Ever experienced that sinking feeling of being stuck? Its like being trapped in quicksand, where every effort to move forward only seem to drag you deeper into uncertainty and frustration. Feeling stuck can suck the energy and joy out of life, faster than a vacuum cleaner on a turbo mode.
The question is, how do you unstuck yourself?
In this blog, we will dive into a simple framework you can apply when you feel stuck to get you out of whatever hole you’ve dug yourself into.
Lets dive straight into it:
- Figure Out What Got You Stuck.
It is difficult to unstuck yourself if you are unaware of what got you stuck in the first place. Even though the feeling of being stuck is often complicated and difficult to decipher, getting stuck often stems from the following reasons:
a) You job
Having an unfulfilling job which doesn’t pay your well, or a toxic work environment.
b) Your environment
That could be the place you are staying in , the city you are living in or the environment as a whole.
c) The relationship you have with yourself.
Take some time to reflect and pay attention to what hits the most. Jolt down your thoughts and feelings.
2. Do You Like Feeling Stuck?
You probably wasn’t expecting this point, but the truth is, most people like to use their hardships as a badge of honor rather than a reason to move forward.
When we feel stuck, its easier to rush for quick fixes and superficial solutions which often make our lives a lot harder. Real change will require you to make uncomfortable changes and hard decisions. Are you ready for that? or would you rather stay stuck and keep feeling sorry for yourself.
The choice is yours.
3. What is the immediate action that you could take.
Consider that little action you could take immediately or in the next hour that could ease the discomfort you are in. It could be something as little as sleeping more hours or going for a walk.
Sure, these small changes will not fix everything in the moment but they compound with other steps to eventually get you unstuck. You need to understand that unstucking yourself is not going to be a one time event.
All the little actions you take give you momentum to keep making the necessary changes that may seem overwhelming in the moment.
For example; It would be nearly impossible to loose weight in 2 weeks. It would require a number of months depending on other factors. But the immediate actions one can take towards that goal include small actions like not having cookies in the house, ordering salad instead of pizza or going for a walk.
Small actions create momentum.
4. What is the intermediate improvement you could make?
The previous point was about small actions you could take right away. This one is about what you can do consistently to start seeing results in the next three or four months. If you are anxious about the time it will take to start seeing real changes, remember that time will pass anyway. You got two options: take action as you move with time or remain where you are.
Remember, if nothing changes, nothing changes. If keep doing what you are doing, you are going to keep getting what you are getting.
See these intermediate changes you need to make as challenges rather than obstacles. Stick to these actions no matter what. This will help you build self-discipline and resilience, a vital attribute to any successful endeavor.
5. Write a not-to-do list
Getting stuck is not the problem but if you put in all of the above efforts to improve your life only to get stuck again, then that would be even a greater problem.
Statistically, roughly 90% of people who loose weight eventually regain most of it. The same can apply to the process of unstucking yourself. You may take immediate actions and adopt intermediate behavior only to end up at the same place eventually.
That is what a not-to-do list will help you avoid. A not-to-do list is a list of things that you will never ever do again in your life. Its the list of things that got you stuck in the first place.
It so happens that when you manage to get unstuck and improve your life, you get kind of comfortable and that’s how people get stuck again. That’s where a not-to-do list comes in. It helps you not fall back into the same trap.
Here are examples of what you can write on your not-to-do list:
- Never allow yourself to get to X weight
- Never buy something that is more than X percent of your budget
- Never loose more than one night sleep in a given month.
If you follow these five steps, you should have a very realistic chance of seeing major improvements in less than six months. Feeling stuck is temporary and you have the power to change your circumstance as long as you take intentional action. I am curious to know, do you have instances your life where you have felt stuck? How did you handle it?
Share with other readers in the comments! Let us get even more strategies to get unstuck!
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