As Rishad Tobaccowala describes in this post, a successful career is anything but a straight upward trajectory. Our lives are filled with missteps and wrong turns. We make mistakes, we hurt the people we love and they hurt us, and this happens over and over again.
If we’re lucky, we learn that buried within failures and disappointments are the seeds of success and happiness.
If we’re aware, we learn to trust in ourselves; in the inherent goodness of people; in the truth that the vagaries of life can swing just as easily in our favor as they swing against us.
If you’re feeling stuck in your life right now, try this:
Get with yourself. No phone, no computer, no distractions. Take a walk or sit quietly. Pen and paper are always ok.
What’s the issue? Start with an honest assessment. Home in on it. Be able to state it in one sentence.
What are possible solutions? Searching for possible solutions may reveal layers to the issue. Good. Keep digging until you uncover the foundational issue and have identified at least one possible solution.
Take one step now. Just one. Right now. Keep taking steps until the issue is resolved or life hands you the next one.
If you can’t figure out what’s really bugging you or have no idea what possible solutions might exist, maybe it’s time to ask for help. No shame in that. We all need help all the time. Find a friend or coach you can trust and work through the issue with them.
Take one step.
Make one call.
Try one new idea.
Soon you’ll be flowing again and this period of “stuck-ness” will be just another twist in the path that is your life.