Stuck? 5 Questions to Get Moving
Sometimes we all experience that feeling of being stuck. The things that are important to us just don’t seem to be progressing. And that only increases the frustration. Taking a step back to look at what’s going on can help to break up the stoppage and get you moving. I’ve found these five questions work well to start propelling you forward again.
How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
Getting clear on the reasons you are doing something can provide renewed motivation to push forward. Part of that is taking a look far into the future and asking, what would I like people to remember me for when I’m gone? Not all of our endeavors are grand and glorious, of course. But the more compelling the goal the easier it will be to be drawn towards it.
While on the outside it’s what you create, on the inside it’s who you are and how you behave. Most of us want to be recognized as someone who was ambitious, energetic, and fully engaged in life, not a couch potato. When you combine the outside result of your efforts with the elements of our character, you get a magnetic attraction from where you are now to where you want to be.
Who Are The Mole Boppers In Your Life?
Remember the whack-a-mole carnival game? Life is like that in a way. Are you like the mole that gets whacked for standing out? Take a look around yourself at the five or ten people you most frequently hang out with. It’s a well documented fact that their lives will reflect your own. It’s also reality that when one member of a group starts to stand out in some way, one or more of the others will attempt to bring them back into the “norm.”
If you’re finding that your efforts to improve or your ambitions are meeting resistance from your associates and friends, it may be time to evaluate, and perhaps temper, those relationships. Remember, it’s not them who has to live in your future, you do.
How Can You Chunk It?
Sometimes, when we look at the whole project at hand, it seems overwhelming. But the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So examine the project that’s stuck and take it apart, chunk it, into pieces that are not only manageable but also easy to see as something you can get done.
Once you have the pieces identified, prioritize and schedule them. If your schedule is such that you don’t have a lot of time, make the pieces smaller and make to-do lists that can be part of each week’s or day’s activities. Do something, even small, every day that moves you forward. As an example, if your goal is to write a book, do a page per day. In a year, you’ll have 365 pages!
What Have You Accomplished?
Ok, so right now things seem stuck. But you have done something, and it’s important to acknowledge it. Appreciate yourself for what you have accomplished on the project, and in life in general. We’re too often our most harsh critics.
As you complete the pieces each day and each week, take time to look back and see what you’ve done. It’s just as important to see how far you’ve come as it is to see how far there is to go.
Are You On Course?
If you continue on the path you’re on now, where does it lead? Know that direction is more important than speed. Remember that little efforts matter, and little changes in habits and actions will result in a very different destination when you extend the line out from now to the future.
Also remember that NOW is the time when actions are more meaningful. The sooner, the earlier, actions are taken, the more they will affect the desired outcome. If you’re a visual person, see the journey to your goals as space travel – – the best choice is little course changes now or you’ll completely miss the destination.
The Future Doesn’t Care
I’ve always used this as one of my mantras. Five years from now? Ten years from now? That future out there doesn’t care how you arrive. You can come exactly as you are now. Or, you can choose to do things now to create the future you want. If you’re stuck, get back on track because the future is going to be here faster than you can imagine.
If you’re the kind of person that prefers to have more in the way of a coach or mentor, I recently read “Get Momentum: How to Start When You’re Stuck” by Jodi and Jason Womack. It’s a pretty directed approach to energizing yourself to move forward, so give it a read to get and stay on track.
Images:
Whack a Mole Johan Jonk Stenström Stuck in Mud Jason Rogers
