One thing you can do when you’re stuck
From time to time, no matter where you might be on your personal journey, chances are that things will slow down for a while. Sometimes they've been slow for a whiiiiiiile, and deep down you know that you’ve stagnated and have been treading water for some time.
Even if you've been making changes and updating your mental programming, it's normal to come to a plateau point—you've already slayed some dragons and you’re feeling pretty good, but it's getting close to the time that new dragons will start to appear. Your new, higher consciousness will bring them out to play.
Until then, you may feel like you're just sitting around, waiting for them. You’re not all that comfortable in the interim, but you’re not sure how to speed things up to bring the next level of work into the light. And really, there is no need to do so. We've become accustomed to instant gratification, but sometimes the best thing to do is to be in whatever period of time you're in until you have the clarity you need to move forward.
So, what should you do? Twiddle your thumbs? Sit on your hands? Play rounds of Candy Crush? Binge-watch Netflix?
Sure, those are valid choices. But will they move you forward?
When you're in a waiting period, find one way to provide value to someone else each day. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily tasks and to-do lists and completely forget that the point of your life is not simply to be a cog in the greater machinery, but to be a human being who interacts with human beings beyond the technical achievement of things. It is the intangible that makes life worth living, not the accomplishment of tasks. When you operate in autopilot mode, you're not fully conscious of the way you go through your days. They become routine, rote, scheduled—in other words, there's so much same ol', same ol' that you don't have to be fully engaged to get through each day.
Providing value doesn't have to be an earth-shattering or monumental undertaking. It can be as small as saying kind words to someone who needs to hear them, buying coffee for someone, making a point to reach out to someone you haven't connected with in a while, expressing your appreciation to a team member, etc. Add it to your daily task list if you must, but make a point of doing it every day until it becomes a habit. Over time, you'll see multiple benefits.
You'll feel good when you make others feel good, and the better you feel, the less stuck you become. As you begin to realize the benefits of providing value, you'll naturally begin to prioritize what really matters over what keeps you busy. Best of all, you’ll wake up to your potential and the potential of the world around you, rather than staying resigned to the status quo and keeping your expectations low.
What's one thing you can do today to bring value to someone?