8 Remedies You Need to Move Forward When You’re Stuck

Summary: Feeling stuck can lead to a negative thought loop and procrastination. When symptoms are long-lasting, we may develop habits that reinforce feeling stuck. Recognize these patterns within yourself and apply the eight remedies when you gain self-awareness to overcome these habits and make progress.

There is nothing worse than being stuck. The double whammy is when a new client says they don’t know what they want and have no idea how to figure it out.

The “Feeling Stuck Loop”

Feeling stuck keeps them in a negative thought loop, reinforcing all the ways they’re holding themselves back from what they really want. The longer they feel stuck, the more judgment and inaction occurs, moving them deeper into procrastination and the seven other habits that don’t help them move forward.

The “Feeling Stuck Loop”

Are you having difficulty getting unstuck?

When these motivation-like symptoms last months, even years, you're in self-development territory. You may even have developed habits that get in the way of you achieving and progressing on your goals.

8 habits that don’t move you forward

1. Procrastination (also known as "kicking the can down the road"). You stall and come up with excuses every time you’d like to make progress. You push off working on your goals and keep setting new targets into the future.

2. Distraction. I call these “busy widgets.” You know, those things that you do to keep you occupied in meaningless ways to march in the opposite direction from where you’re going.

3. Avoidance. Are you ignoring or turning away from difficult work ahead? Although avoidance is a type of action, it’s not one that moves you forward. A great example would be having difficult conversations.

4. Complacency. How many times have you compromised what you really want? Settling for something less means staying far too long in your comfort zone. It can also mean tolerating the status quo.

5. Negative Self-Talk. You know exactly what this sounds like, and it’s not pretty. Does your inner critic get in the way of you reaching your next level?

6. Blaming. Are you taking responsibility for your actions? We can not control the actions or perceptions of others, but we can manage how we respond.

7. Overthinking. We all know that you know you have analysis paralysis. It’s when you spend time and energy looking into endless research areas, and then you do another lap organizing that information and so on. It’s when all the possible scenarios need to be played out. It’s when you spend all the time available working through the thoughts in your head.

8. Perfectionism. What happens when your ideal, perfect scenario is doomed not to happen? You may be saying things like, “as soon as” often. Striving for perfect when getting started will only leave you with experiencing all of the previous seven habits above.

Reading this, you likely are aware of the ways you’re holding yourself back. Thank goodness for self-awareness. Once you’re aware, then you can do something about it. While these habits developed over many years, you can start to shift your perspective starting now.

8 remedies to get you unstuck

1. Take Small Actions. Write it down, talk it out with yourself or others. Taking action doesn’t always have to be about big, bold moves. It can be the smallest thing that helps you reflect on your goals. I’ve not met anyone who hasn’t felt better after taking small action.

2. Let Go. We often take a productivity-focused view of moving forward. We are made to believe we need to add something to achieve our goals. A remedy for this hustle and grind mentality is asking yourself, What do I need to let go of?”

3. Make a decision. When you’re on the fence about something, making a decision may be the next action to take. Use values-based decision making, and ask yourself, “What have I already decided?” Repeat this question several times to get to clarity.

4. Learn. The remedy for complacency is knowing what you really want. And yes, that means learning what’s at the edge of your comfort zone. Ask, “What do I really want?”

5. Choose Inner Wisdom. If you’re an overthinker or perfectionist, you probably can’t get enough of the idea that this is another voice you could dial into. It’s your inner wisdom - the other voice in your ear giving you positivity and encouragement like an elder person in your life.

6. Take ownership. It’s so important that I’ll say it again. We can not control the actions or perceptions of others, but we can manage how we respond. The moment you take ownership or responsibility for your contribution to a challenge, it’s the moment you commit to doing something new to move forward. Unfortunately, many of us take ownership when we reach a tipping point or burnout. However we reach this milestone, this is the biggest admission that it is time to change.

7. Set Intentions. When overthinking runs amok, zoom out to look at the bigger landscape around you. Setting intentions can be more powerful than the goal itself. It’s the shortcut thing you want. It’s your WHY, and what’s in it for you. See related post: Goodbye SMART goals: Simplify your goal setting in 3 easy steps

8. Iterate. The best way to navigate your perfectionism is to iterate. Start somewhere. Start with a rough, terrible draft. Then improve it. Do that several times and iterate your way to good enough instead of perfect.

We spend a life-time learning and unlearning ourselves. Feeling stuck may never go away completely, but as part of the self-development path we’re on, we iterate and improve.

What do you think of these remedies?

Which one are you ready to try starting now?