How To Move Forward When You Feel Stuck
Whether you call it procrastination, resistance, or a lack of motivation, it can be disheartening to work so hard toward your goals only to fall back into the same old habits. Maybe you feel like you’re not the person you want to be right now, or you just can’t seem to move on to the next stage of personal growth despite your conscious efforts to change.
The good news? There’s hope, and you are far from alone.
It’s not uncommon to hit a plateau on your personal growth journey. Many of us find ourselves feeling unfulfilled or disconnected at some point in our lives—even if our lives appear full and successful from the outside.
This feeling of discontent often leads to a desire to “fix” ourselves so that we get our lives back in order. We dive into self-help books, research diet or exercise plans, learn healing methods, enlist in a retreat, and other things that promise a solution to our problem.
Still, no matter how many books, podcasts, or lectures you digest, it’s easy to get stuck along the way. Hitting higher stages of personal growth requires more than learning. It requires action, self-responsibility, and consistency. Committing to personal growth also means making sacrifices in other areas of your life—from relationships to behaviors—to allow space for something new.
Exploring how to move forward in life when you feel stuck may take work, but when you decide to commit to self-improvement (and look it from a space of love and growth rather than something that needs to be fixed), your possibilities are endless.
So, how can you gain more clarity and get “unstuck” in life?
Why You’re Feeling Stuck
It’s easy to focus on our circumstances on external influences—an unfulfilling job, a toxic relationship, childhood trauma—but regardless of the scenarios we found ourselves in or how we got here, it is ultimately our decision on how we move forward from it.
Stepping out of deep-rooted patterns can be difficult and often requires some deep introspection to uncover what is truly holding us back and why we continue to block ourselves from the life we want. Uncovering this truth is part of the foundation of personal growth—if we aren’t seeing clearly how we are stuck, we can never build a proper action plan for to work through it.
This is why many people find themselves in the same scenarios over and over again, despite their efforts to improve.
These are common pitfalls people face throughout the stages of personal development:
Approaching healing as a “one-size-fits-all” method. Everyone’s personal development journey is different. Personal growth isn’t static, and there’s no schedule when it comes to navigating the stages of personal growth. Self-help books, programs, and podcasts can all give you helpful advice on what to do, but you need to find personalized, practical ways to implement those practices into your daily life.
You’re trying to “fix” yourself instead of better yourself. Your mindset and attitudes influence your behaviors. If you have a negative self-perception, your negative behaviors will push you farther away from your goals. Before you can start making any progress, you may need to shift some of your underlying beliefs about yourself. Try to see personal development as a long-term investment in yourself instead of a quick fix.
You’re ignoring the parts of yourself that need attention. You need to invest your time and energy into every part of yourself to grow. When you ignore the parts of yourself that need healing, you’re denying yourself true happiness, wholeness, and self-assurance. This is considered “holistic” healing, as you actively work on all parts of you to achieve longer-lasting, more sustainable results.
How To Move Forward When You Feel Stuck
Pause. You don’t have to come up with all the answers right now.
Chances are, you’ve probably already learned a lot about what to do. Yet, you continue to fall back into old patterns, causing feels of shame or frustration. So your first step forward is to go easy on yourself.
Personal growth is all about consistency and learning what works for you. While a certain method may be revolutionary for one person, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should be a part of your path. Instead, it can be helpful to explore and try different techniques and healing practices until you feel something that resonates with you—and then forgive yourself and move on if it doesn’t.
There’s not just one thing that can help you start growing again. There are countless avenues you can explore—it’s all about finding what works for you, your situation, and your goals.
So, before jumping onto the next self-help method, try to follow these three simple methods:
Pause, breathe, and re-evaluate your goals. We can’t all be “on” and working on ourselves 24/7. Accept that you’re going to experience cycles, and realize that it’s perfectly OK to take some downtime. If you’re unsure how to get started, silent meditation, journaling, or talking with a friend can be immensely helpful.
Practice self-compassion and kindness. Remember to be kind and patient with yourself throughout your personal growth journey. We tend to judge ourselves much more harshly than we would ever judge another person. Think about how you would support and encourage a friend who’s feeling stuck, and turn that positive affirmation inwards. Self-care, self-love, and shifting your self-talk can be game-changers for getting unstuck.
Be willing to go deeper. Often the reason we are stuck is because we need to resolve pain or emotional blocks on a deeper level. There are many healing and self-healing modalities that can help, depending on your needs. One of the best ways to resolve what’s holding you back is to work with a therapist or a holistic life coach. These professionals see past your blind spots and provide new perspectives to help you gain clarity and move forward.
Jumpstart Your Personal Development Journey
Whether you’re just starting your journey or you’ve spent years reading self-help books, you don’t have to do it all alone. I’m here to help because I was there, too.
I spent the first 40 years of my life trying to “fix myself,” searching for the perfect book or program that would make me feel content. Then, one day, it finally hit me. I realized that true healing requires deep introspection and a commitment to doing the work, every single day.
If you’re ready to move forward, I’m here to support you on that journey.
Together, we’ll dig deep to pinpoint exactly what’s holding you back, finally heal the root of the issue, and develop an actionable plan for how you can move forward. This way, we’ll be able to work toward true change rather than continually falling back into old patterns.
