Are you a tree? ??

You're not a tree. Are you?

Which means, if you don't like your situation, change it.

You're not rooted to the spot, stuck – even if it seems like you are.

Talking to someone I love very much a while ago, I realised how entrenched we get in the hamster wheels of our lives, and how much we allow ourselves to become mired in routine.

He was working all hours, not seeing his family as much as he wanted, in an extremely stressful job. He's a high-achiever and he cares tremendously about doing the best he can for his family, his employers, his friends, and himself.

But, like many of us who are like that, we're not so good at taking the best care of ourselves.

He told me he didn't want to be doing what he's doing anymore.

I asked him what he did want to do... he wasn't sure, but he had some ideas.

"So – do it!" said I. "What's stopping you?"

His responsibilities. The mortgage. The lifestyle he'd build for his family.

Even though his family wouldn't mind having less and doing less, he was stuck on the hamster wheel and couldn't see a way off it.

I understand. Until something forces our hand, we often can't see a way off it.

We think we're stuck.

We think we have to keep doing this and this and this because it means we can do that.

We forget there are other ways to provide for ourselves and our families.

We forget we have a choice.

Before I started out on my own, I had jobs. I'd idly toyed with the idea of running my own business when I was a teenager, but I never did it. I thought I had to get a job because people who run their own businesses are different from me. Special, right?

So that's what I did.

I worked on the hamster wheel and it never fulfilled me (I always envied those people who were fulfilled in their jobs).

Until one day, I had a fairly catastrophic breakdown, got fired, thought very seriously that the world and I would be better off without each other, and got catapulted into running my own business.

Turns out, I did have a choice. I chose to make my own messes, clean them up, build my own life, follow my own path, and do the hard but exciting and fulfilling things.

So do you. You have a choice, too.

The person I love hasn't made his choice yet. He's still on the hamster wheel and my heart hurts for him because he has so much more to offer the world. But until he really believes he has a choice, there's nothing I can do to help him.

But what about you? Do you feel stuck?

Do you believe you have the power to get unstuck?

You do have that power.

And I would love to help you.

I write all sorts of stories about books and self-publishing. You can keep up with them all by hopping onto the best daily email list in the multiverse here.