All the negativity in the news media, the cold temperatures and dark skies outside, uncertainty at work and craziness in life can make anyone freeze. You get nervous constantly thinking and analyzing what steps to take in life. You make resolutions and give up because you say, “What’s the point?”, “Why should I even bother in all this unpredictable environment?”. You feel stuck because you look around and just feel overwhelmed in all the chaos of life.
In my journey of learning to deal with uncertainty at work and the unpredictable and seemingly random nature of life, I used to worry all the time about the future. Dealing with anxiety and stress due to uncertainty in life is hard because you feel like you have no control over anything in your life and it becomes a vicious cycle. Causing you to freeze. Paralyzed by over analysis of what I should do in my life, I felt stuck. But over time, I broke through. I got unstuck and began a journey that I’m still on. And while I am not sure how it will go in the future, I feel so much better because I am unstuck and moving forward in life despite living in uncertainty.
Here are 4 lessons I learned on how to get unstuck in life:
How to get unstuck in life lesson #:
1. Take a Trip
Getting out of the house and taking a trip anywhere helps to break things up a bit because instead of the mind spending time over thinking, the mind will be focused on the here and now. Taking a trip however small can make you focus on the present and not worry about the future. It can be as small as going out to a party to meet friends, to accept the invitation from a friend who moved to another state or another country or to attend a conference not for work but for personal growth. Put a date on the calendar to travel to a new place for a new experience.
If you’re interested in switching careers, then find a seminar, a conference, a meeting or an event in your town, your state or in another state. There are so many meetings, round tables, events or forums that are happening around the world on any given day and attending one can help you meet new and interesting people who give you a perspective on life. Even your local public library or community college has various events ranging from wine making to blog writing to public speaking. These are awesome ways to get unstuck because you are no longer left in isolation of a hyperactive mind.
Taking a trip to a new place for a short adventure can breathe new life into your soul because human beings are meant to be breathing, living, interacting, engaging, sharing, laughing, talking, moving and doing. You get a whole fresh perspective on life going out and seeing how the world lives, works and loves. We’re not meant to be sitting around feeling stuck and trying to predict the future.
How to get unstuck in life lesson #:
2. Try something new, however small
Have a new idea for a fresh new career? Want to explore a new relationship? Want to try a new business idea and not sure how it will go? Try it. Just go ahead and move forward. Focus on the tangibles and the very specific actions you want to take every single day and simply do it. When I first came up with this idea of “Embrace the Chaos”, it was a result of a trip I took with a friend. But frankly I did not know where to begin. I was dealing with so much chaos at work and uncertainty in life that I just put off this “new” idea for months. Then someone said, “why don’t you start a blog?”. I had no idea of how to do it or where to begin. But feeling stuck made me so anxious that I wouldn’t sleep for hours at night. Then one night, I woke up in the middle of the night and spent 3 hours on the web trying to learn about blogging. And in the last 10 minutes of those 3 hours, I registered the name embracethechaos.com using a registering service. That was it. That was my tiny, little triumph: I registered the name for a website. It was easy to do but it took me a while to summon up the courage to do it. And then over time, one tiny step, then another, then another, then another and eventually over time, you get momentum.
Momentum is one of the most powerful ways to success. Tiny motions moving forward pro-actively create a snowball effect that has profound implications for getting unstuck in life.
It’s always the small things you do that can have the biggest impact in your life. Want to know the science behind it? Look up: “The Butterfly Effect” in chaos theory.
How to get unstuck in life lesson #:
3. Don’t get distracted by others
When you’re trying something new and aiming to get unstuck in life, people around you will ask, “Where are you headed with this new thing?”, “Where will it lead?”, “Where are you going with this idea?”, “Will you make any money?” “How do you know if this relationship will lead anywhere?”.
Critical questions about the reality of sustaining an idea or a relationship or a new business will often pop up in your mind and on the lips of a lot of people around you. While they may not mean you any harm, this creates self-doubt and takes the steam out of you. And you know what? Acknowledge it. Don’t ignore it. Saying, “I DON’T KNOW” is perfectly fine. It’s ok not to know because you’re trying to get unstuck, not trying to solve all of life’s problems. Your goal is to get yourself grooving and moving forward again, not to solve the financial crisis of the world. And the reality of life is that no one can predict the future, no matter how smart, saavy or successful they maybe in their own life, they cannot predict what your future holds. And neither do you. So, don’t get distracted by negative thoughts, comments or critiques even from yourself…just move forward recognizing that your goal is to get unstuck in life nothing more.
How to get unstuck in life lesson #:
4. Surround yourself [your mind and your body] with positivity
Stop reading the newspaper, watching the news, surfing aimlessly on the internet. For me, this was huge! Receiving negative stimuli from the bad news, from toxic people and surfing the internet like a lost soul was a big contributor to feeling stuck in life. Data, facts, trends, numbers and more information are often useless because so much of it is bias and conflicting. If you really want to get unstuck, you’ve got to un-plug from the negativity that you’re receiving in your head. It’s not helpful because it makes you doubt everything and everyone and every action. It worsens your ability to get unstuck. It hinders your growth and development. And what can you do about all that stuff anyway?
I am a fairly reasonable person and never been a ‘ra-ra’ kind of cheerleader. But what I discovered is that by surrounding myself with positive people, interesting and inspiring blogs, books and energizing videos from the masters of self-help, I was in such a better mood. From attending services at your local place of worship to going to a reunion or a child’s birthday party can boost your energy and outlook inviting you to move forward in life.
Tweetable: Emotions, inspiration, encouragement, positive energy and plain old laughter can be big contributors in getting unstuck in life. Opening up your mind to positive thoughts and people in a universe of uncertainty allows you to feel encouraged and inspired because they are people just like you, trying to get through this crazy thing called life and if they can smile amidst challenging times, then so can you!
I believe that learning to get unstuck in life is not that difficult when you realize that you lose so much precious time over thinking about an uncertain future when you could be using that time to create a fulfilling present in the here and now.
Tweetable: Stop trying to predict what will happen tomorrow and start living today by moving forward and embracing the chaos!
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Go ahead…Embrace the Chaos! | Bob Miglani, Author
