Feeling Like Things are OK is a Sneaky Trap

Our career paths, relationships, and lives? are rarely on a straight trajectory.?

We have times when we’re climbing and falling.

But contrary to what you might expect, the in-between times can actually be the worst.?

When you go through the motions and feel stuck, that’s stagnation.?

Stagnation comes from the mindset that you’re doing “just fine” and are “good enough.”?

This mentality deflates growth and development.

It derails performance, stalls productivity, and undermines fulfillment.?

In some ways, it’s worse than doing poorly because it’s static.?

When things are bad, we tend to take action, or at least are motivated to do so.?

But feeling like things are okay is a sneaky trap.?

It means you’re treading water instead of actually swimming.

Stagnation accumulates slowly until you look up and feel like you’ve lost your drive.?

As we adapt to where we are in life, in a job, in a relationship, the excitement tends to fade.

Even the once most exciting jobs tend to fall back down to earth once you’ve adjusted to them.

When we lose our drive, it might seem like it’s happening to us.?

But our helplessness is an illusion, a story we tell ourselves.?

But we can change that story.

We just have to find new pockets of inspiration during times when we are sluggish.