Caught in Freeze: How Entrepreneurs Get Stuck and What to Do About It

Many entrepreneurs (especially heart-led, creative women) find themselves spinning their wheels in business. You’ve got the ideas, maybe even the strategies, but something invisible seems to block your momentum. It might feel like procrastination, confusion, or just not being able to “make yourself do the thing.”

What if what you’re calling self-sabotage is actually your nervous system trying to keep you safe?

In this blog post, based on the episode from Wholehearted Healing with Jo, we explore the freeze response, a nervous system state that keeps many entrepreneurs stuck, and what you can start doing about it.

What Is the Freeze Response?

The freeze response is one of the four main trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. When you're in freeze, it’s not laziness, it’s your body and brain protecting you by “playing dead,” shutting down to avoid perceived danger.

This response may show up as:

• Feeling paralyzed or numb

• Having lots of ideas but no energy to act on them

• Constantly learning but never implementing

• Knowing what you should be doing, but feeling unable to do it

• Feeling foggy, dissociated, or emotionally flat

• Going through the motions but not being present

It’s a nervous system survival strategy, and it’s extremely common in female entrepreneurs.

How the Freeze Response Shows Up in Business

Freeze in business doesn’t always look like lying in bed. Sometimes it looks like:

• Constantly switching directions and never following through

• Over-preparing, over-planning, or over-consuming information

• Sabotaging momentum right when things start to go well

• Avoiding visibility, posting inconsistently, or ghosting your own launches

You may be stuck in freeze if you keep asking yourself:

“Why can’t I just do the thing I know I need to do?”

This is a nervous system issue, not a mindset or motivation issue. You’re not broken, you’re dysregulated.

Freeze Can Feel Like a Mix of Anxiety and Depression

One of the most frustrating aspects of the freeze state is that it’s often a blend of:

• Anxious thoughts: “I need to do this now! I’m behind!”

• Physical shutdown: “I have no energy. I can’t move.”

It’s like your mind is going 100 miles an hour, while your body has hit the brakes. You want to move forward, but you feel stuck in sludge. This tension between urgency and paralysis creates deep inner conflict.

The Root of Freeze: Survival, Not Laziness

Often, freeze is rooted in childhood or past experiences where it didn’t feel safe to be seen, take action, or speak up. If you grew up walking on eggshells, being told to be quiet or perfect, or punished for making mistakes, your body learned that being still = being safe.

In adulthood, this can manifest in business as:

• Perfectionism

• Fear of being seen or judged

• Not trusting yourself

• Deep resistance to action or change

When your body doesn’t feel safe, no strategy in the world will work.

Regulating Your Nervous System Is the Missing Piece

Many coaching containers focus solely on mindset, strategy, or inner child work, but leave out the somatic, body-based piece. You can have all the right tools and still feel stuck if your nervous system isn’t regulated.

Some practical tools to begin shifting out of freeze include:

• Gentle movement or shaking to discharge frozen energy

• Orienting: slowly turning your head and taking in your environment to signal safety

• Breathwork or vagus nerve toning to bring the body out of shutdown

• Creative expression or play to reignite life force energy

• Titration: breaking tasks into tiny, doable steps to build safety with action

Healing freeze is not about forcing yourself to push harder, it’s about creating internal safety so your system feels safe to move again.

You're Not Alone—And There's Nothing Wrong With You

If this resonates, know that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. Your body is doing what it was designed to do: protect you. The freeze response is not your fault. It’s a reflection of past survival strategies that are no longer serving your present-day goals.

The good news? You can rewire this. With the right tools and nervous system awareness, you can move from stuck to steady momentum.

Take the Quiz: What Nervous System State Are You In?

Want to know which nervous system state is showing up for you the most, freeze, flight, fight, or fawn? I’ve created a free quiz that not only helps you identify your dominant state but also gives you tools to start shifting it right away.

✨ Take the Free Quiz Here
You'll receive insights and supportive practices tailored to your current state.

Let’s Stay Connected

If this episode and blog resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you.
💬 DM me on Instagram @johanna.padalino and share your takeaways.
📤 Share this post with a friend who feels stuck in their business.
⭐ Leave a review if this podcast has supported you, your feedback means the world.

Next week’s episode (and blog) will dive into the Fawn Response, which shows up a lot in women and especially in entrepreneurs who struggle with people-pleasing, overgiving, and losing themselves in service of others.

Until then, take care of your nervous system, and remember:
You’re not lazy. You’re healing.