Getting unstuck and building lasting habits in times of change

- Change, disruption and uncertainty can leave even the most capable people feeling stuck. I know you know this, whether it's navigating job transitions, enterprise transformation, business challenges, or any kind of setbacks, the key to moving forward lies in small, consistent and intentional actions rather than waiting for motivation to strike. I like to say no one learns to swim in a flood, and what that means is we don't typically implement the skills and tools we need when the difficulty strikes. So it's important to prepare ourselves, so that when we need the skillset and the practical actions to support us, we're already trained. First, let's take a moment to understand why we get stuck. When facing uncertainty, the brain defaults into survival mode, often leading to overthinking and analysis paralysis. When we have too many choices, tasks, responsibilities, or the change is just simply too overwhelming, stress, exhaustion and fear often prevent action. Emotional resistance, the anxiety, stress, and uncertainty of engaging in new habits or routines can feel unbalancing. And sometimes it just feels safer to do what we've always done, even if we know we'll continue to get the results we always got. Lack of motivation. It's easy to fall prey to the belief that we need to wait until we feel motivated and inspired. But waiting for the right mood to show up to take action just leads to inaction. Action typically comes before motivation, not the other way around. You don't need to feel ready, you just need to start. Now, this is not an exhaustive list. Are there other traps that keep you stuck that I didn't mention? I'd love to hear what's held you back in the comments and Q&A section below. I've also included a worksheet that includes five practical strategies that have been so helpful for me and my clients to help you get unstuck and get started. Okay, so now that we know why we get stuck and we have some practical strategies for working through it, let's look at how to make habits stick, so they become a routine. Try habit stacking. This is where you anchor a new habit to an existing habit or a routine, which helps create automatic reinforcement. For example, you could tell yourself that after you have your coffee, you're going to do sit ups or meditate for 10 minutes. Next, don't underestimate the power of lowering the bar for success. Yes, you heard me right, lowering the bar. Remember the practice of possibility and the focus on progress over perfection make your new habits ridiculously easy at first. For example, instead of saying you're going to cut out all the sugar from your diet, just focus on eating healthy 80% of the time. Lowering the barrier to success will allow you to have more wins and feel more confident and positive about the new habits you're forming, and remember to track your progress. What we give our attention to expands. So make sure that you have a process for tracking new habits or a simple checklist to build consistency daily, weekly, or monthly. You'll be able to see how your habit is being developed over time and celebrate your successes. Last but not least, use visual cues to build your habits. By putting reminders in visible places, they're more likely to trigger action. For example, lay out your gym clothes the night before to encourage morning workouts or keep your to-do list nearby, so you can complete items when you have available time between meetings and travel. In summary, I'm so excited for you to walk away from this course with your personalized resilience blueprint. And not only that, to know how to get unstuck and how to get started. It's completely normal to get stuck and to not feel a sense of motivation to do something different. So this movie is here to help you with skills and tools when you hit those inevitable obstacles. And of course, we want you to know I'm here to support you. So jog on over to the Q&A, share how it's going. Ask questions and share your experiences and what's working, so we know how it's going and you'll likely help other learners.