How to Find Motivation When You Feel Stuck

Good day, my friend! Let me start by telling you something that might surprise you: some of my most successful friends have confided in me that they wake up some mornings feeling completely unmotivated. Not tired, not sick, not overwhelmed—just stuck. Like they're driving with the parking brake on, wanting to move forward but feeling held back by something they can't quite name. If that sounds familiar, I have good news for you—you're in excellent company, and you're closer to breakthrough than you think!

The Uncomfortable Truth About Being Human

Let me share something I learned the hard way: feeling stuck isn't a sign that something's wrong with you—it's a sign that something's right with you! It means you have dreams bigger than your current reality. It means you have vision beyond your present circumstances. It means your soul is restless for growth, even when your mind can't figure out the next step.

I remember a conversation I had with a brilliant entrepreneur named Lisa who had built a successful consulting business but felt completely stuck. She had everything she thought she wanted—financial freedom, flexible schedule, respected expertise—but she woke up every day feeling like she was running on a treadmill. "Michael," she said, "I feel like I'm successful but not significant. I'm making a living, but I'm not making a difference."

That conversation changed how I think about being stuck. Lisa wasn't stuck because she was failing—she was stuck because she was succeeding at something that no longer aligned with who she was becoming. Her restlessness wasn't a problem to solve; it was a signal to honor.

Here's what I've discovered after working with hundreds of people who felt stuck: the feeling usually isn't about lacking motivation—it's about lacking clarity. When you're not sure where you're going, it's hard to get excited about the journey. When you can't see the purpose in your daily actions, even simple tasks feel overwhelming.

But here's the beautiful thing about feeling stuck: it's often the launching pad for your next level of growth. The caterpillar doesn't just decide one day to become a butterfly—it goes through a period of complete dissolution in the cocoon before emerging transformed. Your stuck season might be your cocoon season.

Why Smart People Get Stuck (And Why That's Actually Good News)

Let me tell you something that might challenge your thinking: the people who never feel stuck are usually the people who aren't growing. Comfortable people don't question their direction. Satisfied people don't hunger for something more. The fact that you're reading this tells me you're the kind of person who refuses to settle for "good enough."

I've noticed that highly capable people often get stuck for different reasons than others. They get paralyzed by their own high standards, overwhelmed by their ability to see all the possible problems before they start. They analyze instead of act, plan instead of progress, and think instead of move.

I worked with a talented writer named Mark who had been "working on" his novel for five years. He had detailed outlines, character sketches, and even a marketing plan—but he couldn't seem to write the first chapter. Every time he started, he'd rewrite the opening paragraph twenty times, then give up in frustration.

"Mark," I asked him, "what if your first draft was supposed to be terrible? What if the goal wasn't to write it right, but to write it first?" That simple shift in perspective changed everything. Six months later, Mark had finished his first draft. It wasn't perfect, but it was done, and for the first time in years, he felt unstuck.

Sometimes we get stuck not because we don't know what to do, but because we're trying to do it perfectly from the start. We want to skip the messy middle and go straight to the polished end result. But growth doesn't work that way. Mastery doesn't work that way. Life doesn't work that way.

The Power of Ridiculous Small Steps

Now, let me teach you one of the most powerful principles I know for getting unstuck, and it's going to sound almost insultingly simple: start ridiculously small. Not small—ridiculously small. So small that you can't fail, so small that you can't make excuses, so small that your brain doesn't even recognize it as a real task!

When Lisa, the entrepreneur I mentioned earlier, felt stuck in her business, I asked her to do something that seemed pointless: spend five minutes each morning writing down one thing she was curious about. Not a business plan, not a strategy session—just one thing that sparked her interest. That's it!

Those five-minute sessions led to conversations with interesting people, which led to new ideas, which led to a complete pivot in her business model. Today, she runs a nonprofit that provides microloans to women entrepreneurs in developing countries. She went from feeling successful but not significant to building something that creates ripples of impact around the world.

The magic isn't in the size of the step—it's in the act of stepping! Movement creates momentum, momentum creates confidence, and confidence creates the motivation to take bigger steps. But you can't start with the big steps. You have to earn your way there through small, consistent actions that prove to yourself that you're the kind of person who follows through.

Here's what I want you to understand: your motivation isn't missing—it's buried under overwhelm, fear, and the pressure to figure everything out before you start. When you commit to ridiculously small actions, you remove those barriers and give your natural motivation room to breathe again.

Reconnecting with Your North Star

But small steps alone aren't enough if you're walking in the wrong direction. That's why the most important question you can ask yourself when you feel stuck isn't "What should I do?" but "Why does this matter?" Your motivation isn't just about action—it's about meaning!

I want you to think back to a time when you felt most alive, most energized, most like yourself. What were you doing? More importantly, what were you contributing? What problem were you solving? What value were you adding? Those moments of aliveness are clues to your deeper purpose, your North Star that can guide you out of any stuck season.

For Mark, the writer, his North Star wasn't just finishing a novel—it was the belief that stories have the power to help people feel less alone. When he reconnected with that deeper purpose, writing became less about his ego and more about his mission. The words started flowing because they had somewhere important to go.

For Lisa, her North Star was the vision of women around the world having the opportunity to build better lives for their families. When she aligned her daily actions with that vision, motivation wasn't something she had to find—it became something she couldn't escape.

Your North Star is already there, friend. It's in the causes that make you angry, the problems you can't stop thinking about, the conversations that light you up, the moments when you forget to check the time because you're so engaged. It's in the intersection of what you're good at, what the world needs, and what makes you come alive!

When you feel stuck, it's not usually because you've lost your way—it's because you've lost sight of why the way matters. Reconnect with your why, and the how will start to reveal itself.

My friend, let me leave you with this truth: your current stuck season is not your permanent address. It's a temporary stop on your journey toward becoming who you're meant to be. The very fact that you feel restless, that you want more, that you're reading these words—that's evidence that your story is far from over.

Tomorrow morning, choose one ridiculously small step and take it. Not because it will solve everything, but because it will prove that you're the kind of person who moves forward even when the path isn't clear. Connect that small step to something that matters deeply to you, something bigger than your comfort or convenience.

Your motivation isn't gone—it's just waiting for you to give it permission to emerge. And that permission comes through action, through movement, through the courage to take the next step even when you can't see the whole staircase.

You're not stuck forever. You're stuck for now. And now is where all change begins!

Remember: motivation follows action more often than action follows motivation. Start moving, and your motivation will catch up!

To your growth and freedom,

Dr. Michael Schulz