Quicksand to Quickstep

Many of us have a drive toward stability, especially if we lean toward the Precise dimension of the Prism® Portrait. Stable income, housing, friends, family, and the list goes on. We are, after all, creatures of habit and routine. Though those of us within the Powerful and Versatile dimensions may thrive without routine, its absence can be chaotic for the rest of us. Without routines, we become disoriented, like having to take an unplanned detour on the way to work.

But there are times when these routines can feel stagnant. Same income, same scenery, same daily interactions. When this happens, it’s natural to feel stuck. As J.R. Whalen and Chip Cutter of the Wall Street Journal discuss in this podcast, feeling stuck in our individual status quos may also come from the slowing job market. The combination of ongoing economic concerns like rising costs of living and limited opportunities sweeps us from thriving to languishing. We start to feel bored, disengaged, or maybe even trapped.

But we can dispel these stressful feelings and reinvigorate ourselves when we take time to consider our passions and interests. We can identify skills we’d like to learn and pursue those interests, maybe even by asking different colleagues for insights into their areas of expertise. As mindset coach Claudia Warias poses in the TED Talk below, sometimes feeling stuck allows for a fresh perspective on life. We can reflect on our unique paths of progress and recognize how far we’ve come to get where we are today. We can take stock of our relationships and open ourselves to new connections.

By doing these, we reframe stagnation. We dust off life’s neglected background minutiae and can once more see the accomplishments hidden within. As fictional paleontologist Ross Geller once advised, we can always try to pivot.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
– Albert Einstein