On Being Stuck and Why It Isn’t So Sticky

I’m sure if you go through this website you’ll find helping you off stuck typed hundreds of times.

If you asked me what do I do, I would probably forget my ‘elevator pitch’ and start with ‘I help people get unstuck.’

I’ve changed my mind. Not the helping people off stuck, just the word stuck.

I’m reclaiming ‘stuck’, because I’m having 3.14am bizarre thoughts.

Has she gone mad!

No, not yet, go with me a little and hear me out…

Let’s say you want to change career and follow a completely different path to the one you are hurtling down now.

You aren’t sure of the route, the opportunities, what you need to do first in order to make it happen, you would probably say, “I’m stuck’, right?

But what if you looked at from a different perspective?

Here’s my bizarre too-early-in-the-morning-for-this thoughts…

Bizarre Thought #1: When we’re stuck, we know something is wrong.

Isn’t that a good thing? To actually know that you aren’t on the right path, that’s a gift. When you finally realise you aren’t going the way you want, motivation to do something else. Yeah stuck.

Bizarre Thought #2:  Being stuck will bring up all the baggage for a washing out.

Resistance and fears that need to be exposed and dealt with so you can move forward come up when we’re stuck.  Have you ever used the word ‘stuck’ in the past, and what you really meant was ‘I’m scared’? Stuck rocks.

Bizarre Thought #3:  Being stuck cannot last.

Nothing stays the same way forever, you know a change or shift will be made. Yes, it may be draining being in the one spot for too long. But what if you used that time to really figure out which way you want to be heading? So ‘I’m stuck’ becomes ‘I’m pausing for a while’. Go stuck, bring it on home.

Bizarre Thought #4: There is a higher chance that when we’re stuck we will use all the tools we need on ourselves to get out of the mud.

You go searching for the information to unstick yourselves. You learn in stuck mode. Feck, some peeps only set goals when they are stuck. Way to go stuck.

Bizarre Thought #5:  Being stuck teaches us more about ourselves than any self-improvement program, coach or book of the shelf help variety.

Choices and decisions have to be made. You don’t like being stuck, so do you actively search for a way through when you are? As opposed to the majority of the time plodding along? Result = stuck is awesome.

Bizarre Thought #6:  Being stuck can create the change we really want.

I’m thinking puddles: do you go straight through them, or do you balance your way round the sides, clinging to nearby branches hoping you don’t fall in and get your tootsies wet? Is being ‘stuck’ one way that life says take that risk? Win to stuck!

Questions to ponder over having your breakfast:

• Are you stuck or are you really scared to move forward?
• Are you stuck or are you realising that you have barriers and obstacles to remove?
• Are you stuck, or are you really worried that you come out the mud the wrong way, have you decided to stay safe in the mud?

Okay, before anyone screams at me ‘but I am genuinely stuck’, is the word ‘stuck’ keeping you stuck?

You say ‘I’m stuck’, your brain says ‘can’t see anything else, yes we’re stuck!’

Semantics? No, language is very powerful, it can build and destroy.

• When we say we can’t, we can’t.
• When we say it’s impossible, it’s not possible.
• When we say I’ll never be able to, we’re never able to.
• When we say I’m stuck, we’re stuck.

What do you think? Any lessons on stuck? Care to join me in my bizarre thoughts?