The one thing you can always do to get unstuck

Let's talk about something critically important. There are weeks where you are just too busy to squeeze in another square on your calendar. When your to-do list is crazy long. There are days when you feel stuck and unclear. When you can't seem to move forward or get anything done. When you feel off-kilter, out of balance, ready to quit.

There are times when you wonder why on Earth you ever thought you could do this (whatever your "this" is). When you're scared. Or overwhelmed. Or not doing what you think you need to be doing.

It's all fine. Really. It happens. But the better news is that there is always a way to cut through all of that noise.

It's called The One Thing (though it has two steps), and it goes, very simply, like this:

1. What is most important about this to me?

2. What is one thing I can do right now about that?

Yes. That's it. Just drill down to one thing. One small step. One focus. It sounds simple because it really is simple. It's also incredibly effective. Why is The One Thing so powerful?

It puts the focus back on what matters.

To know what your One Thing is, you need to step back and remind yourself of your priorities. What do you want to accomplish? How do you want to feel? What is the vision you're headed towards? Then, you can take one clear step in that direction and see where it leads you.

It cuts overwhelm off at the knees.

The length of your to-do list, the capacity of your inbox or the fullness of your schedule is irrelevant. None of that matters because you are choosing to focus on The One Thing. You don't need to do everything at once. In fact, it's rare that you actually can (and do it all well). All you need to do is identify one thing to do at a time.

You are now, by definition, not stuck.

When you move forward — taking even the smallest step — you invite momentum. If you're identifying and doing your One Thing, you're not stuck. You are, in fact, moving towards what you want. That will naturally lead you out of your head, where stuckness lives, and back into the world, where you can create what you want to create.

You're stacking up a small win. Nothing feels better than a win. A win changes what's possible. It alters your mindset. It gives you new evidence of what you can and cannot do. Each small wins creates the room for another small wins... and you know what that gives you. Results.

Action calms down fear.

We humans are masters at creating imaginary scenarios of potential disaster. So many of the fears we have breed in that stuck place where we are not taking any action to get what we want. It's harder to create stories about what might happen when you do the thing if you're actually busy doing the thing.

Let's put this into practice. Instead of complaining about your job, there is one thing you can do right now to improve your workday. If the idea of making a huge transition seems daunting (of course it does), you can still take one step forward.

Maybe your dream lifestyle doesn't have to be a dream. You can start by creating one small piece of it right now. You can probably identify one small thing you can do to grow your business everyday. Instead of stacking up the reasons why healthy self-care is never going to happen because you are too busy, do one thing that makes you feel great.

Feeling overwhelmed? Unsure? Lacking clarity or energy? Just not moving forward?