Do you ever feel as if you’re just not getting anywhere?

It’s like you’re moving through molasses while everyone else is just zipping along toward their objectives.

You WANT to progress, to steal second, but you just can’t lift that thousand pound foot off of first. It happens to a lot of folks and it goes by various names, some of which are inappropriate.

For instance, this state-of-stuck-ness isn’t depression because you’re functioning in other ways, doing the laundry, shopping, even balancing your checkbook.

It’s like you’re waiting for something to happen, instead of being poised to spring like a tiger to make something happen.

You’re reactive, not proactive; at effect, not at-cause.

What can you do about it?

I’ve found five things work for me:

(1) EXERCISE. Maybe this is the last thing that comes to mind, but if you get off your rear and take a walk, your attitude will change. Even without getting up from your desk you can do some isometrics. Just tighten various muscle groups and then relax them, and repeat this process with each muscle group five or six times. You’ll feel stronger, instantly and this will be, literally, empowering.

(2) CHANGE YOUR ROUTINE. Have dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner. Take a new route to the office. Wake up an hour earlier. Rent an unusual video. Any change can shift your habitual perceptions and open you to new and creative ideas.

(3) CLEAN-UP. Look around you. You could be stifling yourself with junk that cries out to be organized or tossed out. Start with just one offending area, and then when you get up a head of steam, move to another. Praise yourself for improving your space instead of downing yourself for having let it go awry.

(4) BUY A NEW ITEM: Splurge on a small luxury. One writer says when she’s in a funk she’ll invest about five or six bucks in some fresh raspberries. New, white dress shirts do the trick for me. I’ll pick up four or five at a time to have a fresh supply.

(5) PLAY SOME MUSIC. Put on a DVD and if you like, dance your heart out, all by yourself. It is fun, it loosens you up, and it gets the blood circulating with endorphins, those feel-good natural hormones.

There's no reason to stay stuck, if you don’t want to be. Try these little things and I’m sure you’ll feel better, fast!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman
www.customersatisfaction.com