How to Get Unstuck in Life and Gain Momentum

We all have points in life when we feel stuck. That promotion at work won’t come, the new sales pipeline isn’t delivering, personal relationships are rocky, or we lose excitement in pursuing passions and hobbies. The frustration of spinning your wheels without traction can feel demoralizing. There is good news though – it is possible to overcome this! 

We’ll unpack some ways that can help you start to move forward. It’s an iterative process where progress is the primary focus, not perfection. These tips have helped me quiet those negative thoughts, make progress towards what I want, and get on with living a life I’m excited about everyday. 

You need one key ingredient: getting unstuck has to be more important than staying stuck for this to work. 

Remember that progress compounds when you keep showing up for yourself, and we’re going to talk about how to do that. 

What Being Stuck Feels Like:

It’s easy to believe you’ll be stuck, forever, right? You’re not alone. If you are reading this, then you’ve probably had conversations with friends or coworkers about feeling trapped in your professional life, stuck in the middle of a valley in your business, or how to figure out how to stop the “getting stuck” cycle. I’ll be honest though, the answer might not be one single golden nugget.

It might take getting outside of your comfort zone, or trying some new things to make changes. For some, it might even mean moving to a new place, changing who you hang out with, or disrupting your comfortable routine. To be fair, this feels really hard and maybe overwhelming when you’re sitting in the middle of it. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible, it just means the approach needs to be different. 

If this is you, you definitely do not have to stay there. You can overcome your fear, you can make goals that align with what you really want, and you can start achieving them. You can get that feeling of progress back and keep it. Don’t just take my word for it – Google it. There’s story-on-story-on-story about overcoming challenges. 

The issue with Googling and reading stories of overcoming hardship is that sometimes it doesn’t feel tangible. It doesn’t seem applicable and real to you. That’s why this post exists. To take those big, fluffy, sort-of-helpful-but-hard-to-action inspirational speeches and make it applicable to your life. 

Ultimately, feeling stuck probably feels like something is holding you back and keeping you from living your best life. It’s hard to get out of that especially when you know you need a little extra umph that just can’t be found. 

It probably goes something like this:

• Loss of excitement and passion for activities you once enjoyed.
• Feeling easily overwhelmed by tasks that used to seem exciting. 
• Lack of motivation where you have to push yourself to complete basics.
• Questioning your purpose and path, thinking “Is this all there is?”

It’s frustrating. It’s hard. And it’s downright annoying.

This is a natural part of life, so give yourself some grace. Everyone has to pull weeds of “stuckness” out of themselves regularly. Acknowledging that you are here is a powerful first step because then you can do something about it. Taking a step back and looking at where you are and where you want to be is going to help you get practical about how to cross the gap. 

“Getting unstuck has to be more important than staying stuck…” 

Guide to Getting Unstuck

So, where do you even start? Before we get to the full list, I’ll spoil the first one: it begins with you. Once you get clear on what is limiting you, where you want to go, and then what steps you can take to get there, you will see your situation change. It might happen immediately, or it might take time.

This is really important: Don’t let the amount of time it’s going to take be a factor in whether or not you choose to take action on getting out of the mud. If you look back in 6, 12, 18, or 24 months from now and you’re still stuck, imagine where you would be if you decided to take action and get unstuck. The time is going to pass, and you can choose how you spend it. 

Remember what I said in the beginning about the key ingredient to this process: getting unstuck has to be more important than staying stuck for this to work. 

Alright let’s jump into the full list to help you gain some traction. Grab a pen and paper and get ready to make a list (it’ll be worth it):

1. Reframe Your Mindset

Think about your mindset towards yourself. How you think about and talk to yourself can really change your outlook not just about yourself but about your situation, too. No, I’m not suggesting that positive self talk is going to solve everything, but what I am saying is that negative self talk never solved anything. 

It does really start with reflection and introspection. You might uncover a limiting belief, something that happened in the past, or you might realize some areas of your life that need to be practically adjusted. Finding the root of this “stuckness” weed will help you pull it out and move on. 

• Define what it would look like to overcome this “stuckness” and living on the other side of it. 
• Define success based on your values, not society’s standards.
• Write down one thing you can do to support your mindset as if you were helping a friend get through this.

2. Evaluate Your Situation

Look at the situation in front of you that is giving you this sense of being stuck. While you can’t expect to control everything, you can assess what is within your control. By doing this, you’re reframing your situation into one that can be changed and lose it’s stickiness. You’re taking something that looks like it’s hard to move and finding the weak spots to begin to show early signs of momentum. Focus on what is within your control here.

• Ask yourself what exactly feels stuck and what seems like it’s in your way. Identify any patterns here.
• Identify what you have tried, what worked, and what did not work. 
• Outline one small action you can try next that supports your new mindset and gives you energy to test the momentum. 

3. Reconnect With Your Goals

When you really think about it, what do you think got you here in the first place? Maybe it’s living for people in your life more than living for what you believe in, maybe it’s having goals not aligned with your values, or maybe it’s the fear of failure keeping you in this rut. Focus on you here and not what someone else wants you to do.

• Clarify your core values and interests. Think about what ignites or excites you. 
• Envision what then end goal will be if you were living your dream life. 
• Define why these are important to you.

4. Break It Down

In all honesty, thinking about a dream life many years from now can feel a bit overwhelming. While it’s important to have that long term vision and goal, it’s easy to get lost when figuring out how to make that happen. So, break it down into small, more achievable pieces. Doing this overtime will allow you to make small but meaningful progress towards what excites you and fulfills you. Focus on progress here, not perfection.

• Work backwards from the big goal and think about what needs to happen to get there. Work it all the way back to where you are now. You can do this in spans of years, down to months, and down to weeks to make a step by step plan. 
• Identify the next small, doable step you can take towards your goal. Repeat this once your single small step is achieved. 

6. Take Small Actions

This is the biggest and most important part! You have to actually do it. This is where you build the momentum.  Thinking about things, writing them down, and talking to people about it is awesome, good job. You won’t actually get anywhere unless you take steps to get there (groundbreaking, I know). 

Seriously though, this is the part where most people fall out. It takes effort, and it takes consistency. It takes pushing beyond emotions and motivation. It’s a choice. When you choose to do it, you do it whether you feel like it or not. Prove to yourself you can do it because you’re the one that has to live with the results. Make them results you’re happy and excited about!

• Make a plan for a week with one action you identified to take in the above step. 
• Do that small step you identified, consistently. Rinse and repeat every time to achieve what you are working towards. 
• Celebrate small wins! Make your work worth it to you. Momentum builds through regular progress.

Life is Sticky but You Can Stay Unstuck

Things happen to us all the time, and stagnation is definitely one of them. If you start sensing like you’re getting sucked back into an uninspiring place, remember this exercise. It’s meant to be iterative and broad enough to be used in different stages of life but specific enough to be actionable.

Remember the steps:

1. Reframe your Mindset
2. Evaluate your Situation
3. Reconnect with your Goals
4. Break it Down
5. Take Action

You don’t have to do this alone. Find good friends, mentors, or even coaches who can help you identify these ideas and process a plan of action. It’s easy to think it won’t work until you actually put solid effort into trying it, or trying a new approach to it.

Surround yourself with things, people, and ideas that are going to keep you uplifted and inspired. Immerse yourself in books, podcasts, communities, or courses that don’t just ignite your flame of excitement but also fan the flame! 

Consistency over time produces results. It’s tough to believe something is working when we don’t see or experiences results as fast as we want to see them. In a world of convenience and immediacy, we have to remember that some things take time.

We can either choose to spend that time consistently improving and working towards something, or, being grumpy and wanting things to be better but doing nothing about it. It’s a choice. 

Remember: getting unstuck has to be more important than staying stuck for this to work. 

Be patient and kind to yourself. You have so much value, creativity, and purpose waiting to be discovered. The journey requires grit, but just imagine the view from the top. You get to start living the life of your dreams!