The Six Stages of Stuck

Welcome to The Sunday Starter, a weekly email of tools and techniques, that help you navigate your journey to just get started and keep moving forward.

Each of us harbors dreams and aspirations for the lives we desire, and there are moments when our motivation drives us forward to manifest them.

However, it's an inevitable part of our journey that we sometimes find ourselves trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of not taking that first step.

So, why does this happen? What causes us to falter when pursuing our heart's desires?

Today, let's embark on an uplifting journey to uncover the answers and rekindle the fire within us.

Before we can get unstuck we must understand why we are becoming stuck in the first place.

There are six potential reasons why this might be happening.

▶ No Purpose

We can get stuck when we don’t feel like we have anything of meaning in our lives. It sputters us around in a circle because we have no clear direction or path forward.

▶ No Confidence

We feel like everyone else around us is achieving things and we get down on ourselves that we aren’t worthy or important enough to make the attempt.

▶ No Time

We have a lot going on in our lives. Work and family obligations, keeping up with our health, trying to enjoy life a bit. We don’t have enough time for anything else.

▶ No Money

Money may be tight or we have a lot of other obligations that are making us feel like our financial position is not as great as we’d like it to be.

▶ No Knowledge

We don’t have a specific skill set or knowledge base to start this idea we’ve had. It sounds fun and exciting but we don’t know almost anything about that specific industry it’s centered around.

▶ No Support

We don’t feel like anyone believes in our ability, even ourselves, at times. We don’t have people we can lean on to share these ideas with or be a source of fuel for us.

→ As you think through the list, which one resembles most closely with what you might be going through?

All of those reasons are valid and we have to explore how we can overcome them.

The good news…there are always options. Sometimes we have to find an alternative path around the mountain.

Getting unstuck often involves thinking about things a bit differently.

We’ve all had moments in our lives that we’ve been stuck but magically the shackles become unlocked and we walk free again.

Why? 

→ Because we gained a new perspective.

Let’s do that here and hopefully, it’ll help you to start to explore ways to think around where you are stuck.

▶ No Purpose

I believe purpose and meaning are valuable but what does it mean to you to have those? Have you ever had meaning in your life? If so, what was it? How did you realize it? Start there.

If you don’t have a purpose then don’t let that stop you from trying.

→ That becomes your purpose right now.

Try new experiences, explore, and dig deeper. The world is mostly unknown. Try to learn more about it and you learn more about yourself. Sometimes leaning into things you are passionate about can lead you down the road to your purpose.

For more encouragement, here’s a short video from “Eat Pray Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert asking if you are a Jackhammer or a Hummingbird.

What is one thing that you’re interested in learning about? Go research it for 30 minutes today.

▶ No Confidence

As Alex Hormozi says, "You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Outwork your self-doubt."

→ You've done things before that have made you confident. You’ve overcome many obstacles.

Use those to stoke the fire and make you believe that you can tackle the hard things in life.

Because you have. You just have to remember it.

What are those things you’ve accomplished? Can you list a few of them?

▶ No Time

When you say you don’t have time do you know where your time is being spent? Are you spending your time elsewhere because prioritizing this "thing" would be scary?

And furthermore, how much time do you need to get this idea going? Is it an hour a week? 5 hours? Understanding that can help you know where you need to free things up.

→ We have to be rigorous with our calendars and recognize that we may be doing things that are not important simply to fill the time in our day.

Here’s a short video from Seth Godin to help you think through prioritizing just a bit of time for something you value.

So, what is one thing you can remove today to free up time for this idea to be worked on?

▶ No Money

Money can be an important contribution to our goals both in the physical aspect of what it provides or the mental clarity it can give to us.

→ One of the first questions to ask is, “Do we really need money to start this thing today?”

Secondly, Is it an income problem or a spending problem? Often times we are afraid to tighten the belt and get a bit uncomfortable.

Money is not the problem, it's how we view money that is often the biggest hill to climb.

If this idea was important enough how much would we be willing to put toward it to see if we can make it work?

▶ No Knowledge

Most new endeavors we go after are outside of our domain knowledge of experience. It’s something we’re interested in and intrigues us to the point of exploring further.

What knowledge do you need to get started and why can't you acquire it?

→ There are so many resources on Google, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, etc.

→ You have Friends, Colleagues, Family members, etc.

→ There are online courses, workshops, and cohorts.

There are resources everywhere to help you get started.

Where can you search today for 30 minutes to learn more? Here’s a prompt for YouTube you can use “How do I do ______ “ or “How can I learn more about ____ “. Try out a “How to” question and you’ll get plenty of search results to start with.

▶ No Support

What do you need support for? Emotionally, Something with the project, financially...what is it?

Sometimes the path can be lonely but only if we look at that as a negative.

Along the way, we’ll encounter folks who can help us out and be a guide. Other times we’ll have to figure it out on our own. There is always an opportunity to reach out to our network and ask for someone to help if we are willing to put ourselves on the line. That is a must at some point.

The first question to ask yourself is, “What is preventing you from doing this by yourself?

It's challenge time once again!

Now, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself some empowering questions.

If you're ever feeling a bit off or stuck, embrace it as an opportunity for growth.

→ Take out a notebook and jot down your feelings.

• How do they truly make you feel?

• What aspects are you perhaps hesitant to acknowledge?

Leverage the prompts above to guide your thoughts toward a specific area in your life.

Remember, we all encounter obstacles that seem to block our path at times; it's a natural part of life's journey. But here's the exciting part: when we realize that many of these barriers are self-imposed, we're on the path to self-acceptance and personal growth.

Sure, challenges will always arise, but they're opportunities in disguise. Have unwavering faith in your own abilities – this is the most powerful step you can take to conquer those moments when you feel stuck.

What’s Coming Next:

Next week we’re going to go deeper into why we don’t start and talk about fear and all of the different ways we let it control us.

Thanks again for your support with this newsletter.

❓What did you think? I’d love feedback in order to continue to make this a superb resource for everyone. It can be positive or negative. Nothing is off limits so reply to this email and I’d love to hear from you.

✅ When you complete the challenge, I’d love to hear where you’ve been stuck and what is the first step you’re taking to overcome it. Reply to this email and let me know!

How can I support your journey?

🙏 One of the coolest things about building the Just Get Started platform over the last several years is the number of interactions with new and interesting people who are on the cusp of getting started or early in their journey.

If I can support you in any way, please let me know. You can reply to this email and let me know what’s going on in your world. I’ll try to help where I can.