Do you ever have that feeling that you are just stuck? You’d like something different in your life but you are just stuck repeating the same ol’ same ol’ thing?

I doubt anyone starts out with the purposeful goal of getting stuck. It is more of a slow process and before you know it you are super stuck !!! Here are 4 reasons you might be stuck:

1. Being stuck serves a purpose. It’s comfortable. Even though you may not like where you are or what you are doing –there is something about being stuck that is predictable and within your comfort zone.
2. Getting unstuck seems scary or hard. Expanding your comfort zone does take effort and any effort is harder than no effort. You know how you feel and what you have to do to stay within your comfort zone (even if you are miserable) and that can seem less scary than taking the risk to step out of your comfort zone.
3. You know you should get unstuck but honestly you don’t really want to (see 1 and 2 above). Other people seem more bothered about your being stuck than you are. You might feel like you’ve been stuck for so long that it won’t make a difference to make changes now.
4. You have an idea of the right way to get unstuck but you don’t have the ability or means to proceed.

We’ve all been stuck in some area or areas of our lives so we don’t have to waste time getting down on ourselves for being stuck. Instead, let’s consider some steps we could take to get unstuck. I am going to use the common stuck point of not exercising as an example, but you can easily substitute in your stuck point and go thru the following points:

1. Ask yourself – how does staying stuck help me? Is there a better way I can help myself?  For example, many people say they are too tired to exercise so they stay stuck on the couch to help themselves rest. But then they’ve not had any physical movement and end up not sleeping well–so they are in a vicious cycle of needing more rest. It’s a great revelation to understand you’ll feel better and sleep better if you exercise during some of your “rest time.”
2. You know you are stuck but are unclear on what you could do to get unstuck.  Ask yourself-if I wasn’t stuck what would I be doing right now? Then ask yourself what someone else in your position might do to get unstuck? Sometimes we are so close to our problems that we can’t see the answer but we can usually imagine that someone else would get out of their problem. Think about the person at work who goes to the gym right after work avoiding the traffic or the people who take a walk at lunch. Getting unstuck might be uncomfortable at first but the endorphins (your body’s happy feelings) you’ll get from doing something different than you have been doing will be rewarding.
3. Realize you have a choice. You may have sub-consciously gotten stuck in the first place but you completely have a choice whether to stay stuck or get yourself unstuck. Knowing we have a choice and acting on it is empowering.
4. If you get overwhelmed at the idea of getting unstuck – get moving. That’s right move around. Take a walk – stand up and dance for a minute. You have the ability — it just kind of gets bound up and you need to get moving. Even if your stuckness has nothing to do with wanting to be more active-switching up what you are doing will kind of shake ideas into place.

You have the ability to get unstuck–remember to keep it simple, sweetie!

All the best,

Alice