To Start a Business or Make a Big Change, You Need to Unstuck Your Life First.
Here is what you need to reboot your life, if you feel stuck atm.
Before I go with this newsletter, a short disclaimer: I don’t sell some random BS I found online. I’ve felt stuck in my life multiple times, and I found a way out.
I managed to get unstuck and make significant improvements in my life, change my job, change careers, and even immigrate to a foreign country and start my entire life from scratch in my forties. So, I’m speaking from my personal experience, so go for it; it’s best to learn from someone else's mistakes.
Let’s face it, feeling trapped in a rut can be incredibly demotivating. Whether it’s a business or personal situation, being unable to move forward is frustrating. Comparing yourself to other seemingly successful entrepreneurs only adds to the pressure, making it feel like everyone else is thriving while you’re stuck in the same place. It’s a pretty unpleasant experience.
You’re not alone
But here’s the good news: feeling stuck is a shared experience, and you’re not alone. In fact, I can totally relate, as I was in the same boat as you.
I’ve been there, working a daily job that was dull and dreadful. You know you deserve better, and you day-dream about making more money, changing your job, and starting your own business. You feel undervalued, and you know you can achieve much more, but you don’t know where to start.
Well, before any daydreaming and planning, you need to find YOUR way out. You need to unblock yourself and take a step forward from that awful feeling of “You’re not enough…”
How do you unstuck yourself?
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Go out of your comfort zone.
This sounds like bullshit. But it isn’t. Like growing pains you might have had as a teenager, every growth hurts, and believe me, it is not likely you’ll improve any aspect of your life by sitting on the couch and waiting for miracles to happen.
Let’s be real. We all want to stay within our comfort zones and avoid frustration. But if you’re looking to make progress in your business, career, or life, you need to push your boundaries and embrace the discomfort of learning. Trust me, I know it’s not easy, but it’s the only way to achieve real success.
I know. It’s overwhelming. It scares you. But take my advice: the more you do it, the easier it will become.
I started small back then in Serbia by changing jobs and occupations in a country where everybody sticks to the same company as a safety blanket.
Then, we decided to have a third child, although we knew it would be challenging with the six- and three-year-olds and without any external support. Then, I found myself in a new country, studying a language I didn’t know well, with debt and without a job. Huh, that was a big jump out of my comfort zone! We survived, of course, and grew much stronger.
How to start? Challenge yourself to try the things you’re scared of regularly—every day or every month. As Tony Robins says:
“Stepping into uncertainty is required of us to break away from what’s not serving us”
Change your mindset
Having the right mindset is a critical first step when starting over. However, many believe that our intelligence or any individual quality can’t be changed. If your beliefs are similar, you have a fixed mindset and need to convert it to a growth mindset.
Check what thoughts you have about your current life situation and where you want to go next. Have you accepted that change may be hard but worth it? Are you aware of any self-limiting beliefs holding you back? Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?
Learning to change your mindset, you’ll:
get rid of fear of making mistakes can lead us to avoid challenges and new experiences — experiences that would help us grow, improve ourselves in important ways, and create the life we desire.-
says Tchiki Davis, PhD, writing about 15 ways to build a growth mindset.
Find your passion
Many people walk around sick of life—yes, they might have real struggles. But it may be simply a case of not discovering your drive yet. What’s your passion? What makes you jump out of bed, hungry and foolish (to use Apple’s famous and so true tagline)? What is the power or skill you’ve been using already to help your friends and family for free?
Sometimes, you get to discover your passion early in life. That was my case. From the first letters I wrote as a child, I knew writing was my passion. But it can happen much later in life, or you might discover you have multiple passions.
Learn a new skill
Is there something you have always wanted to learn? Instead of finding excuses again, now is the right time to dive into it. It’s never been easier to learn things for free — you can find online courses, free books, and Youtube videos about almost every topic. You can even enrol in any of the 65 free online courses offered by the most prestigious Universities in the US!
You might think it’s not a good time for learning, and that will take you even further from the action, but in today’s fast-paced world, you can’t afford to stand still. You need to keep acquiring new skills and knowledge to stay ahead of the curve.
Learning will help you to write down a road map—where you are at this moment and where you want to be in six months or a year.
Learn how to apply that skill
But it’s not just about acquiring new skills — you also need to be aware of what’s marketable. Industries are constantly changing, and you need to keep an eye on market trends and make sure you’re building skills that are in demand.
Of course, you’re going to make mistakes along the way. But don’t let them hold you back. Learn from them, identify your sunk costs, and move forward. And when you do make a mistake, don’t dwell on it; focus on doing better next time.
Be alone
Moments we steal for ourselves can be the ones we enjoy the most if we use that time to dig into ourselves and find solutions. We tend to run around without even a moment to stop and think about ourselves, to hear our body and its messages, or to recognise what really bothers us. To re-evaluate our career, our purpose, our partner, and the way we look. To actively listen or listen more than we talk (or, even worse, scroll).
Go on a date with yourself. Use these nice plates we keep for special occasions. Treat yourself beyond babble baths or compulsive shopping or watching Netflix (that’s not a self-care, remember, that’s what consumer society sells to as a self -care!)
Take time to really understand yourself.
Where are you in this world?
What do you really want from your life?
What makes you happy, and more importantly, what prevents you from having more happy moments?
Write your circle of improvement
Then, write it down.
A job or career, that's not your life, and your value is not determined by them. The same as money won’t buy you happiness. Family, partner, kids, friends, travel, joy, going out, food, fitness, mindfulness, self-improvement, education, there are so many things in your life that can be better and make your life better! What are you waiting for?
If you are familiar with NLP (neurolinguistic programming), you can use their “circle of improvement” method to determine what aspects of your life are the most important to you.
I use this technique regularly to see how to improve my important fields: partnership, health, career, side business, self-improvement, and spirituality.
Write down your goals
Now that you know which fields you need to improve the most, you can write down a plan. Set yourself up for success by getting better in the fields important to you every day.
I can’t recommend enough the brilliant book ”Atomic Habits” by James Clear, which completely changed my view (and my practise) on self-improvement and good habits. I highly recommend reading this book and trying to apply it as much as possible.
Finally, this book might help you build systems. Habits are the compound interest of self — improvement”. Whether it’s documenting your business processes or building good habits in your personal life, systems are the key to efficiency and optimisation. It takes time and effort to develop a system that works for you, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Feeling stuck in life is a common experience that many people can relate to, and I just wanted to remind you—I feel you—that it doesn’t have to be a permanent state.
To get unstuck, you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone, adopt a growth mindset, find your passion, and learn new skills.
These steps may be challenging, but they are necessary for achieving real success and creating the life you desire. So, don’t be afraid to take risks and try new things, and always remember that it’s never too late to start over and make a big change in your life.
I am 45, and just in the last 5 years, I immigrated to Australia, did my Marketing Masters Degree, settled in a new country, found a job in marketing, got my skill assessment, and now I’m starting a side hustle. Maybe it’s not much, but for me, it's a huge change. Remember that change may be challenging, but it’s worth it, and taking small steps every day can help you make considerable improvements in the long run.
Marketing Fairy Recommends:
Unsplash — free stock photography
Having your own images is not always possible, especially when starting a business. That’s why a free stock photo library is mandatory for every keen solopreneur. Although there are many free options nowadays (PixaBay and Pexels are the ones I use mostly), I’d recommend Unsplash.
It’s free, easy to use, doesn’t require membership, and is integrated with Canva. Their library is vast, so I’m sure you can find what you need. Although it’s not mandatory, I always link to and credit authors.
Quote that matters
“Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it’s no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.”
Do you know I’m at the beginning of my new side-hustle journey? I’ll document the entire process so every future marketing solopreneur can learn from my mistakes and winnings.
If you want to share your feedback on my writing or this newsletter, please reach me at angelina.radulovic@gmail.com
Speak to you soon,
Angelina, Marketing Fairy