do. You can’t change them. But you can change you.

Step 2: Use powerless vs. powerful questions technique. Next time you talk to yourself (and others) use powerful questions. Talk about what’s positive and think about the now and the future. Remember the loop from above (failure -> what to avoid in the future -> what was positive to be replicated in the future -> what are my current resources to move forward -> move) - powerfull questions supercharge you, they move you forward.

Most people use powerless questions - they drain your energy and keep you stuck. They are always about what’s negative and in the past. Remember the loop from above (failure -> why it went wrong -> who to blame -> how to punish them) - they keep you stuck.

Here’s how this looks like:

Why this works?

• it’s positive

• it’s action oriented

• it moves you towards better results

Your chain of thought:

1. “What will I not repeat?”

2. “What was good here that I’ll replicate?”

3. “Given my current time/skills/people, what’s the next smallest step?”

4. Do that step. Today.

That’s it. Four lines. Back to work.

You’re not your failure.

You’re the owner of what happens next.

Design that.

And remember to have a GUT time!

Yana

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For years, I thought productivity was about finishing more tasks. That I had to manage my time better so that I could deliver more in less time.

And I tried, oh how did I try…

But all I managed to do was burn myself out.

Nothing worked…

Until one day.

We had a corporate event, my boss was speaking on stage. A great leader. Somehow, he managed to make us overdeliver continuously. And he always spotted when someone is about to burn out, and immediately sent them home.

He is always working on self-improvement, even tapping into the intuition and spiritual stuff. That’s why I admire him.

I love to have people who aim to grow beyond their limits.

Because you can only grow when you’re surrounded by the right people.

So he was on stage talking about productivity. And there’s the thing he said:

Stress is a function of the amount of your tasks and the level of your energy.

We’re both analytical people, so I immediately got what he meant.

That was a huge eye-opener for me.

I realized: it’s not about the tasks. Or the time. It’s about the energy you bring to them.

Let me break it down:

• Energy > Tasks → boredom. You’ve got gas in the tank, but nothing worth driving to. That’s where you’re bored.

• Energy = Tasks → flow. That sweet spot where time feels endless and you feel unstoppable. That’s creative flow.

• Energy < Tasks → challenge. Not easy, but doable. You stretch, but you make it. That’s where you grow.

• Energy << Tasks → stress. Now you’re drowning, even if the list isn’t that long. The smallest thing is irritating you. That’s where you start falling behind.

• Energy <<< Tasks → burnout. You don’t want to be here. It happens when you don’t cut the above process.

Do you see the pattern? Maybe not yet.

Let me make it more specific:

• 100 x Energy > 10 x Tasks → boredom.

• 10 Energy = 10 Tasks → flow.

• 7 Energy < 10 Tasks → challenge.

• 5 Energy << 10 Tasks → stress.

• 1 Energy <<< 10 Tasks → burnout.

The workload doesn’t change. The energy does.

So if you want to stay productive long-term, stop obsessing over your to-do list.
Prioritize your energy.

When your energy is high, you can deliver anything. On time.

Things that increase energy:

• High-quality sleep (alcohol ruins the quality of your sleep - I saw it my sleep tracker)

• Feed your guts (not your eyes or your taste)

• Move your body (your brain works better)

• Breathe, here’s the best technique I know, works like meditation (I also know it from him)

And say no to the tasks that don’t deserve even a tiny piece of your energy.

One thing you can try with your tasks today:
Look at your list. Don’t ask, “What needs to be done?”
Ask, “What’s my energy level right now, and what matches it best?”

That’s my “secret”. That’s how I started delivering more in less time - by just taking care of myself.

You can do it too.

And remember to have a GUT time in the process.

Yana

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Here’s the thing.
You don’t control anger, or fear, or shame. They happen before you even notice.

Your heart rate spikes, your breath shortens, your stomach twists, by the time you’re aware of it, your nervous system has already hit the gas.

These processes are not conscious, so you can’t control them.

The question isn’t: “How do I stop this?”
The question is: “What do I do now that it’s here?”

One of my people from my team in my 9-5 told me once, “I keep exploding at work. I regret it every time, but it happens so fast. I just can’t stand people who pretend they’re working.”

Valid point.

We’re at work to work and deliver results. Not to like each other.

I keep repeating this, and most people hate me for it. But they also realize it’s true.

Back to that person.

A high achiever, but a total emotional mess. I asked her: “What if the problem isn’t that you feel all that anger… but that you obey it?”

See, negative emotions are not here to rule you. They’re just signals, like an internal Morse code. They’re designed to make you move, act on something that’s misaligned with your values.

Don’t try to suppress them (because that’s what people do when they try to “control” emotions). Utilize them. Make them your best friend.

• Anger isn’t “yell”, it’s “boundary crossed.”

• Fear isn’t “quit”, it’s “something important here.”

• Sadness isn’t “break”, it’s “something valuable is gone.”

What these signals do is to alert you about an internal conflict - between what’s happening and your core values.

So the point is not to kill these signals, it’s to decode them and act on them. The right way.

It’s about how you can act on them, not react to them.

And that takes practice.

My technique:

1. Notice what’s happening, just simply observe your emotional state.

2. Name it - how do you feel.

3. Understand why - what made you feel that way. Where’s the conflict? Which of your core values got crossed?

4. Analyze - seek evidence. 99% of the times there’s none. You feel that way because of an assumption.

5. Find that assumption. Prove that it’s false. Problem solved.

I use the very same technique to help that same person. She got promoted twice and is now one of the most valued experts in her field, advising the board of the biggest bank in my country.

And when I see something like this happen, I know I’ve succeeded.

Because once you realize the emotion is a signal, not an order, you stop being dragged by it. You can still feel it fully. But you’re the one who decides what happens next.

And remember to have a GUT time in the process.

Yana

P.S. If you want to deep dive into emotions, you might want to check this video.

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People say you’re only a loser when you give up.

But that’s not to take literally.

Sometimes we tend to stubbornly try one and the same things expecting different result. Over and over and over again.

I’ve seen this in my 9-5 many times. It’s in the human nature to do that. This favorite book of mine described it very well. Yet it’s the definition of insanity, as Einstein said it.

Sometimes you just have to give up.

But that doesn’t make you a loser.

Not giving up the final goal means sometimes giving up the wrong ways to achieve it.

But how do you know it’s time to give up? Or change the way. Is it too soon? Is it too late?

The million dollar question, right?

Here’s a technique I use in my, proven for 9-5 for years:

• Run a MVP (minimum viable product) of your idea. Sometimes you can’t, but most of the times you can. Just think how you can test it with limited exposure.

• After a month measure results and and try to calcullate scalability

• If it works - scale. If it doesn’t - drop it

It doens’t make you a loser. It’s a neccessary cut - one that you need to help you get to your goal faster.

That’s how you quit, to actually win.

And rememebr to have a GUT time in the process

Yana

P.S. If you want to deep dive into growth mindset, you might want to check this video.

Humans love labels.

She’s lazy. Or stupid. Or both.

He’s brilliant. A genius.

They’re difficult.

But the truth is people are processes.

A process of constant change.

We’re always in motion.

Always learning. Always shifting.

Neuroplasticity exists for a reason. Our brains literally rewire with every experience.

Yet we tend to label people based on our first impression. That’s why people say it’s so important. But this entire process is wrong on so many levels.

I’ve seen this many, many times. Too many to rewire my brain and stop labeling.

I've seen how one and the same person is a top performer in one team and a leader.

The next day they changed the team and the leader, and guess what?

Bottom 10%.

So which one is it? A fuckup or a high achiever?

And who decides? And who is to blame?

Truth is neither is valid. Or permanent.

We change.

Change is the only constant thing in life. And so it's valid for humans.

And yet…we crave completeness.

We want to make fast decisions about most things.

It feels unnatural to stay indecisive and leave it open to change.

So we label. Before we even get a glimpse of the full picture.

A technique I use:

1. Observe your thoughts like an external viewer.

   Detach. Watch what your mind is doing. Are you labeling humans, animals, objects?

2. Spot the label.

   Each time you reduce someone to a single word, pause.

3. Ask:

   “Is that person really equal to that label?”

   Or are they just in a process of becoming someone (not something) else?

Tomorrow, they will be someone new.

And so will you.

Because that’s the purpose of life: it’s never about what you achieve, it’s all about who you become.

And remember to have a GUT time in the process!

Yana

P.S. Like it? Hate it? Drop me a comment either way. I’d love to be challenged.

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