At one point or another, each one of us has felt stuck in our business. New clients are not coming in. Your social media posts are not inspiring engagement. You start to wonder what you’re doing wrong and if this is even worth it.
That feeling of being stuck is pretty uncomfortable. The good news is that out of that discomfort comes new and creative ways of running your business. The trick is to embrace feeling stuck, rather than trying to run from it and keep pressing forward no matter what. Here are my five steps for moving forward on even the most-stuck days.
STAY STUCK
Yep, that’s my advice. Stay stuck. Now I’m not suggesting you allow yourself to play the victim and just give up. However, there is a reason why you are feeling this way, and if you never give yourself the time to examine it, you won’t learn from it.
Stop pushing and manipulating and simply sit with your feelings. Let everything come up and then journal it out. You may be surprised with what you learn. Perhaps you’re freaked out by the success you’ve had and started to sabotage yourself without realizing it. Maybe you’re on the wrong path, and it’s time to make a change. Embrace the stuck feelings and see where they take you.
GET CLEAR ON A VISION FOR YOUR LIFE
Once you’ve done the hard part of sitting with those uncomfortable feelings, you can start to make a plan. We are all going to hit periods feeling stalled, so the next step is getting crystal clear on your vision for your future. This will bring you home to why you started your business in the first place and what you hope to accomplish.
It’s also just plain uplifting after you’ve been feeling discouraged. Close your eyes and hold a vision of a big goal for your business. I know that someday I will rent a beach house and invite our entire family to come stay with us for a week. When I think of that vision, I feel so excited and grateful that I can’t wait to get back to work.
CREATE LONG TERM GOALS
Now that you have aligned yourself with your big vision, it’s time to move towards it. Start breaking that goal down into long-term goals. For my beach house, I know the income goal I need to hit in order to make that a reality. I also know that I will need to set aside vacation pay for myself, because as a freelancer I’m only making money when I’m putting in the hours.
Oftentimes our big visions seem so far off and overwhelming, but when we break them into specific goals with numbers attached, they suddenly feel a lot closer. That new motivation you feel will propel you forward.
PLAN OUT EACH GOAL
Now that you have set your long-term goals, let’s break them up into short-term ones. For an income goal, start planning how you will hit that. How many clients will you need to book? How many products do you have to sell? What are some new ways you could engage your audience?
Break those goals down into actionable tasks. Most of the time when we’re feeling stuck, we’re simply overwhelmed at the moment. By remembering why you want this and then breaking it down into a manageable plan, you will banish those stuck feelings fast.
GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE
Finally, the most important step in this process is being kind to yourself. We all have those days, weeks, even months of feeling like we’ve lost our direction and motivation. It does not mean that you’re not cut out for this. It simply means that you’re growing, and this is just one more step forward.
Commit that you will not waste any time beating yourself up and simply put one foot in front of the other. You’ve got this!
