We all feel stuck at one time or another. Feeling stuck can make us feel trapped and lowers our self-confidence. When you feel stuck, you lack the clarity and direction to take action. As an accountability coach, I help people get unstuck, enabling them to take action and make faster progress on achieving their goals.
When you feel stuck, you want to move forward but often lack the courage or confidence to take action. If you’re feeling stuck right now, know that you can change things and do something about the things that are cause you to feel stuck.
There are many reasons why you might feel stuck in business and life. When you feel stuck, it’s easy to feel trapped in a situation or a way of thinking about things. Feeling trapped changes your mindset and leaves you unable to think clearly and see a way through feeling stuck.
If you feel trapped in the same routine and feel like you are stuck in life, here are seven actions you can take to stop feeling stuck. These are the tips I use with all my coaching clients to help them get unstuck.
When you feel stuck, use these tips to break free of that trapped feelings so you can take action on what matters most to you.
7 Actions to Take When You Feel Stuck
1. Clarify your goals
We often feel stuck when we have no clear direction in life and lack focus. If you’re feeling trapped, take a moment to clarify your goals so you can get clear on what you want to achieve and what matters.
Goals provide motivation, excitement, and direction. Goals provide a clear plan and path to follow to help you transform that trapped feeling so you can take action. Having exciting goals motivate you to turn inaction into action.
Read more about how to set goals.
2. Find your courage
You can stop feeling stuck by having the courage to make a decision or take action on something. We feel stuck by the fear of making a decision or going outside of our comfort zone.
Don’t let fear stand between you and your goals. Get clear on the outcome you want to achieve and have the courage to follow through.
You may not get it right on the first attempt but treat every act of courage as a learning experience.
3. Change the way you think
If you feel stuck, treat it as a sign that you need to change your thinking. Personal and mindset growth happens when you think about your thinking and use that insight as a catalyst for change.
Get clear why you feel stuck by looking at the obstacles that hold you back from making decisions or taking action. Once you understand the situation or circumstances that make you feel trapped, you can create a plan of action to get unstuck.
4. Do something
The simplest way to stop feeling stuck is to do something. Whether you’re procrastinating, feeling overwhelmed, or want to break a bad habit taking action gets you into motion. Getting into motion creates movement and momentum.
Take action and do something to stop feeling stuck. Even a small step forward is a sign of progress.
Read also: How to get motivated and get unstuck
5. Let go of the past
One of the biggest causes of feeling stuck is constantly thinking about and worrying about the past. People let past experiences and failures stop them from taking action in the present to help them create a better future.
It’s tough to think about an exciting, motivating future if you’re stuck in the past. Remaining stuck or moving forward is a choice you can make in the present moment.
Feeling stuck often comes from a fixed mindset. Instead, switch to an abundance mindset and focus on what decisions, communications, and actions you can make in the present to make the progress you want.
Read also: 6 ways to be present in the moment
6. Focus on your positive progress
When you feel stuck, it’s easy to lack the confidence and self-esteem to take action. To stop feeling stuck, focus on the positive progress you’ve made in every aspect of your life and career.
When your mind identifies something positive, you feel better, more confident, and motivated to take action. To stop feeling stuck, start and end each day by writing down your achievements for that day.
7. Get some perspective
When you’re feeling stuck, gain some perspective on why you feel stuck. You can self-diagnose by thinking about why you feel stuck and identify the causes.
Alternatively, you can gain some perspective by talking to someone about why you feel stuck. Talk to a friend, family member, colleague, or work with a coach to get unstuck.
The simple act of talking it through with someone will help gain perspective on why you feel stuck and give you an action plan to overcome it.
Read also: 6 essential habits of self-aware people
Summing up
When you feel stuck, it can be tough to feel motivated to take action. If you’re feeling stuck right now, understand the causes so you know what you can do to get over them.
Clarifying your goals, taking action, and gaining perspective by talking to someone will help you transform inactivity into progress. Hopefully, one of these tips will help.
Now I’d love to hear from you
What one thing do you do to get unstuck?
About the Author
Mark Pettit is a time management coach based in Colchester, Essex, UK. He helps business owners and entrepreneurs get unstuck by helping them clarify their goals and build a path and plan to achieve them.
Mark provides time management coaching to business owners and entrepreneurs in London, Essex, Suffolk and across the UK and US.
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Hi, it would be an understatement to say that I am “stuck”…almost like in a trance.
I’ve read your stunning articles about everything and agree with every word. But reading about tips and advice to do with procrastination and anything else does not mean we can do what it says. In fact in a lot of cases, we all already actually know everything we just read, could probably teach it. But this doesn’t mean that we can exercise it, this is what STUCK means, you can’t move. I feel so sad💔
Hey Rachel,
Thanks for your comments and for letting me know how you’re feeling right now. Sometimes, choosing one very simple, achievable result/goal that can be achieved in a short period of time e.g next half hour, next hour is a good place to start to get moving forward in a positive direction. hope that helps, thanks, Mark