The Real Reason You’re Feeling Stuck in Your Career
Every day feels like a slog. Your energy is at an all-time low. You’ve lost the excitement you used to feel about your career.
What’s wrong? Did your barista secretly switch you to decaf? Is it time to quit your job and take up skydiving?
If you’re feeling stuck in a rut in your career, don’t wait for your circumstances to change. Don’t wait for someone to rescue you. Instead, take this simple advice and get back on track toward your goals today.
Stuck in the Future
Sometimes when we feel stuck it’s because we’re future focused. If you’re only concentrating on the big end-goal, of course each day can seem unrewarding.
It’s like running a marathon and being frustrated that you’re only on mile 3 instead of mile 23. Focusing only on the future can even make the goal itself seem overwhelming. You obsess about not being where you want, instead of recognizing your progress.
For your career, being future focused takes many forms. You might be obsessively focused on when you’ll be promoted, when you’ll become a VP, what direction your career is going in, or when you’ll finally be “successful.”
All that future focus makes you feel stuck. Staying stuck and refusing to do something about it is the biggest obstacle to your recovery.
Alistair Smith, celebrated speaker, trainer, and education leader, says, “Getting stuck is not a problem. Staying stuck is. Good learners practice getting unstuck.”
When you’re focused solely on the future and feeling stuck, it means you don’t take action. Instead of thinking only about your goal, think about the steps you’ll take to get there.
GET UNSTUCK: Break down that big goal into actions you can take right now. Start with a thought ladder, brainstorm or mind-map. What’s the step right before your big goal? And the step before that? And the step before that… etc.
Stuck in the Past
Maybe you feel stuck because you can’t stop comparing the present to the past. Your brain is replaying your past successes like a broken record.
You’ve done amazing things in the past, and now you’re struggling to be awesome in the present.
The good news is that it’s just a feeling. You need to let go of comparing Now to Then. When you start to make positive movement forward, the feeling of being stuck will change.
Mandy Hale, blogger and New York Times best-selling author, says, “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.”
When you’re stuck, things feel immovable, entrenched, even hopeless. But the good news is you can always do something about it.
GET UNSTUCK: Think small, act big. Track your progress and celebrate your wins -- even small ones. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were the most successful careers. It’s small actions done again and again that get you moving toward where you want to be.
Stuck in a Rut
Maybe you don’t feel like you’re focused on the future or the past. You just feel generally stuck, lethargic, unmotivated, and lousy.
You’re convinced that something must change, whether in your work or personal life. But you are struggling to figure out what. It happens to all of us.
The most important thing is to refuse to stay stuck.
Many people want something better for their lives, but they don’t know where to start.
GET UNSTUCK: When you are stuck, digital marketing expert Bruce Chant recommends that you ask yourself three important questions to recalibrate and get moving in the right direction again.
What do you want? Name it. Define it. Call it out.
What is stopping you? A belief or mindset. Fear. An excuse.
What do you need to do to obtain it? Now you can work to address the issue, but do so by starting small.
What’s Keeping You Stuck in Your Career?
Are you dreaming of the past? Focused on the future? Stuck in a “nothing ever changes” rut?
The most important step you can take is to DO something. Even if it’s just one small step. Remember, the only failure is doing nothing.
Not sure what your next step should be? Wish you had insight into what to do that will move you forward in your career? Schedule your free strategy session today. There’s absolutely no obligation, and I guarantee you’ll leave the call feeling less stuck and more motivated to make great things happen in your career!