What’s really holding you back from reaching your potential?

So, You Are Stuck Now What?

Perhaps today, you’re crossing paths with this message because it’s a question that has come time for you to answer too.  Maybe you’ve been stuck in a less than healthy relationship dilemma.  Or in your career.  Maybe it’s about weight loss or your history of underachieving and overspending.

Wherever you’re stuck, I’ve got news for you:  You don’t have to stay stuck.  Being stuck is no respector of age.  So, at 50+ it is possible to get stuck just as easily as 25.

Being stuck is not a permanent condition.  It is very reversible.  It is unlike a lost limb that can never grow back.  Again, it is reversible.  It’s just getting started is always the hardest—yet the first step.  But I know you can do it.  You can begin to take action—even today.

Taking action really starts when you decide that the “pain” of staying stuck is more painful than the fear of moving on.  Or more painful than the fear of facing the unknown or uncertainty.

The main thing is to really just get started.  The next step is really just that a step.  Not a leap or a parachute jump, but a step.  It is a measurable amount of progress.

Here are four strategies to help you get headed in the right direction.

So, What Are These 4 Strategies to Go From Stuck to Unstuck?

1. Watch your thoughts.  Have you ever noticed that people who have been a certain way for a long time begin to associate themselves with their infirmity?  That physical flaw is such a part of them that they dwell on it all the time.  Even use it to promote themselves or for a way to have people remember them.  “Oh, I am the chain smoker you see lighting up in the parking lot all of the time.”

Granted, we don’t control the thoughts that enter our minds, but we control the ones we choose to dwell on.  There are some thoughts that show up in your mind that you simply have to command, “No, thank you.  You’re not welcome here.  So get lost.”

Changing your thoughts takes practice, but it’s not hard, especially if you are ready for the negative or self-defeating thoughts when they come.  Make a list of your most defeating thoughts.  After that, make a list of the thoughts you’d like to replace them with or better yet scriptures you can find.

2. Watch your words.  One of the reasons to watch your thoughts is because they often end up coming out of our mouths in the form of words. There is an often-quoted Old Testament proverb that says, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” It’s true.

Start speaking positively and just see how much better you physically feel.  Then again speak negatively and watch how much more stressed you feel about yourself or your situation.  Choose words such as “faith” over “fear” and “opportunity” over “obstacle”.

3. Watch your actions. When it comes to getting up from your current place of being stuck to where you want to be in life—it does require goal setting. It does require having a plan of action.  What tools or information will you need to get there?  What people do you need to try to connect with or be introduced to?

If you need to, find a mastermind group or start your own.  Find a coach (hint, hint) and have them hold you accountable.

4. Watch your focus. You would be surprised—or maybe not—with the number of people who email me about how bad their situation is.  They list all of their bills that are now due or coming due and all of the disappointments that their career or last job or business venture has caused them.  If you have failed at something and are afraid to try again, confront your fears as mentioned in a previous article.

With all due respect, even though I can empathize with them, the same energy used to write the email could have been used to start a new job search or put together an emergency budget and a plan of action.  Some of those emails—I know—had to take over an hour to write.

4. Watch your “human-ness”.  Fear is a human emotion and don’t forget to stop and acknowledge that.  Being over 50, does not exclude you from being afraid of anything new.  Psychology Today has a good article on getting unstuck.

In Conclusion

So, with these four strategies you will begin to see how no matter what your situation is, you can still make measurable progress.  You can go from being stuck to un-stuckable, unstoppable, and powerfully purposed for success.

Now, it is your turn.  I’d love to hear from you.  What are you going to do this week to reach one small goal?  Are you going to walk it and talk it as well as plan it?  If so, how?