It happens to the best of us. It happens to us despite our age. It happens no matter what our financial, social, or political status is. Face it. We all get stuck at some point in our lives.

It happens to the best of us. It happens to us despite our age. It happens no matter what our financial, social, or political status is. Face it. We all get stuck at some point in our lives.

We get stuck in bad relationships and bad jobs or careers. We get stuck in bad situations with family and friends. The list goes on. Sometimes we just get stuck in life with the seemingly random challenges that get thrown our way each day.





So you're stuck. Now what?

Try to not stay stuck for very long. Without doing anything it often just becomes harder to get unstuck and move forward. Without you taking positive action, nothing is likely to change for the better. If a situation does change without your action, it will usually be for the worse or not in your best interest given that the change was not driven by you.





So, as you probably already guessed, I suggest taking positive action now. I'm talking about doing more than just complaining about being stuck. Yes, you may initially complain as a means to try to get help with getting unstuck (it's certainly ok and sometimes encouraged to ask for help), but usually complaining only gets you so far and will only be heard by others for so long. So on to step 1 to getting unstuck…

CC0 image courtesy Tumiso on Pixabay

Personal circumstances vary, but often after you recognize that you're stuck (and decide to do something about it) it is necessary to start with a difficult conversation. I'm talking about a difficult conversation with a friend, romantic partner, co-worker, boss, family member, or sometimes even with yourself. The latter ones can be particularly hard, but remember, I did say that a difficult conversation would probably be needed to get you started in a positive direction.





You've got to get through the conversation. The person (or people) you try to converse with may not want to listen to you. He or she may fight listening to you or may not be good at doing so. Tears may be involved. Yelling and screaming (hopefully not by you) may be involved. Get through it. Just remember that you have decided to not be stuck any longer and that the conversation is a step to move forward in a positive way. In fact with time, you and your counterpart(s) may feel better afterwards knowing that you were able to get unstuck and move beyond the given situation. You may especially feel better once you recognize that after the conversation you have just taken your first step towards getting unstuck. After taking the first step, hopefully each subsequent step will be easier…until you are no longer stuck at all!





CC0 image courtesy U. Mai on Pixabay

Do I follow my own advice? Yes. Have I done it consistently? No, but I'm getting better at it the more I do it. Having difficult conversations can be challenging but you can get better at it with practice. Things usually turn out for the better afterwards with enough positive actions. If you are stuck now and are not taking actions to get unstuck, consider getting started by figuring out if a difficult conversation is needed to move forward. Get support if you need it to have the conversation. Just don't avoid it. If you must, you may start with smaller conversations while focusing on making changes for the better each time. Then move to the bigger more difficult conversation.