The Proven Strategy for Getting Unstuck

Let’s be honest, feeling stuck is a drag. That feeling of not knowing what to do with oneself, and having very little motivation to get started. This seems to be a very common experience for many.

While there are often many complex psychological factors underlying our overall level of motivation, I’ve come to realize that there is a very simple solution to this age old problem. It’s so obvious that you probably already know what I’m going to say… but I’ll give you a moment to think.

Many times when we feel stuck, the best thing we can do is anything at all! That is, anything that generally moves us in the direction we are intending to move in.

It is all too easy when we feel stuck just to pick up our phones and start scrolling endlessly through social media, or playing a few rounds of our favorite mobile game, but that’s definitely not what I mean when I talk about doing anything at all.

Many things in life have their own rhythms and seasons. Somedays, you may not have it in you to spend hours pouring yourself into some creative project or business venture. Other days, you will.

But on those days where it feels like all the inspiration has run dry, or perhaps if you are just starting out with whatever you are going for, your best bet is to start small.

There are a number of major advantages to taking small, consistent steps that move you towards an important goal(s). For starters, consider for a moment why we procrastinate.

Procrastination is an attempt to avoid the pain and stress of something that we perceive of as a being a big, heavy lift. Something that is going to require a huge investment of our precious time and energy.

Committing to small, daily action steps virtually eliminates that problem because we are not committing to any major projects like that. Instead, we are doing something that can be done in a short amount of time, but which is still contributing to what we are working towards, which may even be a major project that we have had in mind for a long time.

When you think about it like that, you may notice that a slight sense of intrinsic motivation arises within you. Imagine a writer spending five to ten minutes a day working towards the creation of a novel.

The thought of sitting down to write an entire novel (or at least a good chunk of it) at once would be daunting to anyone except the most seasoned writers. But sitting down to write perhaps one single paragraph (or even a single sentence) is totally doable, even on your worst days.

The beautiful thing about small steps is that they creates momentum. Even if we only commit to writing for 5 minutes a day (or insert any modest daily goal you have in mind), but we do that consistently for a month, that amounts to a really significant achievement. Even just one day of tiny progress is a win that we can celebrate.

It may not feel like much, but the real power is in the repetition and consistency.

Every time we take a small but important step towards a desired goal or outcome, we are actively shifting our identity. Every micro-accomplishment causes the release of the reward chemical dopamine in our brain.

Over a longer period of time, this creates a stronger association between the actions we take and the reward, i.e., the sense of satisfaction or accomplishment we feel from doing the thing.

Although any task requires a certain amount of “activation energy”, which is like the initial energy investment required to get started, the good news is that it then becomes easier to continue once we do. There is something known as the “Zeigarnik Effect” (named after Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik) that works to our advantage in this respect.

Essentially, any time we start something and leave it unfinished, there is this sort of mental tension that gets created that causes us to subconsciously stay focused on the task and keep it in mind. Our brain wants to resolve the tension by finishing whatever was started.

The momentum you create by committing to a modest daily target towards your goal has the psychological effect of making it seem easier to keep going day after day. Not all habits are bad, and with a little effort we can create new ones that actually support us in all that we are trying to accomplish.

The best part of all this? The more consistent we are with a new habit, whether that is writing/reading every day, exercising X times per week, or whatever else you have in mind, the more that behavior starts to become a part of our identity. And when we shape our identity to become aligned with what we value most, that is incidentally how we also build real self-esteem. 

One day of progress may not seem like much, but a week or a month of consistent daily progress is definitely something we can feel good about. That is how we begin to see ourselves as a writer, or as an athlete, or an artist, or whatever it is we are working towards becoming.

Just accept that somedays you are going to be more productive, effective and creative than others. That’s just the way it goes. But even on those days where you don’t feel like you’re at your best, just the mere fact that you showed up and did the work anyway reinforces that new sense of identity that you are establishing. Over time, having those kinds of days won’t even phase you the way it once did when you were just starting out.

At the end of the day, you’ve got to really want to do the thing. You have to believe that the efforts you are making are worth the aims and intentions that they are meant to fulfill.

That way, even on those days when you just don’t feel like it, you will still do whatever it takes to get started. On days like that, getting started is the biggest hurdle to clear, but it will only get better once you do.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is to simply start small, but just make sure you do start, and do it everyday (or as often as you deem appropriate). We can always build up to bigger achievements and longer working periods, but that tends to happen naturally as a result of the sense of accomplishment we feel from being consistent.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you’re wasting your time, or that what you’re doing is nothing special. There is really nothing to lose when you spend your time making progress in any undertaking that is truly worthwhile to you. Long-term growth and success couldn’t happen without all the mistakes and imperfect attempts that will be made along the way.

To wrap up, here’s a very simple equation you may find helpful:
Consistency + Persistence + Flexibility = SUCCESS!

All the best,
- Dan

P.S. - If you are seeking support for building up your confidence and finding a clearer sense of purpose that guides everything you do in life, use this link to book a free call with me and learn more about how I can help you: https://calendly.com/dskeeler444/strategycall