Change is not fun. Six months ago, I decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship. For the last two months, I have been dabbling with a bunch of tech startup ideas and simultaneously tackling my mind’s default reaction to change - stubborn resistance.

One part of my mind (“Pioneer”) hates the status quo - my job and the rut of employment - and cannot wait for me to quit my job and build the future it envisions. The other part of my mind (“Procrastinator”) hates the discomfort brought about by change.

Pioneer is convinced I’m made for loftier pursuits than a corporate job, that the outsized financial payoff of a successful startup is worth the risk and that entrepreneurship is “my calling”. Procrastinator doesn’t disagree; however, it magically finds short-term activities for me to engage in, which are more important than refining my startup idea.

What do “I” feel? This may seem like an odd question if you don’t view the self as distinct from the mind. The relationship between the self and the mind is a deeply debated topic in metaphysics, which I will not elaborate upon here. Having explored Advaitic philosophy for some time now, I think of myself as somewhat separate from my mind.

Nevertheless, I agree with Pioneer - there’s certainly more to life than working in a job. However, I let myself be driven by Procrastinator - unless I’m pushed to a wall, change is uncomfortable and avoidable.

Here are a few “easy” tasks that Procrastinator will have me take up, rather than let me focus on Pioneer’s “uncomfortable” aspirations:

• Work: I open my work laptop more than necessary, re-read messages pointlessly, and even prioritize tasks that are not important. This behavior amazes me because aversion to my job is one of the primary reasons I wanted to venture out on my own.

• Grow: I consume quite a bit of self-help and “how the mind works” content. After a while, most personal development content begins to say the same thing in different ways. While certainly helpful, it’s an obvious avoidance tactic currently.

• Write: I started writing this blog, which gives me a surge of excitement from new beginnings and hopefully helps me think more clearly about my endeavors. However, I’m already spending more time thinking about what and how to write, than on working on my startup ideas. It certainly seems like writing is yet another of Procrastinator’s tools.

So, what’s my strategy to enable Pioneer to succeed? It's not about trying to crush Procrastinator — I believe that's impractical — but rather about gradually reducing the discomfort it perceives. How? By borrowing a key technique from Atomic Habits - make the problem easier by breaking it down into smaller steps. If I can’t run, I’ll start walking. If I can’t walk, I’ll start crawling. At the very least, I should stop Procrastinator from making me run in other directions.