We all get stuck sometimes. Remember that movie about the guy who was out for a hike and got his arm wedged under a boulder? Talk about being stuck. It’s an incredible survival story. The guy was out there for like, five days with just the water in his bottle and a couple protein bars. What kept him alive was a relentless focus on getting out of there. I’m sure he had some real dark, I’m seriously f#%ked, how did I get here? moments, but he didn’t allow himself to stay there. If you don’t know the story, I won’t spoil it for you, let’s just say there’s a Swiss army knife involved. The point is, although the guy was physically stuck, he didn’t allow himself to get emotionally stuck in fear, or panic, or feeling sorry for himself. Instead he focused on what he wanted to create, which was getting back to his family. That was enough to give him the strength to cut off his own— oops, I wasn’t going to ruin the ending.
Luckily for most of us, when we talk about getting stuck, it doesn’t involve a thousand pound boulder. But sometimes the feeling of being stuck can be just as paralyzing. Kenny always feels stuck. He’s got a good entry-level job with a big company you’ve probably heard of, but he can’t seem to get past the entry part and into the moving up the ladder part. Kenny’s good at his job, meets all the requirements, never shows up late. It just seems like everyone around him is getting the promotion that he keeps waiting for. And that’s where Kenny’s focus and attention goes: I’m never going to get out of this dumb cubicle, I can’t catch a break, Somebody stole my stapler. Kenny’s not going anywhere because he’s not looking anywhere other than all the reasons why he’s not going anywhere.
Financially, Kenny’s always behind the eight ball. It seems like every time he manages to put some money away and starts to feel a hint of security, an unexpected expense pops up and smacks him in the face. Tires that need to be replaced, eyeglasses that need a new prescription, a root canal that needs to be…rooted. It drives Kenny crazy that he can never get ahead. And it drives him crazy that it drives him crazy. It’s a loop that runs on a hamster wheel in his head. Every time I get a step ahead, I fall two steps behind. I just can’t keep up. I should have flossed. And of course, it always comes back to his job. If he wasn’t stuck in this dead-end position he wouldn’t be stuck in his financial insecurity.
So what’s going on with Kenny? How’s he going to get his arm out from under this boulder? When we’re feeling stuck, our attention and our focus go to the thing that’s going wrong. The boulder. We bang on the boulder, we yell at the boulder, we spit on the boulder. We think about where the boulder came from, who the boulder’s friends with, why the boulder hates us so much. We focus on everything about the boulder except for how to get out from under it. And remember, we create what we focus on. So if we keep our focus on what’s going wrong we’re creating the feeling of being stuck. Now we’re not just under the boulder, we’re actually building the damn thing.
Instead, we’ve got to shift our focus. We’ve got to shift our perception. Rather than keeping our attention on what’s wrong, we’ve got to get crystal clear on the outcome we want to create. You want to get into the best shape of your life but you just feel stuck? Okay, number one, stop cycling through all the reasons why you’re stuck. Instead, name the outcome you want to create, and be specific about it. I want consistent energy all day long. I want to weigh X pounds. I want to have X% body fat. Pick the target you want to aim for. Maybe you’re feeling stuck in a relationship. Same thing applies. Stop thinking about all the ways the relationship isn’t working and put your focus on what you want it to be. Again, be specific. I want to know love and vibrancy. I want to have fun and adventure. I'd just like to be spending more one on one time with my person.
Kenny needs to stop focusing on the fact that he hasn’t gotten a promotion and instead put his attention on what getting the promotion will mean for him. He needs to focus on what he wants to create. Financial security. What does that look like? $75,000 a year? $100,000? A percentage of income in savings or investments? I don’t know, that’s up to Kenny to decide. But whatever it means for him, he’s got to name it and then put a laser focus on it. Look, it’s not rocket science, folks. We’re just talking about a tiny shift in perception. It’s going from, What’s wrong? to, What do I want? It just feels like rocket science when we’re focused on being stuck under the damn boulder.
When we know what it is we want to create, we can start thinking about what we need to do to get there. Kenny’s named an outcome for himself, awesome! Now what can he do to produce that outcome? Put together an action plan, do some research, talk to friends and family. The point is, by shifting his focus to what he wants to create and how he’s going to create it, he’s operating from a whole new framework. Now he’s in How do I create the outcome? rather than How did I create the problem in the first place? And with his focus and his attention on the outcome he wants to create, Kenny has access to the pathways that lead to intuition.
Remember, intuition can only operate with the information we feed it. If we’re focused on the past, on what’s wrong, on how we’re always getting stuck, then intuition has nowhere to go. It has nothing to work with except to perpetuate the current circumstance. But when we focus on results, when we start to take steps toward creating those results, intuition is freed up to do its thing—find the path to those results. And when intuition is present, when we’re in that flow, it’s very hard to get stuck.
Another way to look at it is that we’re never really stuck at all. I know, tell that to the 127 hours guy with a stump for an arm. My point is, that feeling of being stuck is really just our perception of the circumstances. If you’re always focused on what’s wrong, then your perception of reality is going to be that there’s always something wrong. But if you tilt your head a little, maybe squint your eyes, you might see that the thing you thought was wrong was actually an opportunity staring you in the face. Kenny sees his friends being promoted and thinks, What am I doing wrong? With just a shift of perspective, he can also say, Clearly there’s a path upward, what do I have to do to get there?
What I’m talking about might sound simple, but sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest to do. What I’m talking about takes training. In fact, one of the four part Power Series is called Power of Intuition, where we take a deep dive into Intuition, what it is, how it works, and how to leverage it to create the outcomes you’re looking for. So get yourself unstuck by joining us for a Power Series program. Click HERE to learn more and sign up today!