How to Get Unstuck

All through life, Alex has always felt that other people, schoolmates, friends and later colleagues, seemed to have it easier. Dad was never quite satisfied. It was hard to live up to his standards. Aunts and Uncles always knew a cousin who was better, brighter, richer, faster.

Alex, like you and me, would like to earn more, be recognized and respected. To enjoy life and have fun. To simply succeed.

Is it really so difficult?

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Alex wants to provide for others. Family is very important and the good of society is too, but Alex feels stuck on a hamster wheel, running from paycheck to paycheck with some left over, but it’s never enough. And let’s face it; the job sucks most of the time. Alex’s boss rarely has a good word. Sometimes, when Alex has achieved something out of the ordinary, the boss notices, but most of the time Alex feels like the effort is unnoticed.

Alex was in a rut.

Where’s my MOJO?

For the past couple of months, Alex’s has been feeling drained, both emotionally and physically. Without that ‘get up and go’, Alex accepted to sit down and stay. A friend mentioned a wonderful seminar that they had attended. A famous motivational guru was in town and the flyers promised life transformation and heart alignment and immediate recharge and success.

So Alex forked out the high price of a ticket and went with great expectations. Oh what a terrific day it was. An atmosphere charged with promise and laughter. Alex returned home with a renewed desire to re-ignite passions and eager to progress with living life to the max.

In the day’s ahead motivation surges

Alex continues to feel upbeat for several days after the seminar. There’s even a framed photo of Alex and the speaker with a motivational quote and signed sitting on the desk.

Work seems effortless and progress feels assured until the boss sends the last customer presentation deck back with a note describing it as “unusable”. Not quite the type of attention Alex had desired from the boss.

Within moment, all the encouragement and promises of the motivational seminar evaporated like a morning mist

The boss referred Alex to HR to get trained in putting presentations together properly. And soon Alex was enjoying a couple of days away from the office in a fun and lively workshop.

In spite of a couple of long interruptions of teleconference calls that “just had to be done”, the workshop was very good. Alex learned and had a chance to practise the skills and get feedback from the facilitator.

Back in the office

Alex stared disbelievingly at the increased mountain of urgent tasks and slowly worked through them, never quite coming to the end but at least trying to use the newly developed skills. All was well until a curt email described Alex’s latest presentation deck for the boss as “utterly unsuitable” and questioning the point of training someone if they weren’t going to use the training properly.

Alex knew that it would be a waste of time explaining that there had been no opportunity to use the skills
What Alex needed now was some clear guidance on what to do next. Alex was stuck again. That encouraging feeling of regaining motivation and purpose from the seminar was gone. Alex had developed skills but with no proper feedback at work and regular guidance even the new skills weren’t being used effectively.

What to do now? And how do I get unstuck?

Alex wanted help, but talking to a family member or the boss felt too difficult and risky. Friends, well they just seem to be caught up in their own successful, busy lives. So Alex looked online and decided to risk everything and speak to a stranger. A coach who seemed to have helped a few people in similar situations get unstuck.

Some Alex contacted just tried to sell a solution; a few took the time to listen and genuinely appeared to care. However, what Alex needed was a plan to get from here to… well, somewhere a whole lot better, and someone who would be a guide on the side. After checking out a couple of potentials, Alex chose a coach.

It was unnerving at first. It felt like this coach could read minds and understood the real fears Alex

It felt like this coach could read minds and understood the real fears Alex faced, and never judged. Somehow, this coach dug down and found little gems of forgotten talents hidden in Alex’s past. It felt good to be appreciated. It felt wonderful to know that there is greatness within. It felt wonderful o be unstuck and that the future could really be made better.

It wasn’t cheap, and it was hard work, and took time to mine all those gems and uncover Alex’s true talents, passion and purpose. There were days of sheer joy and days of uncertainty.

Together, they developed a plan of action

And the coach continued to guide with useful resources, follow up and measure progress. It felt good to enjoy real progress. It felt great to be choosing to take charge of life. And Alex thrived.

This coach kept Alex accountable for promised actions and provided templates and online micro-learning tutorials. Together they measured the key efforts and deliverables and Alex began using the templates at work.

Slowly and steadily, Alex’s talent was leveraged in new areas and work became more effortless and vastly more fun. Alex became empowered and deliberately focused more on leading up. Helping to lift the boss’s load and supporting colleagues in areas where Alex could best lend support.

Even whilst less than the best-qualified candidate, Alex was offered a promotion. It was a near ideal position.

Alex loves the new job, has a balanced family and social life and is even volunteering in a favoured charity project.
Of course, Alex could have gotten there alone. However, not everyone is great at encouraging themselves. Even after a boost from attending one of those Guru style seminars. And it sure helps to develop new skills but you really need to be motivated to use them effectively back at the workplace and guided in their use.

There are more people who die with their good intentions intact than those who actually choose to act and succeed

A plan without follow-up, support and accountability remains a plan. Dr John Kenworthy

It is terrific to work with someone who cares, someone who knows how you can get unstuck and how to find and leverage your real talents and passion, a guide like a coach or mentor. Whether inside your company or someone external.

It’s even better when you are empowered with easy access to reminders of learning and templates and constantly encouraged to leverage existing talents in new ways so that work becomes effortless and fun.

Alex, like you, benefits from being encouraged, developed, guided and empowered to get unstuck and to realise their true potential. We all need an EDGE, and we need someone to help us sharpen it.

It doesn’t take talent or luck to succeed; you just need to decide. I’ll help you gain your EDGE.

Originally published at LeadershipAdvantEdge.com