New Opportunities

It is easy to find yourself stuck. But what does that really mean?

Very few people feel like they are in their groove all the time. This difficulty is only compounded when you add in the stressors of finances, family, work, or other numerous other factors like an unexpected health issue.

So…what is a regular person supposed to do if they want to open up more opportunities? How do they get re-engaged and moving forward in life rather than feeling stuck?

new opportunities

Good question. Here are some ideas:

1) Get out of the house.

I found that one thing that gets me stuck is when I try to work from home for too long. This also applies to any office context (or really any location where you are working!). One sure fire way to spark creativity and help you get unstuck is to get up from where you are and either go work somewhere else or go do something different somewhere else.

2) Consider what opportunities are out there.
It is very easy to convince ourselves that we have looked into everything we possibly could, or that just because we have never done it a certain way, we can’t do it that way. This leads to close-minded thinking and hyper focuses on the past and what a person has already experienced. Consider what new and other options are out there.

3) Read a magazine.
I’ve never been one to actually read a magazine faithfully month after month. But looking at a magazine spurs creativity and gets me thinking. Find a magazine you like or that’s in your industry and thumb through it asking yourself the question: What is one new idea I can take away from this magazine today?

4) Look at your competitors.
When you look at what others are doing to get new ideas. Be careful with this one. If you look at your competitors too much, you might start to become them or even worse start to envy or dislike them. None of those are healthy.

5) Spend 5 minutes learning on Twitter.
If you don’t have a twitter account, go set one up. It will take you a minute or 2.

Once you have an account, click on the number sign on the top of your screen and start to look up topics you’re interested in. For example, if you are interested in photography, you could type in photography, or cameras, or creativity. You will be amazed at the quantity and quality of content you will find there.

Don’t let the technology trip you up.

If you let technology trip you up, you’re choosing to avoid a very helpful resource. Click To Tweet

One of the major values of Twitter is social sharing rather than Googling something and trusting the whole world, you can see what your friends or those that you respect are sharing online.

What have you found to be helpful in getting unstuck? Share your ideas in the comments below.