Everyone is subject to blind spots, choke holds, death grips and booby traps that have the potential to keep them from moving forward in life and career.
The challenge when getting tangled up in one of these areas is to do everything within your power to get untangled and unstuck as quickly as possible.
1. Hit the pause button
The hardest thing to do when getting tangled up and stuck is to stop fighting it, but that is exactly what we need to do. If you’ve ever had your fishing line get tangled up you know it takes patience and slow, deliberate effort to untangle it.
So I want you to imagine hitting your pause button, because that which we resist will continue to persist.
And the pause is where wisdom emerges.
2. Journal
Journaling is magical. I remember my first journal entry in 1989. Life sucks! That was all I could say, but the more I journaled, the clearer my mind got — until one day I realized I could see and felt good again.
I’ve been known to say that “journaling is a lubricant that untangles thoughts and a salve that heals hearts.”
Flannery O’Connor is quoted as saying, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” Try it I promise it will help.
3. Shift your focus
When a person gets tangled up and stuck, they tend to slip into the victim role. And what do victims do? They spend all their time focused on the things they can do nothing about which does nothing to help them get untangled.
Now that you’ve hit the pause button, shift your focus onto the things you CAN DO.
4. Read The Magic of Thinking Big
When the mind loses traction and our thoughts get all tangled up, we lose access to our internal resourcefulness. Einstein said, it’s virtually impossible to fix a problem with the same mind that created it. Which means we need a new mind and there is no better way to gain access to a new mind than by reading a powerful book.
5. Walk briskly
Your body needs to move and the psychological benefits of walking briskly are immeasurable. The chemicals produced in the mind from walking briskly help to improve how you think, see and feel.
6. Play and be playful
Science has proven that there are incredible benefits to the adult soul from play and being playful.
Imagine you’re seven again — what were the things you enjoyed doing? Sliding down a hill on cardboard? Building a fort in a cardboard box? Climbing a tree? Playing kick the can? Skipping?
Childish? Perhaps. But if acting childish for a few hours might help you get unstuck, then isn’t it logical to at least give it a try? What’s the worse that could happen, you could have a good time?
7. Rewrite and redefine
I like to ask myself the following question, “Where is it written that I have to look at or think about this the way that I’m currently looking at and thinking about it? Who says I can’t rewrite and redefine it? Who says I can’t see it differently?”
You have the freedom and power to choose how you define everything in your life.
So remember, if you change the way you think about and look at things, the things you think about and look at… change.
8. Master your enemies dance
The vast majority of people live in a perpetual state of internal conflict and resistance . They push back, avoid and/or self-medicate, completely unaware that in doing so they’re keeping at bay the happiness, peace and joy they seek and desire. Instead of looking at life’s fears, challenges, difficulties and hardships, look at the opportunities to learn a new lesson.
Don’t resist. Embrace. Look your enemy in the eye. Ask it to dance. Then let it know, you’re taking the lead. This is your dance.
9. Drink plenty of water
The anxiety and tension associated with getting stuck can take a toll on the body. The normal tendency is to eat and drink less-healthy when what would be most helpful is exactly the opposite.
Hydrating the body also hydrates and optimizes the mind so that you can think and see more clearly.
10. Practice smiling because
Force yourself to smile from earlobe to earlobe. If your face doesn’t feel like it’s going to break then you aren’t doing it properly. Now measure how you feel. If you did it right you have to admit that you felt much better as a result and isn’t that the goal in life? To feel better.
Commit to smiling like this throughout the day and I promise you’ll have more access to your internal resourcefulness than if you don’t.
11. Make a “to do list” and a “don’t do list”
By making a “to do” and “don’t do list,” it will be much easier to focus your mind, choices and actions on the things that most need to get done.
12. Meditate and pray
I love to get real quiet and just listen. I’m amazed at the things I can hear when I shut everything down. I also like to pray and I mean pray like my prayer is going to get answered.
Isn’t faith and hope what we need when things aren’t going like we hoped?
Bonus: Clear away the clutter!
“He’s trapped in the weeds and can’t see the forest for the trees” is said about as often as the name Chuck Norris or Kevin Bacon. And for good reason, because that’s exactly what it feels like.
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