The Formula My Mind Keeps Trying to Solve

“If you have to eat a frog, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long.”
— Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog!

The Equation I Keep Trying to Write

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been chasing a formula.

Some kind of equation that — if I plug in the right variables — will finally add up to success.

I wouldn’t have described it that way before, but now that I see it clearly, it’s almost laughable how often it shows up in my life:

If I work out this many days a week + run this many miles
= I’ll finally be toned.

If I avoid sugar + refined carbs
= I’ll be healthier.

If I get the girls outside 3 times a week + one library trip + one art project
= they’ll be happier, calmer, more agreeable.

If I can wear out my kids with activities
= I’ll earn time to work later.

If I work 2 hours in the morning + 1 hour at night
= I’ll see real progress in my business.

On and on it goes.
In my head.
In my notebooks.
In quiet corners of my planner.
In scattered Notes app pages that read like equations for a life I’m always trying to optimize.

It’s like my mind is searching for a solvable pattern — a way to calculate the most orderly, productive, balanced version of motherhood.

And honestly?
I don’t hate that instinct.
It’s comforting.

But the real issue isn’t the planning.
It’s what happens when the plan breaks.

And motherhood, more than anything else, is a master class in broken plans.

Where the Formula Falls Apart

Some days are made of a thousand tiny detours:

Spilled oatmeal.
Sisters suddenly arguing.
Someone needs a snack, a drink, a different cup, a different shirt.
A forgotten appointment.
A nap that didn’t happen.
Energy that doesn’t match the weather, the calendar, or the plan I so neatly mapped out the night before.

My mind will probably always create formulas — because that’s where it finds comfort. But I’m learning that the real work is in my response when everything dissolves.

Because it will.
It always does.

The Frogs That Changed Everything

Brian Tracy talks about “eating your frog” first thing in the morning — doing the task that takes the most focus before the world has the chance to interrupt you.

As a mom, “hardest” takes on a new meaning.

The frog isn’t necessarily the hardest task — it’s the task that won’t survive interruptions.

For me, at 5:30 a.m., my frogs are simple:

Move my body.
Work on my business.

These aren’t chores.
They’re genuinely one of my favorite parts of my day.
But once the house wakes up, the window closes fast.

So I eat those frogs first.

And when the sun rises, and I’ve already grounded my body and fed my creative work, I feel unstoppable. No matter what kind of chaos follows.

Maybe the Real Formula Was This All Along

Maybe the equation I’ve been trying to solve has never been about creating a perfect day.

Maybe it's simply:

Do one thing that grounds your body + one thing that moves your life forward = a day that feels like yours. Even in the chaos.

Not perfect.
Not predictable.
But yours.