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Your brain is not broken, it’s overloaded. John Preston joins us to explain why so many entrepreneurs, GMs, and sales pros get stuck in a loop of planning, worrying, and second-guessing, even when they already know what to do next. He introduces “Clearing the Sleary,” his upcoming business narrative that turns modern overwhelm into a clear, usable framework. Sleary is an acronym for self-doubt, limiting beliefs, exhaustion, anxiety, regret, and ego, and the metaphor is unforgettable: a clogged sink cannot flow until you stop adding more gunk.

We get practical about recognizing information overload while it’s happening, especially the kind that comes from doomscrolling, nonstop notifications, and trying to keep up with everything at once. John shares a simple litmus test based on what you can actually control, and why clarity systems beat willpower when you’re facing high-stakes business decisions. We also dig into why marketing feels paralyzing today, how avoiding a decision is still a decision, and why most owners underestimate the real dollar cost of spending their time on low-value tasks.

Then we move into the habits that keep momentum going: daily planning as a “vitamin,” not a short-term “medicine,” the razor’s edge between confidence and paralysis, and how to “slay the egg before it becomes a dragon” by catching the inner voice before it spirals. We also talk about using AI tools like ChatGPT as a thought clarifier, plus three important caveats so it doesn’t push you into safer, slower choices by default.

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