Progress Requires Pressure

Progress doesn’t happen by luck, motivation, or waiting for the right moment. It happens when pressure is applied and when entrepreneurs decide to push forward even when comfort is pulling them backward.

This conversation comes directly from my own entrepreneurial journey and from mistakes I had to learn the hard way. For a long time, I believed habits would change automatically, performance would improve naturally, and results would eventually show up on their own. What I discovered instead is simple but powerful: growth requires force, discomfort, pushing and intentional pressure.

Many entrepreneurs know exactly what they should be doing. They know the habits they need to build, the projects they must finish, and the work that moves their business forward. Yet progress slows down because comfort wins, deadlines stretch, and old patterns quietly take control again. Real transformation begins the moment you stop negotiating with comfort and start pushing through resistance.

This episode dives into why pressure accelerates performance, how pushing beyond your comfort zone strengthens discipline, and why forcing positive habits at the beginning is often the bridge between stagnation and breakthrough. From business productivity to health routines, deadlines, and daily execution, the same principle applies: when you push with intention, progress follows.

If you are an entrepreneur who feels stuck, moving too slowly, or repeating habits that no longer serve your future, this message will help you rethink effort, discipline, and momentum. Your growth is not waiting somewhere in the future. It starts the moment you decide to apply pressure and move forward anyway.

Key Takeaways

• Progress doesn’t happen by chance. Growth begins when you apply pressure and push beyond comfort.
• Old habits stay because they feel easy. Change requires force, repetition, and intentional effort.
• Knowing what to do is not enough. Results come from consistent execution, especially on difficult days.
• Comfort zones delay goals and slow momentum. Discomfort is the gateway to transformation.
• Deadlines work only when you hold yourself accountable and commit to focused action.
• Pressure improves performance, speed, and productivity in entrepreneurship.
• Resistance is not failure. It is a signal that real change is taking place.
• Consistent pushing builds discipline, confidence, and a stronger entrepreneurial identity.

_____________________________________

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who feels like they're constantly striving but never fully arriving. Mohammed’s message will help you reconnect with your power, speak to yourself with more compassion, and rewire the way you think about your worth, so you can start showing up as your whole, confident, and congruent self.

_____________________________________

Life-Changing Resource:

Download the free 5-Step Habit Blueprint
Guide: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribepage.io/mohammedfaraj


Subscribe now and start your journey to a more fulfilling life!

_____________________________________

Follow for more tips:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/mohammedfarajtransformation/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mohammedfarajtransformation/?viewAsMember=true

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.facebook.com/mohammedfarajtransformation/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mohammedfarajbreakthroug

____________

Transcript

(0:07) Hey everyone, welcome to the Breakthrough in Technology Show, where we empower entrepreneurs (0:12) to overcome the challenge of work-life balance, burnout, break bad old unhealthy negative habits, (0:19) behaviors, build new habits, create new rituals, new routines. (0:24) I'm your host, Mohammad Faraj, and today our topic is Progress Requires Pressure. (0:31) You see, this is something I learned from my own personal experience, and this is very, very, very powerful. (0:39) And I wish I knew this earlier on when I started my entrepreneurial journey. (0:46) So many entrepreneurs out there, they fail in their entrepreneurship journey, (0:52) and sometimes they fail with their habits, they fail with their performance, (0:57) they fail with getting and making sure that they are getting work done. (1:04) They fail sometimes with their training or with their eating habits. (1:10) And this is mostly because we don't use force, we don't put pressure, (1:17) we don't force things in our daily entrepreneurial life. (1:22) And most importantly, we don't push forward. (1:28) You see, I am going to talk about this topic, and I am going to share with you some insights (1:36) that you can learn from this episode that you can apply into your daily entrepreneurial life. (1:43) So you can avoid making mistakes, so you can avoid failing. (1:48) So you can learn about why some of your habits won't be established in your daily entrepreneurial life, (1:57) and what entrepreneurship requires in order to become a very successful entrepreneur (2:04) and breakthrough in your entrepreneurial life. (2:08) So stay tuned in this episode so you can learn about pushing forward, about pressure, about using force. (2:19) So I learned from my own personal experience that things don't happen randomly or by chance, (2:30) or just waiting for things to happen in your life without putting effort, (2:37) without using energy, without putting pressure. (2:41) You see, so many of us in entrepreneurship, we know what habits we need to implement. (2:47) We know what habits we need to implement and repeat in our daily entrepreneurial life. (2:54) We know the work that needs to get done. (2:57) We set deadlines and we expect to make progress. (3:02) We want to see results, but it all boils down to how much effort you're making, (3:12) how much pressure you're putting on yourself. (3:15) Are you doing hard work or are you skipping hard work? (3:18) Are you working even on those days where you don't feel like it, (3:23) or when you don't feel like motivated, engaged, driven, excited, enthusiastic? (3:32) Are you forcing habits to be established? (3:37) Are you using force? (3:39) Are you using pressure to build good habits or to break bad ones? (3:47) You see, the mistake that I made in my own entrepreneurial journey, (3:52) I thought things will happen randomly. (3:55) I thought things will happen automatically. (3:58) I thought things will happen by itself, but this is not the law of growth. (4:05) The law of the growth says that you need to leave your comfort zone. (4:11) You need to accept and get adapted with discomfort. (4:16) You need to push yourself forward. (4:19) You need to use pressure. (4:21) You need to use force. (4:24) So this is how you accomplish your goals. (4:27) This is how you become healthy. (4:28) This is how you force habits in your daily entrepreneurial life. (4:33) This is how you build good habits and establish routines. (4:39) You see, so many of us, we expect things to happen randomly or by itself, (4:46) but things don't happen without effort, without energy, without planning, (4:54) without pushing beyond your comfort zone. (4:59) So some of our habits, we have repeated them so many times, (5:06) and they are very established in our daily entrepreneurial life. (5:11) They are well programmed in our subconscious mind. (5:17) That's why it feels so easy to repeat them. (5:21) That's why it feels very comfortable to repeat those habits. (5:26) But if you don't push, if you don't use force, (5:32) those habits will continue iterating in your daily entrepreneurial life, (5:38) and you will be wasting so much time, so much energy, (5:42) and not feeling happy, satisfied with your performance, (5:47) with your daily entrepreneurial life. (5:49) You see, some of those habits, they require pushing. (5:54) We need to push, man. (5:56) We need to push so hard in order to break some of those habits (6:01) and build good habits. (6:03) We need to force them, because I know it's not easy in the beginning, (6:09) but those habits won't be established in your daily entrepreneurial life (6:13) unless you are using your force, unless you are pushing, (6:19) unless you are enforcing those habits to be built, (6:24) because your body doesn't want to build those habits. (6:27) Your brain, your subconscious mind don't want to change, replace, (6:32) break your old habits. (6:34) So that's why you need to push, push so hard so you can break them, (6:40) so you can replace them with good, healthy, positive habits. (6:45) Because so many times I knew what habits I had that I need to break (6:52) in my daily entrepreneurial life. (6:54) I know what habits they were always leading me to feel stressed, (6:59) frustrated and overwhelmed. (7:02) And I knew that I was supposed to break some of those habits (7:07) and replace them with good, healthy, positive habits. (7:11) But it didn't work out for me. (7:15) I tried so many times and I failed. (7:19) And it seemed like those habits are well-established (7:23) because it seemed like I was repeating the same habits, (7:27) the same patterns, the same thoughts, the same thinking every day. (7:32) And I was not experiencing any change. (7:37) You see, change requires force. (7:41) It requires discomfort. (7:44) So in order to change those habits, you need to use your force. (7:49) You need to push, push so hard so you can break them, (7:53) so you can replace them. (7:55) So, so many times I was feeling overwhelmed, angry, frustrated (8:01) because I knew I was supposed to break that particular habit (8:05) and replace it with a good, healthy, positive habit. (8:09) But I didn't do it. Why? (8:11) Because I wasn't using force, because I wasn't pushing. (8:14) I wasn't putting pressure on myself. (8:18) So I would repeat the same habit (8:21) or I would fall back or slide back into the same old habits, (8:26) same patterns, (8:28) and then leading me to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed, (8:33) angry and disappointed. (8:35) And I would complain a lot of, (8:37) why can't I break that particular habit? (8:40) Why can't I break those patterns? (8:43) Why am I repeating the same habits, the same thoughts in every place? (8:50) But I learned from my own personal experience is that (8:53) unless you push, unless you use force, (8:58) unless you enforce good, healthy, positive habits (9:02) instead of old, negative, bad habits, (9:07) you will not experience change in your entrepreneurial life. (9:11) You will not experience transformation in your daily entrepreneurial life. (9:16) So we have to push. (9:18) We have to push beyond our comfort zone. (9:22) We need to accept discomfort. (9:25) We need to feel tired. (9:27) Sometimes we need to use time, effort, energy (9:31) in order to force those new habits (9:35) and remove, replace those old, negative habits. (9:39) I promise you, if you use force, (9:42) if you start to push, (9:44) I promise you, you will not struggle anymore. (9:49) You will not have a hard time breaking those old habits. (9:54) Your new habits will become automatic. (9:56) But in order to build good habits and break bad ones, (10:01) we need to push, my friends. (10:04) We need to use force (10:06) because those habits, they require pushing, (10:09) they require forcing. (10:14) So we need to lean back to difficulty. (10:20) We need to accept that it's hard, it's difficult. (10:24) Some days you don't feel like it. (10:26) Some days those habits will try to resist you. (10:31) But we need to accept resistance. (10:36) We need to push against resistance. (10:39) So those habits, those old, negative habits, (10:42) patterns, routines, they will resist you. (10:45) They will try to stop you. (10:47) They will try to avoid you from breaking them. (10:52) But once you use pushing, (10:55) once you use a force and put pressure on yourself, (10:59) I promise you, those habits will be removed (11:01) and you will live a happy, healthy, positive life. (11:06) So I experience the same thing (11:11) when it comes to performance. (11:13) You see, I used to sleep in with some of my projects, tasks. (11:19) It used to take me many hours just to write one article (11:25) or just to write one page of a book (11:28) or just to complete one single task or a project. (11:33) But once I become aware that unless I push, (11:38) unless I learn and teach myself to do the hard work (11:44) and lean back to difficulty instead of avoiding it, (11:51) I started to improve my performance. (11:53) I started to work faster. (11:55) I started to improve my speed because I'm using force (11:59) because some of those old habits, they require force. (12:04) So this is what I'm using. (12:05) I'm using force to resist those habits, (12:10) to push beyond my discomfort. (12:14) So it used to take me many hours (12:16) to complete a particular task or project, (12:19) but once I started to follow systems, (12:22) once I started to build good habits, (12:25) once I became aware of this, I started to work much faster. (12:30) I'm getting things done much faster. (12:33) I'm working and getting work done every day. (12:39) I'm making progress. (12:41) So we need to use force, (12:44) but if we don't put pressure on ourselves, I promise you, (12:49) some of those deadlines will take forever. (12:52) You set a deadline for a particular project, (12:55) let's say for one week or 10 days, (12:57) but you just operate from your old habits (13:01) and you let your habits take up so much time, (13:05) so much energy out of your days, (13:08) and you're just working slowly. (13:11) You're repeating old habits. (13:13) You're falling back to your negative habits. (13:17) You're just working very slowly and you're not following. (13:22) You're not tracking your habits. (13:24) You're not measuring your habits. (13:26) You're just letting your old habits keep show up (13:29) and hold you back, and that's why it takes you forever. (13:34) That's why you overdo so many of your deadlines. (13:38) But once you use force, once you put pressure on yourself, (13:43) that project needs to be done today (13:46) or in a week or in 10 days. (13:49) You need to use force. (13:50) You need to use a timer. (13:53) You need to take breaks. (13:55) You need to move your body. (13:58) You need to train. (14:00) You need to improve your health. (14:03) Once you set boundaries, non-negotiables, (14:07) you use force, you do the hard work. (14:09) Instead of skipping the hard work, (14:12) you do hard work repeatedly every day. (14:16) I promise you, you make it to the deadline (14:19) and you feel happy, proud of yourself, (14:22) that you didn't skip your hard work. (14:26) Instead, you embrace it. (14:29) And the force that was behind you completing that task (14:35) or that project in one week or 10 days (14:38) is because you were pushing. (14:40) You were pushing forward. (14:42) You were leaving your discomfort, your comfort zone. (14:47) You were using pressure to make sure (14:50) that things get done and not delayed. (14:55) So many of us, we delay so many goals, (14:58) so many projects, so many milestones (15:01) is because we're just remaining (15:04) with the same old negative habits that keep us stuck, (15:08) that keep us feeling stagnation. (15:11) Every weekend, I used to feel stagnation (15:13) and I was feeling stuck. (15:15) Why am I not seeing transformation in my life? (15:18) Why am I not seeing results? (15:20) Why am I not building that business? (15:23) But once I realized that unless I use force, (15:27) unless I push, push, push, push forward every day, (15:31) every week, every month, (15:34) making sure that things are getting done, (15:37) I'm doing the hard work. (15:38) I'm not procrastinating. (15:40) I'm not distracted. (15:42) I'm not wasting my time. (15:43) I'm not talking to somebody for hours. (15:47) I'm not scrolling on social media. (15:50) No, I'm putting pressure on myself. (15:52) I'm using force. (15:54) I'm making sure that I'm getting closer to my outcome. (16:00) So same thing with being hurry. (16:03) In entrepreneurship, successful entrepreneurs (16:06) are in a big damn hurry. (16:09) They're very hurry. (16:11) They work faster. (16:12) They talk faster. (16:14) They walk faster because they put pressure on themselves (16:18) because they use force to work faster, (16:21) to get closer faster, to get things done faster. (16:27) I promise you, if you do that, (16:30) you will experience a big transformation (16:32) in your entrepreneurial life. (16:34) You would notice a big difference. (16:36) You will see new results, new improvement. (16:40) So I used to go to the gym (16:43) and I was intending to do a simple training or workout. (16:49) So some of those days it would take me two hours, (16:53) more than one hour, more than two hours (16:56) just to complete one workout. (17:00) But once I started to push on myself, (17:05) once I started to make sure that I have those minutes (17:09) that I'm going to use to make sure (17:13) that I'm getting that workout done, (17:15) that I'm training faster, harder, (17:19) and getting my workout done. (17:21) So I started to train much faster in much less time (17:29) and feeling even more energized, more active, more healthy. (17:34) Instead of spending one, two hours at the gym (17:37) doing one training or workout, (17:39) I started to complete my training in just 15 minutes (17:44) and mostly, mostly one hour. (17:47) And this is workout and running at the gym (17:51) and cycling and doing applying. (17:57) So we need to use force. (18:00) We need to put pressure on ourselves at the gym. (18:03) I used to join CrossFit groups, (18:06) training with other people. (18:09) And I remember some of those people, (18:12) they were frustrated when they were training (18:15) as a pair with me. (18:18) Because some of those people would tell me like, (18:20) you're slow, you need to work out faster. (18:23) You can't just remain rested. (18:26) You can't take long rest. (18:28) You need to push, push, push, push harder. (18:31) You need to complete this workout and jump to the next one. (18:35) So I wasn't following along with the guy (18:38) that I was training with (18:40) and he was feeling irritated and frustrated (18:43) because I wasn't pushing on myself. (18:47) I wasn't using force. (18:49) And people were getting workout, all the trainings, (18:53) all the sets, all the reps in 40, 45 minutes. (18:57) But when I was with the other guy, I was stuck. (19:01) We were stuck. (19:02) And the training would end. (19:06) The time was over, but we were still training. (19:09) We still had some reps and sets left to do. (19:14) Why? (19:15) Because I wish I knew this. (19:17) I didn't use force. (19:19) I wasn't pushing on myself. (19:21) The others, they were. (19:22) That's why they were completing their workout, (19:25) their training before time. (19:29) So this is in sport. (19:32) In sport, athletics, like professional athletics, (19:36) they put so much pressure on themselves. (19:39) During the trainings, during the camp, (19:42) during the competitions, during the games, (19:45) they put so much pressure on themselves. (19:47) They push forward. (19:50) They want to win. (19:51) They want to get results. (19:53) They want to score. (19:54) They want to play. (19:56) They want to stand against the resistance. (20:02) They leave their comfort zone. (20:05) That's why so many athletics, they win (20:08) because they are pushing, pushing, pushing (20:11) harder, harder, harder on themselves. (20:14) That's why they win. (20:16) That's why they become very successful. (20:18) That's why they win competitions. (20:23) So, same thing in entrepreneurship. (20:27) We need to do the hard work. (20:29) And hard work equals pressure, force. (20:34) We need to push on ourselves. (20:36) We need to put so much pressure. (20:39) Some of your projects, tasks will take forever (20:42) if you're not putting force, (20:46) if you're not putting pressure on yourself, (20:49) if you're not using force. (20:51) So, if we're not using force, (20:54) if we're not pushing forward, (20:56) that means our old habits will keep us stuck. (21:00) They will always prevent us from making progress, (21:04) from improving, from getting better. (21:07) So, same thing with speed. (21:10) If we want to work faster and get things done faster, (21:16) end our workday faster, (21:19) we need to push. (21:20) We need to push so much on ourselves. (21:25) Some of your habits that you're struggling with, (21:28) that keep you frustrated, (21:31) they require pushing. (21:33) You need to push myself. (21:36) If it needs to take only 10-15 minutes to take a shower, (21:41) that's it. (21:42) You need to take a shower in 10-15 minutes. (21:45) You can't do just like I did before. (21:50) I used to set a timer for 10 minutes (21:53) and then it would take me like 20 minutes. (21:55) I used to set 1 hour to complete a project, (22:00) a task in my work. (22:01) It used to take me 2 hours, 3 hours, (22:05) because I wasn't using force. (22:08) I wasn't forcing. (22:10) I wasn't pushing. (22:11) I wasn't doing hard work. (22:14) I wasn't doing it harder. (22:17) I was maintaining the same old negative habits (22:20) that always kept me stuck (22:22) and feeling stagnation in my entrepreneurial life. (22:26) And I always complained. (22:28) I always blamed. (22:30) Why am I not experiencing any results? (22:34) Why am I not a successful entrepreneur? (22:39) So, we need to be consistent. (22:42) And we need to push harder. (22:51) If we push harder, (22:53) we will see new results. (22:55) We will make progress. (22:57) Because progress requires pressure, (23:01) force and pushing forward. (23:05) So, this is something I wish I knew this earlier on (23:09) in my entrepreneurial life. (23:11) I would have used my abilities to make progress, (23:17) to transform my life, (23:19) to build good new healthy habits (23:23) and break old negative bad ones. (23:28) I think so many people, (23:30) when they wake up in the morning, (23:32) they remain on their bed. (23:35) Or they cover themselves with their blanket. (23:39) And they don't want to leave the bed. (23:43) Why? (23:43) The bed feels comfortable. (23:46) The bed feels sexy. (23:48) The bed feels awesome. (23:51) It feels warm. (23:52) It feels nice. (23:54) That's why so many people, (23:55) they wake up very early. (23:59) That's why so many people, (24:01) they wake up very late (24:02) and they don't have time (24:05) to implement their morning routine. (24:09) So they wake up in the morning (24:10) and they just start working. (24:13) And then they are kind of dragging themselves. (24:17) They are working very slowly. (24:19) And it takes them forever to work, (24:23) to get things done. (24:24) But when you put pressure on yourself, (24:28) when you push on yourself, (24:31) when you use force (24:33) and wake up early in the morning (24:36) and once you wake up early in the morning, (24:39) you leave your comfort zone. (24:41) You leave your bed. (24:42) You put your sport clothes on (24:45) and you go and hit the gym (24:47) and do your workout. (24:49) I know every time I go to the gym (24:52) early in the morning, (24:54) I see successful entrepreneurs. (24:57) They already woke up 5 or 5.30 (25:01) early in the morning. (25:03) They are at the gym (25:04) and they are already training (25:06) and doing their workout. (25:09) Before ordinary, average people, (25:12) they have even woken up. (25:14) Before even normal or ordinary people, (25:17) they wake up. (25:19) Those people, those successful entrepreneurs, (25:22) they are at the gym 5.30, 6 in the morning (25:25) and they are already changed (25:27) and they are already training. (25:30) They wake up so early in the morning, (25:33) even if it's cold, like here in Sweden, (25:36) even if it's minus degrees, (25:39) even if it's dark. (25:41) They wake up very, very early in the morning (25:44) and they hit the gym. (25:45) They do their morning routine (25:47) and then they start working (25:50) and average people, they are still sleeping (25:53) and they wake up late (25:55) and they just start working (25:57) and that's it. (26:00) So, those people, (26:02) those successful entrepreneurs, (26:04) do you think they want to stay (26:08) and remain like ordinary people? (26:11) Do you think it was easy for them (26:14) to wake up that early in the morning (26:17) and hit the gym, (26:18) even though they are not athletics? (26:20) They don't compete in any sport. (26:24) They are not seeking to win a game (26:27) or a championship. (26:29) They are successful entrepreneurs, (26:31) but even though they wake up (26:33) very early in the morning, (26:34) they hit the gym. (26:37) Do you think it's easy for them? (26:39) But they understand something (26:42) that if they want to improve their lives, (26:46) if they want to maintain (26:47) a healthy, successful life, (26:49) they need to push, (26:51) they need to use force. (26:54) These abilities are provided for you. (26:57) You need to use them. (26:59) They are your assets. (27:01) Comfort zone kills so many dreams, (27:04) so many goals. (27:07) Comfort zone prevents you (27:09) from making progress. (27:11) So, you need to learn to be discomfort. (27:15) Comfort zone is against your happiness, (27:19) against your successful entrepreneurial journey. (27:23) Forget about comfort zone. (27:27) So, we need to learn that (27:30) pushing forward means that (27:32) we are transforming our entrepreneurial life. (27:37) And when we use pressure, (27:39) when we use force in our daily entrepreneurial life, (27:42) we start to see results. (27:45) We start to make progress. (27:47) We start to live a happy, healthy, (27:51) extraordinary life, (27:52) not an average life. (27:55) Average people, they don't like to push. (27:58) Average people, they don't like discomfort. (28:02) Average people, (28:04) they don't like putting pressure on themselves. (28:07) They spend so much of their time on things (28:10) that doesn't bring them any happiness. (28:15) Average people, (28:17) they have force, but they don't use force. (28:20) They don't want to leave their discomfort. (28:23) They want to stay with their comfort zone. (28:26) They don't want to use any force. (28:28) So, you're not average. (28:30) You're a successful entrepreneur. (28:33) And you will break through in your entrepreneurial life (28:36) once you start to push forward. (28:40) You're pushing daily, weekly, monthly, (28:44) and being consistent. (28:46) Not pushing for one week, two weeks, and then give up. (28:50) No, you're constantly pushing forward. (28:55) You're constantly putting so much pressure on yourself. (28:59) You're constantly using your force. (29:03) So, that's it. (29:04) That's what I got for you in this episode. (29:06) I hope you learned something new from this episode. (29:10) This is very powerful. (29:11) And this is a very important topic. (29:14) Not so many people talk about in podcasts. (29:17) And this is something unique and amazing (29:22) that I learned from my mistakes, (29:24) from my own personal experience. (29:27) And this is why I'm sharing this with you. (29:31) Because I want you to break through in your entrepreneurial life. (29:36) Please don't forget to follow me on Spotify or iTunes. (29:41) This is where you will get weekly podcast episodes. (29:44) And don't forget to download your free guide. (29:50) It's below in the description area. (29:53) I have put a link where it leads you to a free guide (29:58) where you can download it.