Getting Unstuck

Sooner or later, we all end up at an impasse with something or someone. I call this phenomenon “getting stuck.” Business professionals in dynamic industries are especially vulnerable to impasse because they are subject to a great deal of change a great deal of the time. They often try to push through the problem, throwing more resources at it, but that approach rarely works. Eventually you find yourself going around in circles in a crazy maze of wasted time and energy. There is no end in sight. You and everyone around you are becoming frustrated. When you are stuck, it is time to stop and assess who you are, what you want, and where you are going within you business model and organization.

How do you know you are stuck? Being stuck comes with some common feelings. Do you feel:

• Like you no longer care about things you usually care about deeply?
• Crankier than usual with friends, family and associates?
• Too distracted to get anything done, even if it’s important?
• Discouraged over whether or not things will work out the way you want?
• Pessimistic about the future?
• Worried about your financial security?
• Like you are spinning your wheels?

If you said yes to any of these questions, you are probably stuck. You may have been stuck for awhile but the realization that you are stuck has crept up gradually. Maybe you have noticed a down mood that is slipping toward depression. You are frustrated to be in this bind now when you have achieved so much in the past. You have begun blaming yourself or something in your environment.

Once a person gets stuck, their inner critic gets noisy. You know the one, that voice in your head that goads you with thoughts like, “I’m doing something wrong here. I’m a failure. I’m not living up to my potential. I’m not doing a good job. I can’t see what is going to happen next and I almost don’t care anymore.”

But don’t trap yourself doggedly pursuing the same courses of action that have worked in the past. It will not help. Blaming external conditions or circumstances is just as futile. You won’t get unstuck and your inner critic will get louder and more powerful.

You need a process for resolving the issue. Without a resolution processes, you can remain stuck for a long time. Eventually, your failure to get unstuck can threaten your personal life and career. Worse, it can affect the healthy functioning of the people around you. Your co-workers, employees, friends and family may begin to suffer along with you.

What awaits you on the other side of the impasse? The unknown. Scary, isn’t it? Moving through a needed change is a lot like letting go of the side of the pool when you are first learning to swim. It takes a good dose of courage and plenty of faith in both yourself and your swim coach. For one thing, in order to get unstuck, you have to face up to the fact that your old models of working or managing your life are no longer adequate or effective. You are going to have to change yourself and some of the things in your environment in order to regain control in your situation.

But there’s some good news amid all this wreckage. First, you don’t have to tackle the impasse all at once. When you first learned to swim, you didn’t begin by jumping off the high dive. You would have sunk to the bottom like a bag of rocks! Instead, you started swimming lessons in the shallow end of the pool. Your coach stayed nearby. Perhaps you wore water wings. You learned the basic skills first: how to breathe out and never in when your face was under water, how to kick, how to use your arms to propel yourself. Once you had the basics down, you bravely let go of the side and you did it. You swam to your coach. Your form was probably lousy but you kept practicing and now swimming takes no courage at all. You’ve mastered it. Getting unstuck and managing the attendant change required is very similar. You will have to learn some new skills and you will probably be lousy at it at first, but you will master it.

The truth is, sometimes change is really no big deal. Sometimes the underlying meaning of an impasse is that you are ready to change anyway. You’ve been moving toward changing how you think of yourself and your place in the world and you’re not comfortable with your old thoughts and behaviors anymore. Great! It will be a relief for you to go ahead and make the change. Finally, you will get some traction and be able to move forward. Answers to your most tangled problems will seem obvious. You’ll feel like a huge burden has been lifted off your shoulders.

It’s time to grow into a new era in your life. In an impasse, you are pushed to the edges of your understanding into uncharted territories of thinking and experiencing. In these new realms, you may feel like you have no foundation to stand on, no place to gain a helpful viewpoint.

Would you like to cut to the chase, make a decision, and bend all your efforts to support that decision? I thought so.

You need help from someone who has guided hundreds of people to a life of greater satisfaction and fulfillment. Traditional helpers, like therapists and life coaches are obvious resources, and often, good choices. However, a traditional therapist may or may not be experienced at helping professionals handle issues specifically related to their career or unique to the corporate world. Life coaches may or may not have extensive training in clinical psychology.

I offer effective, efficient resources for getting unstuck that are specifically designed for corporate professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs. I am a licensed clinical psychologist who has been stuck plenty of times and has lived, not only to tell about it, but to guide others out of impasse. I offer private sessions to help you get on your way to new levels of productivity and satisfaction.

With private sessions, you will learn:

• How old beliefs and fears keep you stuck in habits that drag you down.
• How to tell the difference between needs and wants.
• Why “figuring out” and “trying” are pointless time wasters.
• How to get rid of the idea “worries, anxiety and guilt have value”.
• How you block your own natural and creative excitement.
• How to ask for what you want without appearing selfish.
• How to stop dragging the past into the present.
• How to stay in the present moment and make the most of it.
• How to carry your new ideas forward to transform your way of being in the world.
• Ways to increase your likability quotient and become more approachable.

Imagine what it would be like to move smoothly through the next steps in your life. What if you could become fully open to new possibilities, accept change gracefully, and discard old habits and expectations that aren’t serving you well anymore?

Are you ready to get started? Learn more about the private session by clicking here.

Suggested articles: Executive Burnout, Toward Organizations of the Future, The Myth of Multitasking