#93 Chasing Gold Dust: How To Get Unstuck By Avoiding The AOES Trap

Busy does not equal progress. Francois Esterhuizen challenges high-performing South African professionals to trade superficial output for effective momentum by taking radical responsibility for their inner world and process.

Your big dream demands sustained work that compounds, but to get unstuck and move in that direction, you need to stop panning for gold.

The AOES trap

Consider the difference between mining and panning. Mining a deep shaft is complex, structured, and demanding. It yields the ore that changes the trajectory of a life and business.

Panning for gold dust in a river is attractive because it is available, obvious, and stimulating. You can pan shiny dust in minutes and feel a quick surge of accomplishment.

The lure of panning is emotional, not logical. The river offers immediate, effortless clarity. You know what to do, how to do it, it feels good and you see often see quick results. Your brain rewards that loop.

Chasing this is what I call the AOES trap:

• Available - the task is right there, requiring little to no setup.

• Obvious - the steps are crystal clear.

• Easy - low cognitive load, low friction.

• Stimulating - a quick win, a small dopamine kick.

Clearing your inbox, reacting to pings, doing quick favours, or tinkering with low-leverage admin are the river’s glitter. That kick of achievement feels like momentum, but it rarely moves you forward in any significant way.

The deep shaft

Mining is a structured process. Doing high-leverage work often looks like defining a decision, designing a sequence, or completing the one task that makes ten others easier or unnecessary. It calls for unflinching accountability to process over outcome. It feels heavier in the moment, yet it builds momentum you can measure.

But it also requires you to take the time to accurately define the problems, face ambiguity, and hold focus without a quick emotional pay-off.

That discomfort exposes core beliefs about control, safety, and identity, which is makes quick wins look even more inviting. So instead of digging deep you look for gold dust, and before you know it the day has disappeared in activity that does not compound.

The power of clarity

Once you've taken the time to clarify the problem, specify the what, how, when, and identify your first few steps for the important work, it starts to acquire the same qualities that make AOES so tempting.

You can still spend a day sending emails and refining processes, but instead of it pulling you away from your big dream, those tasks become the stepping stones keeping you on track towards it.

Process over busy work

Time is not the issue. Direction is the issue.

You do not need more hours. You need a structured process that channels the hours you already have toward high-leverage work, even when it is not immediately stimulating.

The river’s dust looks good in the pan. The ore changes your life.

Prompts to get unstuck

• What is the single deep-shaft task that will create the most momentum towards my big dream?

• Which AOES habits keep me safe and comfortable, and what emotion am I chasing when I do them?

• What specific clarity would make the deep work feel workable today - scope, first steps, a defined time block, or a clear definition of done?

• What cost am I willing to pay (discomfort, delayed gratification, saying no) to honour the process I chose?

Recognised as a trusted and sought-after clarity and leadership coach, Francois Esterhuizen works from Stellenbosch with South African professionals worldwide. His work equips individuals and teams with practical tools and a structured process to turn emotional resistance into clarity, sustained momentum, and meaningful impact.