9 Ways To Get Unstuck

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Jennifer Bentley, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Have you ever set a goal, felt all jazzed up and then instead of going for it you found yourself procrastinating? Well for those of you who are answering ‘yes’ and wondering what the hell that is all about, please keep reading.

Goals, dreams, whatever you want to call them, are awesome! They can also stir up a lot of mixed emotions. You know what I am talking about. We want it, we want it bad, we dream about it, we imagine/fantasize about how happy we will be when we have it, it consumes our every waking thought. Bravely we summon all our courage and take that first step and then IT happens, that little voice inside us begins creating stories as to why we can’t have it.

And here is the truly crazy part, if you look closely at those stories many of them have nothing to do with our current situation, they are a collage of our past failures, let downs and even the voices of well meaning friends, parents, teachers and even coaches…

So as much as we desire something more we stop taking action. Instead, we pour our energy into becoming creative in the worst possible way, we make-up all kinds of excuses to not take action. We choose to remain safe, small, in our comfort zone and more importantly out of our Happiness Zone. Lasting happiness happens when we make choices that support our long-term emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. When we summon the courage to pursue the life we desire, it’s important to understand that we will fail at times, and that failing is okay. As long as we learn the lesson, we are failing forward.

When we set a goal but inspiration is slowly and surely replaced with fear, anxiety or stress, chances are pretty good that we are focusing on what Social Psychologist Eva Pomerantz calls “failure impact predictions” which basically means we are focusing our thoughts on everything that can or will go wrong. Makes total sense then that we would begin to feel stressed out, right!

So here’s the good news, once we are aware that we are standing in our own way, we have the power to change the course we are on. How we perform this course correction, is by shifting our attention away from our past failures and towards how much progress we have made so far. This one small shift is the game-changer that will help us develop the confidence to continue moving forward.

Taking action creates confidence. Confidence, inspires & motivates. When we dare to listen to our authentic voice within that speaks to us only of our greatest ambitions, we increase our happiness! Intuitively we understand that it’s not about the goal, it’s about the way we feel while on the journey towards the goal. The feeling of accomplishment is the prize we seek.

So the only question left is how do we make that shift? A great starting point is to work through the nine questions below as openly and honestly as you can. Each question is designed to point your attention towards your success and away from past failures. Once you focus your attention in that direction, all things truly are possible..

1) What progress have I made towards my goal so far?
2) When have I been successful at a similar task in my past?
3) What resources do I have available that can help me at this time?
4) What is my favorite thing about this goal?
5) What have I tried so far? What have I not tried?
6) Whom do I know that could assist me in achieving this goal?
7) What inspires me about this goal and keeps me working at it?
8) Do I have the energy required to bring this goal to life at this point in time?
9) How can I make this goal work?

One last reminder on goals, whenever possible make achieving the goal about the process not the end result. Choose Happiness Now, don’t wait until you lose the weight, run your best marathon, or get the big promotion to be happy, Let your success be the icing on the cake, because enjoying the journey is what a happy life is all about!