How To Stop Feeling Stuck And Get Results

Have you ever felt stuck but didn’t know why? Or worse, didn’t know how to get unstuck?

Photo Credit: Chris Beckett via Compfight

Recently I had a stuck experience with marketing my book Paid To Be You. I want to market my book more effectively to get the word out but I felt like I needed to do some research on how to market it strategically. So I found some great resources and started to devour the topic of book marketing.

The problem is I love to research things to death. Give me a topic I’m interested in or are struggling with and I’ll hit every book, blog, and seminar available on the topic.

Long story short, I’ve decided to give my book away for free on Amazon as the next step of marketing my book. I made that decision and guess how long it took me to take action on it?

About three weeks.

I’m not kidding. Giving. The. Book. Away. For. Free. You’re probably thinking, uh, that sounds pretty easy Adam.  

You’re right, it’s easy. However, there are many experienced people out there who say not to do it. There are also a lot of experienced people who say to do it. How do I choose? I know…more research to find the “right” answer.

Wrong.

Last week I decided I had enough information. What I need is action.

The Real Story

So why was I so stuck and not taking action? Although my cover story was needing more information I think it runs deeper.

I was stuck because I knew taking action meant the potential for rejection existed. Yes, giving the book away for free is easy, but what if no one downloads it? Or worse, they download it, hate it and I get twenty-five 1 star reviews?

This was the real reason I was stuck and I imagine I’m not alone.

How About You?

Have you ever experienced this? Have you stalled on taking action toward a goal because you weren’t sure you could handle it if your wish didn’t come true?

Are you staying in your current job because you might regret leaving for something new?

Have you delayed on starting a business because you may find out you don’t have what it takes to be successful in that industry?

Does your debt keep piling up because you’re afraid you won’t be able to make any headway on paying it down?

This issue can crop up in any area of our lives.

So How Do We Deal With This?

Here are three ways to effectively deal with getting stuck:

1. Pre-determine how much information you need before you’ll take action. Decide in advance what your minimum level of research is going to be. Either by a time limit or amount of information.

2. Imagine the worst case scenario. Can you live with it? What’s your back-up plan? If you can answer those questions sufficiently then you’re ready to go.

3. Do the work. There comes a time when you have to move forward in faith. If you know in your heart this is something you want and the research agrees, then get moving.

Getting stuck is a natural part of life and it can actually help us grow and learn if we navigate the experience well. If you can deal with the root cause of why you’re stuck you’ll free yourself to get where you want to go.

Question: What has helped you to get unstuck?