Today is the final day of our 7-Figure Travel Business Summit, a 3-day virtual event designed to help travel entrepreneurs who are various stages, from getting started to elevating their existing businesses.

Each day had its own focus: Day one was "Monetize It" – diving into luxury travel trends and strategies that let you work smarter, not harder. Day two, "Market It," was all about creating a cohesive, high-end brand that speaks directly to your ideal clients. And today? "Manage It" – putting all the pieces together to build a sustainable business that grows with you without burning you out.

I love these opportunities to talk directly with advisors. But there's one theme that comes up every single time we get into the nitty gritty of working ON your business versus IN your business: Overwhelm.

And it's not the travel advisor work itself that's overwhelming, it’s everything else. They know what's missing in their business. They know what needs to improve. But tackling it on top of their day-to-day feels completely daunting.

As the hilarious co-emcee of this event (shoutout to Caroline Hollar, our Director of Marketing, for being my hilarious counterpart), I joked about how I talk a big game about how "we" all have the skills and tools to do it all. But let's be real – it's a royal "we." I could never personally balance all the different aspects of being a business owner.

I totally get the overwhelm, especially because we all have our own "thing." As a creative type, I would break into hives listening to Jen Cochrane, our CEO, deliver her talk about business fundamentals like accounting and E&O insurance. Hey, I never claimed to be the entrepreneurial type.

All that to say, I may not have any big answers to combat entrepreneurial overwhelm, but I can offer a little advice from a different perspective that applies to this group.

This may not shock anyone who's interacted with me, but I have ADHD. It comes with positives and negatives. On one hand, I think it plays a huge part of my creative superpower. On the other, doing things that aren't fun but are necessary can feel as painful as waiting in line at the DMV.

ADHD paralysis is real. You literally feel frozen and can't start a task or make a decision. It's not laziness – it's your brain getting overwhelmed and trying to protect itself. Sometimes it shows up as procrastination or zoning out. Sometimes it's sitting on your bed in a towel for 20 minutes, staring blankly at your closet because there are too many outfit options.

Here's a classic example: You have a sink full of dirty dishes. You know it'll take 15 minutes from start to finish to unload and reload the dishwasher. You know you'll feel massive relief once it's done. But logic doesn't help. You're stuck on the couch. Doing those dishes feels like touching an electric fence; nothing's physically stopping you, but your brain won’t let you reach out because it knows it will hurt and is keeping you safe.

Now, maybe you don’t have any issues with getting those dishes done, but this feeling might sound familiar,

You know you need to work on your marketing. You need to set up workflows. You're thinking about hiring. You know that once you take the time to get it done, your life will be easier. You'll have enhanced your business and crossed something off your list.

And yet...

Here's the advice I've heard for ADHDers that also works beautifully for paralyzed entrepreneurs:

Momentum > Motivation

Trying to talk yourself into it because of all the positive benefits clearly isn't enough to offset how huge and overwhelming the task feels. So, what if you stop trying to do the whole thing?

Instead of washing and putting away every single dish, just tell yourself you'll wash one plate. That's it. No pressure to do anything else.

For people with ADHD, sometimes just getting up to do something small tricks your brain. Next thing you know, you've accomplished more than you thought.

And maybe you really will only wash one dish and go back to the couch. At least you accomplished something! Maybe you can't run a mile, but a walk around the block is better than zero exercise.

Start Small, Build Momentum

Maybe you don't overhaul your entire marketing strategy today. But you schedule one post for next week. That's amazing – you've done something to move in the right direction!

To all the travel entrepreneurs out there feeling stuck: find a way to do something small and see how it goes. Commit to creating just one social post. Jot down a few loose notes about a recent client call that could become website copy or a blog later.

You'd be surprised at how much easier it feels once you're already going.

Sometimes you don't need a pep talk. You don't need to shame yourself into action. You just need to find a way to get started.