In this article I talk about one of the ways you can get stuck… so this is a get unstuck article… I didn’t know when I started to write it.
You can get stuck in lots of ways, but getting unstuck is almost always to same: a process…
Once you read the actual case-study, mine, I’ll go into detail of the process of unstucking yourself… Now read it!
As you know, as part of keeping myself sharp and on the edge, I have taken on a project to sell products on Amazon.com.
I had a hunch that it will be a challenge, but I had no idea how difficult it was going to be.
So, here I am, in my third month of my challenge, and I got to a point where I am just sitting, and feel absolutely doomed.
I don’t know what to do!
I hear the whining in that statement. My “Witness”, the aspect of me that is like a pilot light never sleeps, never rests, never loses sight of what’s going on, never judges, and never tells me what to do, is chuckling. He thinks it’s funny. Hm, what if I could look at it as funny… now, that would be something.
So I sit down, and look at stuff.
- The first inventory is about my capabilities: there is nothing wrong with me, I have had successful projects before, even very successful ones. And although it is winter, and I am permanently cold… lol, and have a headache, and suffer from withdrawal (I have put myself on a cleansing diet for a month, and I am reacting to it badly), I am still sharper than most (haha) so that is not the problem.
- The second inventory is about the opportunity: hundreds, no, thousands in the course I learned how to put stuff on amazon, have succeeded, so the opportunity is there.
- The third inventory is about what I have been doing: I have been marketing an unknown and unusual product: The Heaven on Earth targeted at sleeping difficulties. I get calls and emails asking what’s in it, what is it… so the market is not quite ready for it.When you want to go from fringe, where only the early adapters, the risk takers use your products, to mainstream, you have two options: invest a lot of money (haha), or find a “connector” who will connect you with influencers of more mainstream groups… also not an immediate option for me.
So, maybe it is time to switch my efforts on products that are more familiar with, that are at least similar to mainstream products.
Now, that I have boiled the issue down to a “what shall I direct my efforts to” question, I can start looking what people need that I could offer a better product that what they can find on the market.
In my massage/energy healing sessions, the clients complain of dry skin. But even when they don’t complain, I can tell: their skin is dry and probably itchy. Winter skin. I also use tons of lotion, mostly on my hand and wrist…
- The fourth inventory is about how I can finance this new product line… or even if I can…I find that Paypal has a Buy Now, Pay Later option… so now, that I know what to sell, I am no longer in the “I don’t know what to do!” horrible phase of being paralyzed.
I find myself getting pricing for bottles, designing the label, ordering the ingredients to put in the bottles… sigh of relief
So, let’s look at the issue: what gets stuck when you feel stuck?
Feeling stuck is incredibly frequent. You can feel stuck because you see that you stopped moving, your life stopped growing, and you don’t know how to start, what to do… because (this is important!) you want to start with the best move, because you hate being wrong, you hate wasting your time making mistakes, you want to get it right from the get-go.
Now, what is the cause of the stuckedness? Is it the situation, or is it your thinking that it should be fast, direct, and no mistakes involved?
When you feel stuck, it is ALWAYS a mindset issue that is keeping you stuck.
It is much like being in a well… Until you figure out how to get out of the well, you can’t decide on a direction to take, once you are out.
And, although, when I say it that way, it is obvious, unfortunately the deep well your faulty thinking creates doesn’t LOOK like a well… so you keep on thinking about what to do once you are out of the deep well created by the thinking.
Now, how did I do it in this case study? Did I sit down and try to think what’s wrong with my thinking? No. When you are in the middle of it, it is like being able to see the middle of your back: impossible.
So, if it is impossible to see the faulty thinking, what should you do?
Do what I did: start taking an inventory of the different aspects of your situation. What you have, what you have to work with, what resources you have to get the things you don’t have, like learning, information, money, stuff.
Write it down. If you don’t write it down, then the new information will need to be held in the head, in the mind, and it will make you go in circles. Write the stuff down, organized, neat. It’s also a good idea if you have someone to sit with you. NO advice… they are not in your situation, so their advice is coming from the wrong place, don’t listen to anyone, it is wrong advice.
Oh, and postponing anything is not a good idea.
By the way, you don’t have to make any decision… you’ll know when you are ready. But clearing the fog, getting out of the well, will return you to your life, so you can feel alive again.
People often come to the coaching calls trying to get a solution to the specific problems, the specific way they are stuck. Mostly I refuse to deal with that issue, because unless I assist them to climb out of the well, I will be like your friend who can’t shut up giving you advices… but although they sound good, they are completely useless.
Once you climb out of the well, quite a transformation, by the way, you will know what to do.
I’ve talked a lot about the pedestrian level, but much less about the level when you are in a deep well. The vagueness of life, the “no way out” sense can be easily and relatively fast remedied by the Foundational Program. It includes one month of free coaching, so you can get help in identifying the base issues.
Recommendation: If you find yourself in this place, that’s what I recommend. And I have a special, if you are ready.
