If we’re honest we’re all more than a little familiar with the overwhelming feeling of not being completely happy, and fulfilled with our status in life.  Regardless of how much you’ve achieved there are times when you can feel like life’s dealt you an unfair hand, and you’re left trying to figure out how to get unstuck in life.

Felling stuck can fell like hitting a wall.  But here’s some food for thought.  Everyone who runs a marathon at some point in the race gets an overwhelming urge to just quit.  Ironically they call it hitting the wall. To understand how successful marathoners deal with that particular feeling of being stuck read this.

Okay, let’s dive in and take a look at some of the reasons why you may be feeling stuck, and how to get unstuck in life.

Maybe You’re Not Really Stuck

Tony Robins says “If you’re not growing you’re dying”.  And on the surface that can make sense. But consider the Chinese Bamboo Tree.  When planted a Chinese Bamboo sprout can take four or five years to begin to grow.  The whole time it has to be watered and fertilized.  If you stop feeding it, and caring for it, the tree dies.

Somewhere around the 5-year mark something amazing happens to the Chinese Bamboo Tree.  In just 5-weeks it grows an amazing 90-feet.  Now the question is did it grow 90-feet in 5-years, or 5-days?  The obvious answer is it grew 90-feet in 5-years.

But if at any point the feeding, the caring, the watering, the fertilizing had stopped the tree would have died.  Your life, your business, your relationship, your career are just the same.  The true potential is just below the surface.  You must continue to nurture it.

Maybe You Are Stuck Because….

1. You’re not in touch with your why.

One reason you might actually be stuck is that you’re not doing what truly gives meaning to your life. You’re spending too much time on things that don’t actually inspire you.  In essence you’re not focused on your why.  Simon Sinek has written an excellent book on the subject called Start With Why, and his TED Talk is the most watched in history.

2. You’re hanging with the wrong crowd.

There’s an old adage that goes birds of a feather flock together.  Find people doing what you want to do, who are achieving what you want to achieve, and who are going where you want to go in life and find ways to be around them.  Oprah Winfrey says “Surround yourself only with successful people.”

It’s worth repeating….Birds of a feather flock together.

https://youtu.be/drheQ-SX7Ss

3. You’re waiting for permission

A holdover from the industrial age is that you may be waiting for someone else to pick you to do the things you are called to do.  But in a connected economy you can pick yourself.  You don’t need permission to do the work you want to do, to speak up, to seek to change something or someone, or to try and make something better.

4. You’re making it for too many people

If you’re truly stuck it might be that you’re making it, or doing it for too many folks.  Mass messaging, and mass marketing are also holdovers from the industrial age.  In a connected economy the quickest way to gain traction is find the smallest viable audience and inspire them to help you spread your message.

5. You’re confusing excuses with roadblocks

You may be confusing an actual roadblock with an excuse.  Here’s a simple way to tell the difference.  If what’s holding you back (too old, too poor, too ugly, pick your too) has not stopped everyone who has attempted what you’re trying then it’s not a roadblock it’s an excuse.

6. You’re not being honest with yourself

Being honest with yourself is important because in order to successful you first have to take 100% responsibility for your outcomes.

How To Get Unstuck In Life

Here are 10 ways you can nurture your life, business, relationship, and career to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

1. Remember the Chinese Bamboo Tree.
2. Realize you’re not really stuck.  If you’re in business Google wants to promote you, WordPress wants you to start a blog, YouTube wants you to become a video sensation and you can do all of this FREE.
3. Take 100% responsibility for your outcomes.
4. People will all laugh at you, ignore them.
5. Choose your own future. Don’t let other people chose your direction for you.  Chris Rock, the famous comedian, tells the story of how his father wanted him to do something other than comedy.  Chris’s rational for choosing comedy was that if he was only able to make the money his father did doing something he himself loved he’d be completely happy.  Of course Chris went on to earn more than his father ever did, and he’s at the very least a lot more funny (I can’t speak for how happy he is.)
6. Remember peanuts. Not the Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy Peanuts, actual peanuts.  George Washington Carver discovered 300 uses for a simple peanut.  If a little peanut was destined for such greatness certainly you are more valuable than a peanut.
7. Play the infinite game.  You don’t have to win, you just have to keep playing.
8. Fail fast, fail often, and fail forward.
9. Remember your past victories.
10. Get out of your comfort zone. Get comfortable being uncomfortagle.
11. Stop living your fears and live your dreams.