Are you feeling stuck?

Sometimes one feels suffocated in the work environment.Primarily because there are no growth opportunities, organizations are going through a rough patch due to downsizing, a lot of politics in the organization, severed relationships with higher-ups, so on and so forth.

This results in constant stress, anxiety about the future and in some extreme cases even depression.

If this is not identified and addressed by the individual, it results in frequent errors or mistakes, unpredictable temperament and more often it has an impact on one's personal life.  Personal life could get impacted in the form of poor health conditions or venting out on one’s family leading to more problems.

 What can be done about this?

1.      Identify the emotion - Identify what is happening to you and how are you reacting to various stimulants around you. Also, identify what exactly is the emotion that you are experiencing, it could be anxiety, anger, worry, hurt, etc. List down its impact on you personally and professionally.

  2.      The Root Cause: Once you identify the exact emotion, you can ask yourself, “why am I feeling this emotion?" It will help you in determining the root cause of feeling stuck. It could be coming from a lack of growth, relationship problems, environment, etc.

3.      Sounding Board: If self-reflection doesn’t help, do speak with a coach or a friend who can ask powerful questions to help you become more aware of what's bothering you. In most situations, what we think is the reason may not be the exact reason at the root. The exact reason emerges when someone asks insightful questions.

 4.      Options – List down what are the available options that you have under the circumstances to come out of the situation. It could be taking a break, finding a new opportunity outside, adopting a new approach, taking the entrepreneurial route, etc.

 5.      Decide – Explore each option by visualizing yourself taking that step in the near future. Carefully notice how you feel about each of the option. Feelings are a potent indicator of the direction in which we are heading. If we are feeling good, that means the path is best suited for us, and if we are feeling not so good, that means we need to explore further. In their book," Ask and it's given" Esther, and Jerry Hicks have described this concept beautifully.

 6.      Action – Finally take action. Nothing gets done without taking action.

We feel stuck because something inside tells us that we are not going in the right direction. Taking a pause, reflecting and moving forward is the key. Cursing, sulking, and cribbing will only keep you with the problem, not the solution. Happy Reflecting.