“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
-Sir Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion
We all learned this simple principle in high school physics class. (Because we all loved high school physics, right?)
Yet rarely do we see the direct correlation between Newton’s law of motion and what makes us stay stuck in our lives in careers.
We’ve all experienced being stuck at some point in our lives. Becoming stuck is not necessarily your fault as many factors out of your control contribute to your “stuck-y” situation. Staying stuck is another story; staying stuck is a choice.
The only way to change your situation is choosing to change your thoughts and actions.
When you take consistent and effective action toward your goals, it leads to more actions, more ideas, and more opportunities. But what is this “unbalanced force” that Newton presents ominously as if we were in a Star Wars movie?
Having coached hundreds of clients in getting unstuck, here is the number one reason people stay stuck in their lives and careers.
Fear. Fear takes many forms. It is the underlying culprit of all the reasons that people stay stuck. When you’re stuck, you know that you want to elevate your life and career. You know that you want to take things to the next level. But taking a different direction, even if it’s a better direction, requires change, and change is scary.
Change brings many fears:
Fear of not making enough money in your new career.
Fear of failure.
Fear of uncertainty.
Fear of not knowing enough.
Fear of not being good enough at what you truly want to do.
Fear of judgment.
Fear of making the wrong choice.
Fear is the Darth Vader of “unbalanced forces” that stops you from taking action.
Fear is the ultimate roadblock that halts you in your tracks and prevents you from growing and moving forward.
Fear of not having enough time.
However, fear is not the real enemy here. Fear is an emotion that is part of the human experience. The aforementioned fears are real and legitimate. Like this sh*t just got real, Darth Vader breathing down your neck and your light saber is out of battery kind of fear!
Fear is a useful and necessary emotion that tells us that the stakes are high and just like a real-life roadblock tells us, a different course of action must be taken.
Fear is an indicator that a choice must be made: will you take action to change the situation or will you do nothing and have things stay the same?
The real reason people stay stuck in their lives and careers is not fear itself, it’s choosing to let fear get in the way of taking action, thus doing nothing, having things stay the same, and yes, staying stuck.
So, what’s the best way to not let fear get in the way of taking action?
Knowledge.
Knowledge conquers fear.
I’m not just talking about knowledge you get from reading a book. I’m talking about learning by doing.
Instead of choosing to let fear immobilize you, choose to acquire knowledge through action and experience.
Continuing to acquire knowledge through action builds confidence. Filling your confidence reservoir is what will fuel you forward the next time fear tries to thwart your momentum.
You must see that getting unstuck is a process. You didn’t find yourself stuck overnight. So, don’t expect a magic formula to get unstuck overnight either.
You must be patient. You must be willing to take action and try new things.
You must continually take action steps in the direction of your goals in order to keep growing, improving, and learning about what works and what doesn’t.
You must know why getting unstuck is more important to you than staying stuck.
Most importantly, you must be an object that stays in motion, navigates around unbalanced forces, and never settle for being an object staying at rest.
Stay tuned for Part 2: How To Kick-start Your Getting Unstuck Process
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