Name the task, goal, or responsibility you keep avoiding. Be specific. This is your anchor for everything that follows.

Every avoidance pattern has a starting point — a situation, thought, or feeling that activates it. Identify yours.

The moment the trigger hits, your body and mind respond automatically. This is the emotional and physical experience of resistance — before you've done anything yet.

This is the avoidance behavior — the routine that interrupts the discomfort. It feels like relief in the moment. It's not laziness. It's a learned strategy.

ACTION — The Avoidance Routine

What do you actually do when resistance shows up?

Procrastivity — doing useful but non-essential tasks (cleaning, organizing, emails) Doom-scrolling — phone, social media, video Research spiral — over-preparing, excessive planning, never starting Shutdown — checking out, napping, disengaging entirely Perfectionism — waiting for the "right" moment, conditions, mood, or plan Busyness — staying constantly active so the task never has space to surface

Describe what your avoidance actually looks like on a typical day:

This is the most important step. Avoidance works — that's why it persists. Understanding the payoff is how you stop judging yourself and start changing the pattern.

PAYOFF — The Reinforcement

The relief feels good. That's the problem — and the key.

Weigh both sides — what does avoidance give you, and what does it cost you?

Payoff — What avoiding GIVES me (short-term relief, protection, comfort)	Cost — What avoiding TAKES from me (long-term consequences)

The honest question — is the short-term payoff worth the long-term cost?

The Exit — Choose Your Map-Breaker

Now that you can see the T.R.A.P., you can interrupt it. You don't have to break the whole cycle at once — you just need to change one thing. Choose the Map-Breaker that fits your situation.

1. The "What's Next?" Framework Bypass the Reaction phase entirely by naming the absolute smallest physical action required to begin. Not "work on my resume" — but "open the document." Not "start the job search" — but "write down three companies I'd like to work for." Make it so small that resistance has nothing to grab onto.

2. Planned Procrastination Convert accidental delay into a scheduled pause. Instead of "I'll do it later" (which becomes never), you decide: "I'm choosing not to work on this until Thursday at 2pm." This removes the shame spiral and works with your natural tendency to work in focused bursts — rather than against it.

3. Ambivalence Journaling When the real block is internal conflict — part of you wants this, part of you doesn't — write both sides out. The resistance loses power when it's no longer hidden. Name the desire. Name the fear. Put them on paper where you can actually look at them.

Reframe the Belief

The thought resistance tells me...

→

A more accurate / useful belief...

My very next action is...

Name the action, not the intention. One specific physical step. The smaller and more concrete, the better.

Bring to coaching session — what do I want to talk through?

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