You know the feeling.

Your stomach gets achy when you think about the tasks you have to start that you don’t love to do. (Think taxes.)

You can swear that your feet are being sucked into quicksand when you contemplate beginning that exercise program.

You want to scream just picturing what it will take to move your business forward.

And you definitely can’t imagine how you will consistently steer clear of all the foods you love that are now affecting your health.

We’ve all been there.

1. Begin with a Reality Check

If you’ve ever had your car blocked into a parking space after a heavy snowfall by a city snowplough, you know what stuck is.

If you are handcuffed to a post, you know what stuck is.

We tend to take a concept and concretize it, as if it were real, but we are simply making it up.

Are you stuck? Probably not.

 2. Use Words Wisely

The word is a powerful and even magical tool.  Each word creates its own energy. Words can invite, wound, love, annihilate.

What words are you speaking to yourself? What kind of conversation are you having in your head or out loud with others?

If you are doing more venting than problem solving, perhaps you need to send your victim-self for a walk.

Choose words (and thoughts) that help you find your power.

And if you are not sure what to think or tell yourself, or even how to be your own best champion, then start a dialogue with your favourite Super Hero.

Invite her to speak, but do so respectfully.

What kind of mindset does she have that gets her moving? How can you apply it to your situation?

What does she want to say to you? Listen carefully.

Thank her for her wisdom, and then do what she suggests, again with deference, so that you can access her in the future.

She means you to take her seriously. Don’t ask if you don’t mean to take her advice. 

Now have this dialogue in writing. You write in one colour pen, then she writes in whatever colour she fancies.

Or you can play it out like a good movie in your head or dance it out. Whatever you chose will work.

Carl Jung called this technique Active Imagination. You might just call it a creative use of the imagination.

It’s all made up, as my friend Rick Tamlyn says. So make up something helpful.

3. Find Another Perspective

Words are spells. If you find yourself unable to move forward, check to see what you are saying to yourself and what you believe is true.

If you tell yourself that you are stuck, don’t expect to feel free.

Take another perspective.

Try spaciousness.

How can you spread those nasty tasks into smaller pieces? Set your timer for 15 minutes. Then do something else and shake it up.

Come back and set the timer again. Have some tea.

Come back in the afternoon. Set your timer.

Read two chapters of a good book, go back to the taxes.

End your day. Come back tomorrow.

How can you work yourself into that exercise program? Find a small space in your bedroom. Stretch. Stretch some more. Get some music. Dance a bit. Set your timer. Work your way into it.

Call a friend. Brainstorm a business plan for 15 minutes. Ask for help. Whine a bit. Get back to work.

4. Be a Leader

Find your BIG WHY.

What drives you? What’s important about that thing you say you are stuck about?

What would it give you to move forward? What would you lose if you didn’t move forward?

Think about the regrets you don’t want to have.

Make completion of this sticky task absolutely necessary for your existence, your contribution to the world, or critical to your self-esteem.

5. A Little of This, A Little of That

You can’t push your way through tasks without also leaving space for poetry.

What’s required is a way for you to tap into your heart-soul, that inner place that glows when you hear music you love, when you see a painting that sings to you, or when you read a few lines of prose that lift you way off the ground.

Consider a little feminine way of being, a little masculine way of doing. A little soul, a little spirit.

Feel and embody the words of the feminine way: receptive, process, connection, presence, patience, allowing, attending, soul and love.

Feel and embody the words of the masculine way: concept, active, focus, direction, discernment, movement, action, creation, and spirit.

Find a balance, and err on the side of less task, more breathing space to get you back to the task.

Connect to your heart so that you can get the job done.

And then, on days when none of those work for you, there’s always Steven Pressfield’s War of Art and Turning Pro. They are sure to do the job.

Over To You

What ways do you use to move forward when you tell yourself you can’t? 

I would love to hear from you. I want to know what worked.

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© Miriam Linderman 2015

1st Photo credit: Sergey Galyonkin / Foter / CC BY-SA

2nd Photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg / Foter / CC BY-SA

3rd Photo credit: maessive / Foter / CC BY-ND

4th Photo credit: h.koppdelaney / Foter / CC BY-ND