You’re Stuck Because Your Task Is Too Big
with Shawna Suckow & Maren LaFollette
Released Sunday, April 21, 2026
Ever feel completely paralyzed—even when you know exactly what you need to do? Life and business coach Maren LaFollette of Clarity Buzz joins Shawna Suckow to break down what’s really keeping you stuck, and how to finally move forward with clarity and intention. In this episode, you’ll discover why motivation is “fake news,” how values-based decision-making changes everything, and the one reason you keep avoiding that task. Maren shares the exact framework she uses to help her clients break impossible goals into tiny, doable steps—and close the accountability gap between intention and execution.
In This Episode
Key Topics Discussed
Why Motivation Is “Fake News”
- Motivation only lasts 5 minutes
- Values-based decisions work better than feeling-based ones
- How to keep going when motivation disappears
- The difference between emotion and purpose
Breaking Tasks Into Tiny Steps
- The #1 reason you’re avoiding that task: it’s too big
- How to break goals into embarrassingly small steps
- What “digestible” actually means
- Why small wins compound
Getting Out of Your Head
- Why clarity comes from external processing
- Writing vs. talking to find answers
- How Maren’s grandparents helped her break through
- The StrengthsFinder exercise that changed her life
Closing the Accountability Gap
- The gap between intention and execution
- Why external accountability matters
- How to build your own accountability system
- Why habit trackers and partners work
Values-Based Decision-Making
- Emotional vs. value-based decisions
- How to identify your core values
- Making the “right” choice instead of the perfect one
- Decisions that actually move you forward
You’re Most Poised to Serve Your Former Self
- Why your struggles become your superpower
- The best coaches have been where their clients are
- Finding people who want to be heard and validated
- Full-circle growth
The Bottom Line
Key Takeaways
- Motivation is unreliable—values are what move you forward. Stop waiting to feel inspired. Instead, make decisions based on what you know is right for your life and business.
- If you’re avoiding a task, it’s too big. Break it into almost embarrassingly small steps. Your first task might be just finding an email address—nothing more.
- Get your thoughts out of your head. Write them down, talk them through, or share them with someone who can reflect them back. Clarity comes from external processing, not internal spinning.
- Close the accountability gap between intention and execution. You don’t need motivation—you need someone or something holding you accountable to tiny, doable steps.
- You are most poised to serve the person you used to be. Your greatest struggles become your greatest gifts. The people who most need your help are the ones walking where you once walked.
Read It
Transcript coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy the full episode above.
Read It
Introduction & Meeting Maren LaFollette
Shawna Suckow: As a small business owner, have you ever felt just completely stuck, like you just can’t seem to move forward? Maybe you have a big idea, or maybe you have something you know you need to be doing, but you just can’t seem to motivate yourself to get through, and you don’t know why, and you don’t know how.
Well, I have the perfect guest for you today. Her name is Maren LaFollette, and she is a life and business coach, and she’s the founder of the Clarity Buzz, and her specialty is exactly that. It’s helping people get unstuck. Hi, Maren!
Maren LaFollette: Hi!
Shawna Suckow: Thanks for being my guest today!
Maren LaFollette: Thanks for having me.
How Maren Started Clarity Buzz & Her Burnout
Shawna Suckow: It’s gonna be fun. I’ve known Maren for a long time, and so we’re just... we’re just gonna have a fun talk. So, Maren... How did you start the Clarity Buzz? Like, what prompted you to start... to start doing this?
Maren LaFollette: So, the long story short is that I, for a long time, thought that I was going to have a career in social media, specifically around makeup, and that kind of evolved into more than just makeup, it evolved into, like, lifestyle content. And I did run a business doing content full-time, and I learned over time that I was really chasing the dollar and not the passion for creating content. And so when I decided to shut down that business, because it was kind of burning me out, I was left feeling... really lost, and really overwhelmed with the, you know, million dollar question of what am I doing with my life? I’m 26 years old, and the thing that I thought I was gonna do for the next however many years is no longer my future, and I don’t know what my future is now.