Try This Simple Trick When You Feel Stuck in Life

It happens to all of us at one time or another.

We feel stuck in life.

Artists. Musicians. Athletes. Moms. Dads. Teachers. Writers. The dog in this photo.

I bet even Bill Gates and Oprah have felt stuck.

It just happens.

Lately, I have been rolling around in the same mud pit for quite some time, thinking too hard about what to do next. And that is often the biggest obstacle to getting unstuck, believe it or not.

Thinking too much.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against thinking and in fact, believe more people need to think more than they do.

But there does come a time when you feel stuck in life that you have to do something to move yourself forward. You have to push past the “I can’t” to find the “I can…and I will.” But again, the challenge of what to do arises, and if the what isn’t clear, then the how won’t come. (Not to mention the why, which is a subject for an entirely separate post.)

Luckily, the Universe is always paying attention and has a funny way of tossing tidbits of inspiration our way just when we need them the most. This simple little trick to getting unstuck I am about to share with you is one such example of the Universe’s power. And honestly, I believe the Universe sends these tidbits our way far more often than we realize because we too often have the blinders on of whatever problem is bothering us at the time. We miss so many signs! But eventually we raise our heads up out of the mess and see clearly long enough to catch one of the messages.

And here it is:

When you feel stuck in life, do this simple exercise. Get out a notebook or a piece of paper and write down a list of every success you have ever had in life, no matter how big or how small. Just write them all down. They could be as small as getting an “A” in your 7th grade English class to as big as traveling around the world solo. What the successes are doesn’t matter. The point is to spend some time and write them down. Doing this sends the brain some very powerful messages and stimulates something called the memory of success, which can then stimulate us to take action away from being stuck toward moving forward and being free.

By accessing this memory bank of success, we switch the focus away from “I can’t” to one of “I can…because look at how many other times I did!”

This is powerful, powerful stuff. And the crazy thing is, it works!

You can take this exercise even one step further by keeping a Success Journal. This concept was introduced to me the other night on a weekly leadership call and it is pretty cool. At the end of the day, right before bed, take a few minutes to write down 5 successes you experienced during the day. Again, they don’t have to big. Most often, they aren’t. The point is to write them down because doing so trains the brain to think about success — the things you did well — rather than failure — the things that didn’t go your way.

So the next time when you feel stuck in life, grab a pen and some paper and get to work. Not only will the list be eye-opening, but the activity of accessing all your previous successes will catapult you toward the next ones!