We all get stuck at some time or another. It usually happens when you least expect. Things are going well, everything is moving until it isn’t. It is rare that the stop is immediate. Oftentimes, it is a small event that you brush off because you view it as minor; then, these minor events pile up becoming major and now here you are stuck. You desperately want to get out but don’t know how. Here are the three questions you should ask yourself to get unstuck.
What’s working?
Stop what you are doing and ask yourself this question. Regardless of how much isn’t working, something in your life is working. Pick just one thing even if it is you’re alive and breathing.
I graduated from a leadership development program. I returned to my home agency and saw that I wasn’t getting promoted as fast as I thought that I should. I admitted that this wasn’t working.
I spoke with a co-worker who was in the same leadership development program. She received a promotion. I asked her how she received hers. She replied management analysis. I researched and discovered project management. Project management gave me the skillset to receive 2 more government promotions.
What’s not working?
You must be honest with yourself. Insanity is doing the same thing but expecting a different result. I was just getting started in project management when I took and failed my first certification exam. When I saw the test questions, my head started throbbing because these were very different from the study guide.
I realized that I didn’t read enough and take enough simulations. I was adamant about tracing the test questions’ origin. I learned that they came from the previous certificate guide edition. Immediately I found all of the practice exams using that guide to ace all of them. I didn’t just want to familiarize myself with the phrases, I needed to master them. I was against feeling confused and defeated again.
I returned to the testing center 2 weeks later and passed my first certification exam. 8 months to the day I passed it, I received my promotion.
What’s new?
The only way to get unstuck is to do something new. Ask yourself what are some new ways of doing something else or approaching your problem.
Even though I am certified, I have come across something new to me on an assignment. I learn that this client is using a different project management methodology that I am used to. Instead of fearing that I am an imposter because I don’t know anything about this specific project management, I start learning more about it. This new thing introduced me to another way of problem-solving which is helping me while on assignment. Remember, whether novice or expert, the only way to get something new is to do something new.
Asking these three questions of what’s working, not working and what’s new can get you unstuck and on with life.
We all get stuck at some time or another. It usually happens when you least expect. Things are going well, everything is moving until it isn’t. It is rare that the stop is immediate. Oftentimes, it is a small event that you brush off because you view it as minor; then, these minor events pile up becoming major and now here you are stuck. You desperately want to get out but don’t know how. Here are the three questions you should ask yourself to get unstuck.
What’s working?
Stop what you are doing and ask yourself this question. Regardless of how much isn’t working, something in your life is working. Pick just one thing even if it is you’re alive and breathing.
I graduated from a leadership development program. I returned to my home agency and saw that I wasn’t getting promoted as fast as I thought that I should. I admitted that this wasn’t working.
I spoke with a co-worker who was in the same leadership development program. She received a promotion. I asked her how she received hers. She replied management analysis. I researched that and discovered project management. Project management gave me the skillset to receive 2 more government promotions.
What’s not working?
You must be honest with yourself. Insanity is doing the same thing but expecting a different result. I was just getting started in project management when I took and failed my first certification exam. When I saw the test questions, my head started throbbing because these were very different from the study guide.
I realized that I didn’t read enough and take enough simulations. I was adamant about tracing the test questions’ origin. I learned that they came from the previous certificate guide edition.
Immediately I found all of the practice exams using that guide to ace all of them. I didn’t just want to familiarize myself with the phrases, I needed to master them. I was against feeling confused and defeated again.
I returned to the testing center 2 weeks later and passed my first certification exam. 8 months to the day I passed it, I received my promotion.
What’s new?
The only way to get unstuck is to do something new. Ask yourself what are some new ways of doing something else or approaching your problem.
Even though I am a certified project manager, I have come across something new to me on an assignment. I learn that this client is using a different project management methodology that I am used to. Instead of fearing that I am an imposter because I don’t know anything about this specific project management, I start learning more about it. This new thing introduced me to another way of problem-solving which is helping me while on assignment. Remember, whether novice or expert, the only way to get something new is to do something new.
Asking these three questions of what’s working, not working and what’s new can get you unstuck and on with life.
Bio
Carla R Jenkins is a certified project manager, scrum master and ITIL v3 professional with over a decade’s worth of experience. She has worked in both the private and public sectors successfully completing projects and programs on time, within