This week I had the pleasure of talking with nonprofit executives from across the country on The American Nonprofit Show. We talked about how to get “unstuck,” something so many of my clients ask for help with. (You can listen to the broadcast here https://vimeo.com/577724950.)

Here are five tips I shared with viewers. None of them hard, all of them are designed to keep you moving forward.

Tip #1: Is it true?
Is whatever is holding you back really true?
So often we believe something about ourselves that goes unchallenged for far too long. It can be a comment when you were eight years made by your third-grade teacher that has become a long-held truth about yourself. “That’s just the way I am.” “I can’t help it.” But, if you sit with that for a while, you will see what about it is true.

      Try this: Close your eyes and rewatch that scene as if in a movie. What else was going on around you at the time that would have caused someone to say that? Did it really have anything to do with you? Don’t relive it as a child, watch it as an adult and discern what happened. It is surprising how it easy it can be to let go of this belief, this block.

Tip #2: One vs Two Door Decisions
I recently read an interview with Jeff Bezos about decision-making. He uses the one-versus-two-door thought process surrounding decisions. If we think that it must be correct, or the world will end – that’s one door decision-making. Point of no return.

If you think you have enough info to take a chance and can adapt as you go or even change your mind, that’s two-door decision making. Using two-door decision-making is more likely to guarantee that will keep you moving. One door decision-making almost guarantees you will remain stuck.

      Try this: Just think of a decision that you are afraid to make. Challenge if it is really all or nothing. Ask yourself if you will die if you make the wrong decision. Will another person die? Will the world stop if you make the wrong decision? Chances are great that you will survive, the world will keep turning, and you will have other options on the other side of that decision.

Tip #3: Use your WHOLE brain
Don’t get hung up on just the facts. Give equal consideration to intuition. Too often we plunge ahead because all the data indicates we should. That’s like leaving half your brain in the car.

When you take time to consult both the left and right brains you get two different perspectives on the same issue. The left is the data you need. The right is less direct.

      Try this: Take a decision that’s in front of you now and just picture it in your left brain. What do you know about it? Costs, scheduling, staff hours, etc. Now think of that same decision in just the right brain. This requires that you be silent for a few moments and see what you notice. Maybe it is an image, or a song lyric, or even a sensation in your body. Does it tell you to look further or does it say everything is good? Give both the left and right information equal weight when deciding.

Tip #4: Take a physical inventory
If a situation or problem gives you an upset stomach, a headache, lower back pain, etc. That’s even more information. If a situation makes you breathe easy, like a weight has been lifted, or gives you a bit of positive energy, that too is information. Listen to your body.

      Try this: Take the decision you were considering in step 3 and hold that thought. Now, consider that thought in the top of your head, your throat, your heart, stomach, lower back.  Does the energy flow from one to the other? Does it expand? Contract? Get stuck? Notice where and how you feel it. Each place has a meaning. That’s also your intuition.

Tip #5: Stop Waiting for Other People to Change
If you keep doing the same thing expecting different results, it’s not going to work. If everything has changed and you keep doing the same things, it’s not going to work.
If your idea of a solution is when everyone else changes what they’re doing, it’s not going to work.

You must be the change. Embrace change. Take a risk. Leap.

      Try this: Consider how much easier your life would be if only other things, situations, or people changed.  Then consider what you might change to achieve your goals without waiting for others to be other than who they are.

Let me help you get unstuck. Let’s create expanded awareness for forward momentum.