"Outcome Over Effort"

This week on WORDS MATTER, Deanna Ley, The Catalytic Coach, opens up about a moment when the weight of a task felt bigger than it should have. One shift changed everything — a shift that brought her back to purpose, steadied her steps, and gave her the clarity she needed to move again.

“Outcome Over Effort.”

Those three words became the anchor after she heard Scott Adams ask a question that stopped her mid-scroll:

“What if laziness is nothing but a habit of thinking about the effort instead of thinking about the outcome?”

What unfolded next is a story about refocusing on what completion gives you, instead of what the work demands from you. It’s a reminder that your attention can either trap you in hesitation or pull you forward.

What Listeners Will Learn:
• Why effort feels heavier when your mind fixates on the cost
• How outcome-focus restores direction and motivation
• How to interrupt avoidance when resistance shows up
• Why one simple action can restart momentum
• Five practices to help you follow through when the task feels big

Memorable Quotes:
• “Outcome Over Effort.”
• “What if laziness is nothing but a habit of thinking about the effort instead of thinking about the outcome?” — Scott Adams
• “When your mind replays the effort, the purpose slips out of view.”
• “The task didn’t shrink, but the focus changed the way forward.”
• “One small step creates motion.”
• “Effort has always led to something worthwhile.”
• “Lift your gaze. Focus on what finishing gives you.”

This episode reminds you that movement returns the moment you reconnect with the payoff waiting on the other side of the work.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

Well, hey there friends, welcome back. Welcome back to another episode of WORDS MATTER. I want to share something that happened to me last month. Something that created this massive mind shift in me. And I think you're going to relate to it, and hopefully it'll help shift yours, too. So... buckle up.

I was about a week into launching my I CHOOSE ME No Sugar | No Flour 30-Day CHALLENGE COURSE. Now this course had been on my mind for well over a year and a half. I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure which platform to use or how to organize everything in a way that felt right — in a way that felt like me. So every time I started thinking about the project, the size of it is what stalled me out.

But eventually I got so tired of the mental load of it — the thinking about it, the hanging of it over my head — that I told myself, “That's it. Enough is enough. Let's just get the dang thing done.” And once I made that decision, I spent hours learning this new platform, setting up all the content, creating these magical automations that would guide each person who enrolled in the course through each of the 30 days seamlessly. I wanted it to function smoothly and to be something that they didn’t even have to think about.

So I put in a lot of effort — late nights, long stretches, learning all these new tools. And it created this brain strain — you know the type that comes from diving in deep to something new and unfamiliar. It was worth it for sure, but it was a lot. So when it finally launched on October 1st, I felt really relieved and proud and honestly a little amazed that I had pushed through something that had felt so overwhelming for so long.

Like I said, about a week into it, something happened. I logged in to check an automation and realized that one piece of it hadn't been set up correctly. And that single missing detail? It affected everything connected to it.

So the moment I saw that, I felt this instant hit of panic knowing how important that part of the process was. And that panic shifted into frustration and then into being irritated with myself for not knowing what I didn’t know when I first built it. But once those emotions settled, all I could see was the amount of work ahead of me. The effort felt humongous, especially after everything it took just to get the course launched.

That mix of emotions, it stirred up a lot in me. I cared about getting it right. I cared about the people who took the course. I cared about the promise I had made to myself — and to them. And I could feel how much this rebuilding was going to take from me. And while that feeling is pretty familiar — it’s not foreign — I’m sure we can all agree that there are these parts of our lives that feel like a lot.

Maybe for you it’s that one time at your job where you overlooked something and it meant having to redo hours of work. Or maybe it was parenting when a small miscommunication turned into an entire evening of apologizing or healing. Maybe it’s been with your health — maybe some choices that pulled you off your path — and so returning to your routine took a lot more mental energy than you expected.

Could have been with a relationship when a simple misunderstanding required so much time, energy, and effort because of the emotions that ran so high because of it. Well, I think we can all agree again that sometimes everyday life just piles up and the weight of starting feels way harder than it should.

We know the feeling of looking at something that matters a lot to us and then feeling overwhelmed — the burden of it — thinking, “Can’t this just be done? Why does it have to be so much work?” And that’s exactly where I was. So being faced with that realization and the amount of effort it was going to take me to fix my mistake, I did what anyone would have done in that moment. I grabbed my phone and started to scroll. Yep.

Doom scrolling solves everything, doesn’t it, friends? Yeah... something I often do when I don’t want to deal with what’s in front of me — when the messiness of a mistake I made is front and center. But thankfully, that day I came across a TikTok video. It was Scott Adams, the creator of the cartoon Dilbert, saying something that completely stopped me in my tracks. He said,

“What if laziness is nothing but a habit of thinking about the effort instead of thinking about the outcome?”

I stopped scrolling, and I played it again and again and again and again, and then a light came on in this brain of mine. I wasn’t lazy. My attention had focused on the cost — all the hours that I’d already poured into it and the hours I imagined it would take to repair what I had built.

See, when your mind keeps replaying the effort, the purpose behind the work you have to do slips out of view. When I finally asked myself, “What will my life look like and feel like once this is fixed?”, something shifted. I pictured the course running the way it should. I pictured the relief of knowing people were well taken care of. And I pictured the quiet in my mind once the weight of that was gone.

That single question eased all the pressure I felt. The task itself didn’t shrink, but it no longer felt impossible. My focus changed the way forward.

It reminded me of how often we talk ourselves out of good things without even realizing it. It isn’t about lacking drive. Our minds try to protect us from anything uncertain, and that protection can make the work grow in our heads until it feels heavier than it should. The very thing that feels weighty is often the thing that gives us the most amount of relief once it’s done.

I closed TikTok, opened up the automation platform, and fixed what needed to be fixed. It took a lot of time. I had to figure things out. It took a lot of effort. But the outcome? Magical. And that’s what today’s quote is all about. 

“Outcome Over Effort.” 

Three words. One practice. And a whole new way forward.

“Outcome Over Effort” means keep your attention on what finishing delivers. That’s your fuel. That’s your doorway to action. And since that day, I see it everywhere.

Now you might notice it in the projects you’ve been putting off. Maybe the closet you keep meaning to clean, the stack of paperwork that moves around your house, the small repair that you avoid because it feels annoying or time consuming. You might notice it in the phone call you’ve been delaying — not because you don’t want the reconnection, but because you’re picturing the uncomfortable beginning instead of the ease that might follow.

You might see it in your health journey. One decision can feel like a mountain when you’re focused on the interruption of the moment instead of the lift that waits on the other side. And it shows up also in your long-term goals — that writing project, or business idea, the habit you want to build. When the learning curve looks steep and hard, it’s easy to pause.

But when you focus on the relief and the progress that comes with completing it, the first step feels a lot more doable, doesn’t it? Now these examples, they’re not meant to be dramatic. They’re real life. Places where effort grows louder than the outcome — until you shift your attention. When you do, movement follows.

See, when I let myself sit in this truth, I saw how many moments in my life shifted the instant I reconnected with the outcome versus the effort. It wasn’t about being fearless. It was about being honest with myself about what mattered.

And since this epiphany, I tell you what, there are five things that I’m working on turning into habit. These are all places I return to when I feel myself hesitating or making the effort a bigger story than it needs to be.

First, I ask myself the real question. When hesitation appears, I pause long enough to ask, “Am I focused on the cost? Or am I focused on what it will give me once it’s done?” That question brings a ton of clarity and points me back to my purpose.

Second, I picture the finish before I begin. I give myself that moment to imagine the outcome — the relief when it’s handled, the quiet that comes from something that’s no longer waiting on my attention, the sense of completion that lifts my shoulders. That feeling brings me back to why it matters.

Third, I choose one clear action. I don’t need the whole plan, just one step that starts the process. Open the document. Toss the first item. Send the message. Make the call. One simple move creates motion.

Fourth, I acknowledge movement as it happens. Progress isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s small, meaningful shifts. Fixing that one automation. Clearing that one corner. Making one aligned choice. I speak it out loud and then write it down so my mind stays connected to the truth that I’m moving.

Fifth, I keep a record of the outcomes. That’s right. I have a notebook labeled PAYOFFS. Anytime a meaningful result lands — a connection’s repaired, an evening that feels easier, a moment where my mind feels lighter — I write it down. And when resistance creeps in, I read a few of those things that I’ve written down to remind myself that effort has always led to something worthwhile.

Let me add in one more layer, because this isn’t just a helpful idea. It’s a muscle we have to build and it becomes stronger the more you use it. If something you care about feels heavy today, try this. Lift your gaze. Focus on what finishing gives you — OUTCOME OVER EFFORT — and let that guide your next step.

The relief you’ll feel is real. The growth is real. And the YOU who reaches that finish line is also real. And each step you’re taking, it matters, because YOU MATTER.

I hope this little chat today gives you something to hold on to the next time your mind jumps ahead to everything a task might require. Bring it back to what it will gift you — give you — the payoff. Bring it back to the sense of completion, the room to breathe, the assurance that you can depend on yourself. Because these moments? They build on each other — and they create a life that feels more open and easier to walk through.

Friends, the words we see and read, the words we hear, and the words we say to ourselves and about ourselves — about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it — they all matter. 

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER. 

Have a great day.