The Tribune

Michelle Miller Motivationals

Many of us have probably never actually been stuck in quicksand, but we can surely imagine that it must be a suffocating and paralysing experience. It is said that when stuck in quicksand, the more you wiggle, the deeper you sink. Nobody wants to be stuck in such a way.

Yet, whether your life is in a rut, you're going through some identity crisis, or just feel like you're living a life of serial monotony, feeling stuck is real and often difficult to navigate. Like quicksand, where the more you wiggle the deeper you sink. It's the same in life - every time you take one step forward it seems like you take 10 steps back right after.

We've all been there at one point or another, where we feel like we're stuck on a treadmill. Although we are moving with haste, we're going nowhere. And like the quicksand analogy, no matter how much we speed the treadmill up, nothing really changes; it's still the same ole, same ole. What we want more than anything else is to find a way to get ourselves off of this treadmill and move towards living a more empowered life.

Having found myself at this particular intersection one, two, a few times, I know how disconcerting it can feel. One of the key things that I came to appreciate is that feeling stuck in a rut is not uncommon. The best of the best of those whose achievements we admire have been there. So if you find yourself feeling stuck, you are not alone.

Feeling stuck in and of itself is not a bad thing. What matters is the degree to which you are working you way through this stuck state. Recognising the quicksand principle, you don't want to panic and move without forethought. Doing so is a non-effective approach that may lead to you sinking deeper. What you need here is a plan.

This plan starts with creating a new, bigger, motivating vision for your life. What do you ultimately want to do with your life is a great question to ponder. But before you can step off of the treadmill you must first have a reason to hit the stop button. Many people's lives stay stuck on stop because they simply do not have a compelling reason to stop and reevaluate what they want for their lives. You cannot get what you want out of life if you do not create a vision of what you desire for your life.

It's vision before goals and goals before strategy. You will move with more motivation and enthusiasm if you are moving towards something that matters to you most. Creating a mediocre vision of basic material achievements may move you for a minute, but life demands a whole lot more substance if you are going to live empowered.

Be willing to be honest with yourself about who you are and what you really want. Stop paying so much attention to other people's stuff. Take time to do your life justice by finding more use for your life. Living a useful, productive life is really the ultimate adventure. It is filled with endless possibilities for you to explore and discover your fearlessness.

Such a life takes more than some surface-based assessment. A heartfelt self-assessment that goes into the depths of your perception is crucial to breaking this cycle of being stuck. This is where it gets tough. Taking action to make changes we want in life is usually where the road turns and only the brave make it through.

Like it or not, some people like being stuck. They enjoy being is this cocoon of comfort where they are not push to become more. And while this may be comfortable, it limits your potential. Blindly running in place, leads only to a life of continuous frustration.

Living empowered and fully engaged begins with understanding who you are now; not who you were yesterday or who you will be tomorrow, but who you are right now. Now is the point of power. Ultimately, nothing stays the same; everything moves. Life itself is about moving, growing and expanding. It's about gaining a broader perception of yourself.

Getting unstuck is not about looking backwards, but rather looking inward and courageously moving towards becoming someone better. We live in an extraordinary time in which everything is possible. Access to this possibility gets easier when we take time to stop and pay attention; recalculating whether we are walking in our own shoes.

No matter how stuck your life may seem, today is a new day and you can choose to make a new choice about what you want for your life. You need only be willing to get inside your life to envision a new possibility.

Everything starts with you. You can reimagine your life at any point. It is this grander vision that will motivate you to live an empowered life. Yes, you definitely can do it.

What do you think? Send comments questions to coaching242@yahoo.com

• Michelle M Miller is a certified life coach, communication and leadership expert. Visit www.talktomichellemiller.com or call 1-888-620-7894; mail can be sent to PO Box CB-13060.