Ready. Aim. Aim. Aim. Fire?

*This article brought to you courtesy of a eureka moment during a synthesized near death experience in the sauna at my gym

Down With the Stick-ness
The headline of this article alludes to the experience of getting “stuck” in life. You either know what to do and you’re not doing, or you’re not sure what to do so you don’t do anything. Whatever it looks like, it feels likes stagnation and complacency. You know there’s better things ahead, but the drive to do the thing simply isn’t there. So the question of the days is, “How does someone go about getting unstuck?”

(Something to know about me is that I frequently think in terms of cycles, patterns, and systems; it makes life easier to understand. The easier a thing is to understand, the easier it is to work with whatever that thing is.)

So Here’s the "Backchain" of Staying Stuck:

Someone stays stuck because they aren't taking action to un-stick themself.

Lack of action comes from a lack confidence. This is when someone doubts their ability to succeed at "doing the thing."

Lack of confidence comes from a lack of certainty. They're unsure if the "thing to do" is worth doing, or will even work at all.

Lack of certainty comes from lack of data. They are unsure because there is not enough practical and relevant data to reasonably support the premise of implementing the "thing to do."

The lack of data comes from a lack of experience. There has been no activity that is meant to support the chain of events necessary to take action with confidence.

And the lack of experience comes from...a lack of action. Effectively it’s a negative feedback loop that’s keeps someone stuck.

So what's the solution? (hint: FAAFO)

Okay, so maybe you noticed a pattern above…There's a lack of a lot of things. There's a lot of scarcity.

SO...let's invert this it to create a solution, yeah?

Let's turn scarcity into abundance and see what happens.

Someone progresses by taking an abundance of action

An abundance of action comes from a abundance of confidence. This is when someone has conviction in their ability to succeed at "doing the thing".

Abundance of confidence comes from a abundance of certainty. They know for sure that the "thing to do" is worth doing, and will definitely work.

Abundance of certainty comes from abundance of data. They know the the "thing to do" is worth doing because they have an abundance of practical and relevant data to reasonably support the premise of implementing the "thing to do"

The abundance of data come from abundance of experience. There has been a high volume of activity that is meant to support the chain of events necessary to take action with confidence.

And the abundance of experience comes from...an abundance of action. It’s a positive feedback loop that keeps someone moving forward.

How do you create a positive feedback loop?

F*ck Around and Find Out.

Just do “the thing” and see what happens. Not to generate and outcome, but rather to collect data. Do “the thing” often frequently enough to collect enough data to determine whether or not it's worth continuing to do. Expand and refine the premise that supports the “thing to do”. Make new iterations of the “thing to do”. Embrace the naturally occurring evolution of the “thing to do”.

The confidence will come, and when it does...you won't even really need it anymore an action becomes effotless.

Hope this was useful, see you on the next one…

-David