Module 1 - Why are you stuck? What does it mean to be "stuck"?

The objective of this module is to help you identify your own personal hurdles, accept that you feel stuck, understand why that is, and respond in an active way.

Welcome to Module 1!

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” —George Herbert

This Module should help you understand:

1. What does “feeling stuck” look like for over achievers?

2. Why are we scared of taking risks? – (because we fear being wrong)

3. How can we acknowledge this fear without letting it overcome us?

4. How can we be more open to opportunities?

Content and Activities

Lesson 1: What does it mean to be stuck?

High achievers tend to feel stuck in a number of ways. Whether dealing with something like writer's block, burnout, or other similar situations it can be quite common for high achievers to feel stuck. This looks different from person to person. Across the board feeling stuck is paired with a general sense of inadequacy. Often these feelings will push people to act more defensively which limits proactive behavior and can quickly become detrimental to an individual's progress.

Lesson 2: Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real

"Fears have been educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out." - Karl Augustus Menninger

Lesson 3: How to respond when we feel stuck

Try:

1. Giving yourself a specific amount of time (1 day, 1 hour, 10 minutes, etc.) to feel stuck because it can often be a vital part of your own individual process.

2. Try to understand whatever concerns or inadequacies you may feel. While you do so, make sure to ask yourself where these thoughts come from and if they motivate you or if they are draining.

3. When your time limit is up, do whatever you can to change your state (i.e. physically move somewhere else, force yourself to start thinking of something else, read, go for a walk, drink some water, have something to eat, etc.) This can look different from person to person, so do whatever feels right.

4. Be proactive, whatever that may look like

5. Give an activity or an assignment 110% - can help you allocate focus elsewhere, a productive distraction

6. Journal about your thought process, and do whatever feels right to help yourself truly understand why you feel this way.

7. Re-frame your goals and successes (Give yourself more credit for your accomplishments. It is okay to be proud of yourself. To adopt a growth mindset try to start viewing accomplishments - small or large- as milestones, not finish lines).

Lesson 4: What it means to be open to more opportunities

High achievers can often reach a breaking point in which they fear trying new activities, seeking new opportunities, and accepting new experiences. More often than not this tends to be evidence of a more general fear of failure. This fear of failure as a part of a new learning curve can limit people from trying new things. This is one of the biggest misconceptions and self-made hurdles for high achievers to avoid.

1. No one has ever advanced to "expert status" right away. These things take time. There is value in trying new things. Every experience is an opportunity to learn something.

2. Fears are entirely self-made and self-projected. They can be enforced by external factors, but more often than not they are "false evidence appearing real."

Live Module Walk-through

Coming soon!