It's inevitable... you've been chugging along in your business and in life and you hit a roadblock. You get frustrated and you don't really see a way around it. Rationally, you know this probably isn't forever, but you FEEL like there's no solving the problem.
STOP. Just stop right there and don't do anything hasty. When you feel like you're at the bottom it is the absolute worst place for you be making any important business decisions. I mean, you can decide to order new business cards or maybe even social media to post (if you can take yourself out of the negativity), but by no means should you decide what you or your business should do next based on the seemingly hopeless circumstances.
Why? Because you know it is either a) not as bad as it seems or b) is not permanent. That's just life. One moment there's a terrible storm. The next is blue skies. Oh, it's an extended winter? WELL THE SUN STILL COMES OUT EVENTUALLY! It doesn't make it less hard, but you've got to gain perspective.
We recently found ourselves stuck on business stuff. Wait, there's not a road map to this? A genie who will grant our wishes to make things happen? WE HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT? And when something feels impossible to make a good decision, you will only see the bad decisions to be made. It's just that simple.
So what can you do? Here's some advice on how we muddled our way through:
- Talk it out with an outsider. They aren't in the bog of doom that you are, so they can probably see the solutions much more easily.
- Don't fight about decisions, decide on outcomes. When you're stuck, it's easy to ask "What do I do next?" when really you need to be asking "Where do I want to go?" Focusing on what you want to happen will help you see where the solutions are hiding. Doesn't mean you won't have to compromise a little sometimes, but you will be making A WAY LESS BAD decision.
- Be OK with Plan B. This can be the hardest of all to get unstuck. When you get stuck in a crazy patch of traffic on the freeway (to be LA about this situation), you can decide to stick it out until it clears if you've got time. But sometimes you don't have time. Sometimes if you delay too much you will miss opportunities because you decided to just sit. You need to be okay with the reroute. Sure it might make you a little later than expected, but sitting there probably will too. Sure it will be unfamiliar and maybe feel scary since it's not what you planned, but it's what will get you where you need in a timely fashion.
Got any great business stories of getting unstuck and want to share with our audience? We'd love to hear it! Email academyofhandmade@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
