Is Your Business Stuck On Start?

If you're feeling “stuck on start” and feeling like the routine you're running is getting tired, then it's time to do something about it. When you are “stuck on start”, it can feel lonely, isolating and worst of all boring. You start to question what value you're adding, you look around and it feels hopeless. No place to go and you feel stuck. It comes in cycles . If you start feeling bored, if you feel disengaged, then you will find yourself putting things off. You will slow down mentally, and come to a stop.

And when you know it's happening that is when you need to work hard on quickly getting out of the starting blocks … just like running a race. So here are a few things to help:

1. Move … walk around and talk to people
2. Change up your daily routine
3. Try and remember where you get your energy from
4. Take a break … find a time and place for true mental relaxation
5. Dream and think about what's next for you in your career

After you do any or all of the above, reflect, and think hard about what's next for you. Reach out to your network and get a sense of what's out there. Ask to see what others are doing on a daily basis. Look for people in roles and positions that interest me, and where you think you'd be a good fit. 

Once you do this, zone in on what it is that you want to do. Talk to people in those roles, look at the job descriptions and the skills needed to succeed in that role and develop a plan to get you ready for that role. It takes time and effort, but it also helps build stamina and relationships, and hopefully it gets you your energy back.

This is an important point. Don't be delusional about who you are and what you can do. This may seem counter to step five above, but it's not. Dream big, think about who you want to be and the role you want to be in. Then think really hard about who you are now, what your skills are now, and what's your realistic path to achieving your dream. Get feedback from others, think three to five years out. Reverse engineer your career from that point.

I had a colleague tell me once that I should learn to play my career like I was playing chess. Be strategic about it. Think three to five moves out. If the path ahead of you looks blocked, work around it by going lateral. Maybe even take a step back to eventually move two steps forward. You may feel stuck, but it’s really up to you to figure out how you're going to get unstuck.

Plan, be smart, dream big, think strategically … and get moving in the race for your career success!