Why you aren’t stuck (even if you feel stuck)

Are you feeling, or have you ever felt stuck? If so, I have recorded this episode just for you.

I wanted to record this episode as recently as I went through a period of time where I felt really stuck. Essentially my results have plateau over the past couple months, but I felt like there is a lot of momentum, and lots going on, but it’s not necessarily being reflected in my bottom line.

I want to share this openly, as I know at lot of business owners experience this, including clients of mine as well as peers. It can often precede a period of time when you have been through rapid growth, then it feels like you aren’t growing anymore.

What journaling brought up in me when I felt stuck

I took to my journal, which is what I do when I’m looking for solutions and to see what is going on for me when perhaps on a sub-conscious level, and I wanted to share with you some of the words that flowed out of me and into my journal.

“You are not stuck”

“You are hurtling towards your goals”

“Everything is always happening in your favour, even if you can’t see the reason right away”

“You are incredible”

“You are so capable and resilient. Everything you go through is making you stronger and is inspiring those around you”

“Just because a plant isn’t getting taller each day, week or month, doesn’t mean that growth isn’t happening. Atoms are always moving. Energy is in motion, even if it is invisible to the naked eye”

“Sometimes growth looks rapid and other times growth is slow and steady or not even visible”

“Tress are not in a rush to grow, sometimes they take decades or centuries to grow, and no one judges the rate it is taking to happen, they just admire their majesty when they are so strong and tall”

“What is the rush.”

“The biggest setbacks in life are the biggest lessons, and cause us to grow. In fact after a bushfire, trees grow more rapidly”

“Things will happen when they are meant to happen. You are not stuck, Spring will come, you will bloom, and you will wonder what the rush was”

Those words just flowed out onto the paper when I sat down to journal about this topic and it was interesting, that on a sub-conscious level, I knew that even if there was a plateau in results, it’s not indicative of how big my personal business will grow. And similarly, I’m able to see this with clients regularly. They experience a burst, a plateau or results go backwards, or the ‘stuckness’ isn’t even correlated to financial results. It’s simply a feeling of stagnation or procrastination that is taking place, and when you are in it, it can feel paralysing and confusing.

How growth works in mysterious ways

This journal entry unearthed something that I clearly know deep down, that things are moving forward and happening for a reason, and perhaps we can’t see it, but when you have a faith that your success is inevitable, when you know your purpose on this planet, you can trust that everything, including the crappy times, are happening for a reason. This perhaps can help you drop that sense of urgency around getting out of the current situation and learn to appreciate the journey. I know a lot of crappy things that have happened in my life that I couldn’t understand at the time why they were happening, but know I look back on them with gratitude because they were teaching me powerful lessons.

For example; failed launches have now enabled me to serve my clients so much better, because I understand what it is like to have those failures. Imagine if I had never had a launch that hadn’t hit my target, how would I be able to empathise or support clients fully when they are going through that experience. It was challenging for me at the time, but in hindsight it was a real blessing.

Another example I can think of is a role I missed out on many moons ago, when I was in the corporate world. I really wanted this job and I got down to the final two and ended up missing out on the role. I was absolutely devastated and at the time, I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me. Then a couple weeks later, I actually got a role that was paying double the amount  and it meant I could be earning more. And even though it was an accounting role, as opposed to the marketing role which I wanted, that accounting knowledge has served me so well and I wouldn’t be here on this podcast teaching people about money, if I didn’t have that experience, hands-on, learning the functions of accounting. So again, something at the time that seemed crappy, has served me better in the long term.

Flipping your view when things don’t go the way you think or want

I’m not pretending everyone needs to go through hard times and extreme levels of pain to learn and to grow, but specifically in a business sense, I would love for you to flip your thinking about a period of stagnation or frustration, a period of feeling stuck, and see if you can view it with a lens that it is just a short term setback for a long term growth opportunity. It can be easy for me to say “chill out, you just have to trust. Keep showing up, keep doing the mindset work, and keep taking practical action”. But equally, I understand when you are in it, it can be so frustrating.

So to sum up today, if you are feeling stuck, how can you view the situation differently? Perhaps growth is going on, but it isn’t being reflected in the external world just yet. The growth is taking place inside you, and it will translate into action and results when the time is right.

Thank you for tuning in today, if this resonated with you, I’d be grateful if you shared it with your audience on social media and make sure you tag me @clare_wood_coach so I can thank you. Have a magical week!

If you are feeling stuck right now, I hope this episode inspired you to keep on going.