Hi and welcome to larry-lewis.com, my name is Larry Lewis and today’s article is “Life at a standstill, how do you get things moving forward?”
Let’s start with a simple, but important question. ‘Are you doing what’s necessary to create the life you want?’
Alternatively, is your life at a standstill and you don’t know what to do to get it moving forward?
Another day is over.
Another one begins.
Day after day of frustration, where everything seems so pointless, so hard, so unfulfilling.
Is it really Monday?
You’re not where you want to be.
Does this describe you?
You feel like you’ve lost any spark and excitement for life?
“It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole lives waiting to start living.” Eckhart Tolle
Life is at a standstill and you just want to feel excited about life again. Well you can!
The question is, what are you going to do about it?
Everything you’ve been trying hasn’t worked. You’ve read self-help books, gone to the seminars and workshops. Maybe you’ve tried to work through your issues with friends and family members. You’ve signed up for online courses, even done all the exercises they included, which most people don’t. Yet nothing has changed, apart from the time wasted.
You can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. And even on a beautiful day like today, I’m writing this on Saturday where we are blessed with sunshine, you can’t seem to put a smile on your face or stop the negative chatter in your head.
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe
Sometimes in life, we find ourselves at a dead end. Or a crossroads. Or on a path that seems to go nowhere. No matter what stage you are at in life, if you are unhappy with it, or unsure as to how to proceed, then you need to reevaluate.
The answers that will help you move life forward lie in your past. It requires you to analyse previous events, successes and failures. You need to ask yourself ‘what works and what doesn’t’ in your life.
■ Past results – What have you done in the past that worked? Why? What hasn’t worked? Why?
■ Reactions – What have you done that others notice? Think of all your positive reactions, and then those debilitating negative ones. What was different? How could you have handled things better?
■ Relationships – How has what you’ve done affected your relationships? How do others describe you?
■ Feelings – Where do you feel the most stress and resistance in your body and in your life? When do you feel most exhilarated.
The truth is that sometimes we don’t see what we’re doing wrong, mainly because we don’t look. It helps if you had someone else to point it out to you. But most of you can’t afford to work with a life coach such as myself. So what can you do?
You need to do the inner work! What do I mean by that? Getting in to your head, take focused time, on your own, to just think, reflect, dwell on the question ‘what works and what doesn’t in your life’.
The Old Testament Book of Proverbs says, “Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” You need to understand those things that aren’t working in your life so you can begin to fix them. You need to cut the deadwood out of your life, get rid of bad patterns, habits, and behaviours, for good.
Between wherever you are today and wherever you want to be in the future, there is something, often several things—that are holding you back. You must identify those constraints that are restricting your progress most of which are internal, inside of you. Ask yourself ‘‘What is it in me that is holding me back from moving forward in life?’’
Your next step is to write out in detail what you want your life to be like, what an average (great) day would be like. Be very specific. Your first step is to figure out what your perfect future looks and feels like to you. In as much detail as possible, imagine and write out what your average day looks like. What’s your environment (home, work, play, etc.)? Who do you interact with? What are you doing? Make it as specific as possible as if you’re watching the movie of your day.
You need to have a vision as your focus, as human beings need to believe that life has a meaning, and believe things can work out excellently, for you to be absolutely clear about your goals.
Now knowing where you want to go, and seeing what doesn’t work in your life, you can determine what needs to change. Knowing this, you will know what to do to get your life moving forward., in the direction of your vision.
Take some time for yourself. Ask yourself big questions. And small ones. Learn about yourself. Meditate. Write down the things that interest you and things you could see yourself doing if time and money were no object. Dream big. Quiet your mind and really imagine yourself doing those things.
You have within you right now all the mental resources and abilities you need to solve any problem or resolve any crisis you will ever have to deal with. Your job is to unleash these mental powers and focus them single-mindedly on getting through a crunch point as quickly as possible.
Thanks for reading this article. I would love to hear how you will take action to get you out of the standstill you find yourself in. Drop me a comment. It’s always handy and helpful to hear how others deal with life so in the comments below why not share ONE thing you’re willing to do or see differently to get your life working in the great way it can.
If you are someone struggling either E-mail me at coach@larry-lewis.com or book a FREE Consultation Session and let’s chat through your difficulties and what you can do about them.
photo credit: smileham 43/365 Oh man, you look like I feel via photopin (license)
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