The science of stuckness (yes, there is such a thing) has found that when you are stuck, you also feel utterly alone. Newsflash 🔦🔦🔦, the opposite is true. Most people report being stuck in some aspect of their lives. You are far from alone!

From a career development perspective, I call this your crossroad. You are not where you want to be and are paralyzed by anxiety. You worry, struggle with self-esteem, and see few options. You stay with your current situation because it’s the devil you know. Also, the consequences of changing your career and making a mistake further thwart your potential progress.

Here are some steps you can take to get unstuck:

Step One: Calm Down

When you feel stuck, your brain interprets the situation as uncertain or risky. This activates the amygdala, shifting you into threat mode, which includes narrowed thinking, reduced creativity, avoidance, and procrastination. As difficult as it might be, you need to start breathing and settle your nerves. Take a long walk, talk to a chicken soup friend, or make an appointment with your career coach. Get support and stop isolating.

Step Two: Shrink the Problem to Restore Agency

Large goals overload the prefrontal cortex. Small goals work because they reintroduce predictability, create fast dopamine feedback, and rebuild a sense of control. So, identify micro-actions, such as meeting with a colleague for coffee or taking a career assessment. Build on your success and reboot your confidence.

Step Three: Change the State, Not the Thought

Stuckness is a state of being, not a belief. Some good ways to shift your state include physical movement, novel environments (even a different room), and temperature shifts (cold water on your face). These state-shifting actions reset neural firing patterns and interrupt your thought loops.

As you feel less stuck and in the flow of a journey to the next chapter in your career, you can harness your intellect, creativity, and resources to design what’s next.