What To Do If You’re Feeling Stuck In Life

If you’re feeling stuck in life, friend, please know that we understand.

As wonderful, exciting, and colorful as this life is, there are times when we all feel like we’re playing a never-ending game of Monopoly. You keep landing on Apathy Avenue, paying rent to the owner called Life as we see our soul (a.k.a. Monopoly money) slowly dwindling.

‘Feeling stuck’ is a fairly broad term, but here, we’re using it to mean feeling unmotivated and in a state of apathy.

Whether we’re talking about careers, relationships, or life in general, the feeling of ‘stuck’ is inevitable and there are plenty of stats out there to show for it. The good thing is, you don’t need to stay there. Here are some helpful tips on how to get yourself unstuck.

Identify Your Limiting Beliefs Or Emotions

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For many of us, when we’re feeling stuck in life, we become anxious. We feel the need to move or find distractions so we don’t have to deal with whatever is making us feel this way. But, like quicksand, the more you move, the faster you sink.

Jon Butcher knows all too well about anxiety and the stress of living a life where he always felt stuck. He and his wife, Missy went on to create Lifebook, where they planned, sculpted, and mapped out what their lives would look like if they were fulfilled in love, career, and everything in between.

The first step in knowing what you want is knowing who you are. You have to bring consciousness to yourself, to your own feelings, to your insights.

— Missy Butcher

So, sit with your emotions in order to find the limiting beliefs that are causing you to feel stuck in the first place. You can try:

• Talking to someone
• Journaling
• Meditation

Oh yes, it will be incredibly uncomfortable, but there are no shortcuts to self-mastery. It’s a layer-by-layer process you have to get through.

“An extraordinary life is not easy — it’s not easily won, it’s not easily achieved. It’s a hero’s journey,” explains Missy and Jon. “Greatness requires great effort.”

Clarify Your Vision & Align Your Goals To Them

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This point is always easier said than done.

And for many people, the idea of living a life of joy, success, and abundance is terrifying (scroll back up to “Identifying Your Limiting Beliefs Or Emotions”). But self-development calls for you to go easy on yourself with all the self-love you can muster up in this moment and with no judgment.

Our one job on this planet, if we have any big cosmic job, is to literally do the best we can with what we’ve been given. And we’re made for it.

— Jon and Missy Butcher

They suggest setting clearly defined goals for the 12 categories of life that are specific and measurable. By doing so, you’ll be able to gauge how close or far you are from reaching them.

You’ll also be able to identify what you want to accomplish specifically, who you’ll need in your life to achieve it, and establish any potential setbacks that may arise as well as what you need to overcome them. 

So, ask yourself:

• When you look at your life vision, are you asking enough of yourself or are you playing small?

• Is this vision achievable or are you asking too much of yourself?

• Are you willing to pay the price that this life vision will require?

• Will the achievement of your life vision (and the journey to get there) make you truly happy and truly fulfilled?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to these questions, you’re on the right track to your ideal life.

(And if not, you may want to reflect on your goals and tweak them. Don’t fret though; it’s not that you did it wrong. Sometimes, we’re so caught up setting goals and moving towards them that we forget to assess those goals and see if they’re really right for us.) 

Align Your Habits With Your Vision

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“One step at a time” is how the saying goes. In terms of your life vision, it’s about the steps you’re taking right now.

Getting in touch with the habits that will most support your life vision is a massively powerful thing to do.

— Jon Butcher

What are the small daily behaviors that will support your life vision? We’re talking teeny-tiny here, like drinking a glass of water when you wake up, taking a few minutes to list down your gratitude, or even putting your phone in the other room before you go to bed.

Choose 12 simple habits, one for each category, to do every day. And if you really want to step up your game, find a habit tracker app that suits you (Vishen Lakhiani, founder and CEO of Mindvalley, uses this one himself). At the end of the month, you can see how well you’re doing as well as review which habits work for you and which do not.

Missy explains, “whatever you do in the present moment is how your life ends up being.” And those things are what add up ultimately to your goals and life vision.

Your Life Unstuck

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When you’re not used to being confident, confidence feels like arrogance. When you’re used to being passive, assertiveness feels like aggression. When you’re not used to getting your needs met, prioritizing yourself feels selfish. Your comfort zone is not a good benchmark.

— @leadershipfeed / Instagram

Now, creating a life vision, writing down the goals for the 12 categories of life, and establishing daily habits are good and all. But what happens when you have bad days? How do you motivate yourself to keep going, especially if you fall into a dark moment (because sh*t happens, right…)?

It comes down to your purpose. “If you have a strong enough purpose, you will climb any mountain, you will cover any distance, you will cross any barrier,” Jon explains. “Nothing will be able to stop you.”

The Butchers suggest finding something, anything to get you out of the negative state. For Missy, it’s listing things she’s grateful for. For you, it might be meditation or spending time with your children… or joining Lifebook Online at Mindvalley, where Jon, Missy, and the Mindvalley tribe can help you find the thing (or things) that gets your life unstuck.

“Everything we do in life is meant for one thing — to make us happy,” says Jon.