The Truth Behind Feeling Stuck (It Isn't What You Think)

Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut? I’ve been there. It can feel like anxiety, stagnancy, or a low-grade unease. You wake up to the distance between where you are and where you want to be, but you can’t quite figure out how to bridge that gap. Sometimes that gap feels like a slow trek through quicksand with no end in sight. Or maybe you’re not even sure where you want to be, but you have a knowing that there is more out there for you.

For me, it was even more confusing because I appeared successful by society’s standards. I’d “checked all the boxes” we’re conditioned to strive for. I had financial stability, career success, a healthy social life...yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Maybe you can relate.

Feeling stuck can also look like...

Not having excitement to get out of bed in the morning
Feeling like you’re living on autopilot
Feeling like your life is a list of obligations
A sense of hopelessness about the future
You just don’t feel like yourself

While it may be uncomfortable, feeling stuck is actually not a bad thing. You just have to know how to navigate it. Let me explain…

feeling stuck is a message

In a recent interview, Mel Robbins stated, “Feeling stuck is your body signaling that you are missing something important in your life–growth.” She compares it to how you feel hungry when you need to eat, or tired when you need to sleep. Feeling stuck isn’t something to resist or run away from. It’s simply a message that you have a greater potential to step into.

Maybe you’re not even sure what that potential is. Or maybe you’re thinking, “Who am I to start going after my dreams?”

It’s totally normal to feel that way. You were likely never taught how to look inwards at your deepest desires and dreams. Our culture conditions us to play small and avoid standing out amongst the crowd. But I’m here to tell you that going after your fullest potential is your birthright.

You may have heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is a psychological theory describing the different levels of human needs. It’s portrayed as a pyramid, with basic human needs (such as food and shelter) at the bottom. Once you’ve fulfilled basic needs, you’re able to move up the pyramid to social needs, such as love and belonging. At the very top of the pyramid sits self-actualization.

Self-actualization is defined as the realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone.

That’s right. Personal growth is actually theorized to be an innate psychological drive. Feeling stuck doesn’t mean that you’re broken. In fact, it actually means that you’re human. It’s a message that you’re missing the very important piece at the top of Maslow’s pyramid. You’re missing out on your own expansion and growth.

How alcohol is keeping you stuck

When I woke up to the reality that I wasn’t living out my fullest potential, it was an uncomfortable truth to sit with. My first instinct was to reach for a drink and disconnect. It was easier to numb out than to face the reality that I was living in self-induced mediocrity. Over time, drinking kept me complacent to a life that didn’t thrill me. This is exactly how alcohol kept me stuck in a small life.

You see, feeling stuck only becomes a problem when you’ve attached your identity to it. Once you begin to identify as “a person who is stuck”, it becomes a self-limiting belief. Drinking reinforces this belief by silencing your own intuition and further disconnecting you from the truth that you’re the conscious creator of your own life. Alcohol allows you to ignore your deepest desires and the truth of your own power. This may work in the short term, but your dreams will inevitably come back to haunt you.

I often say that going alcohol-free is an act of rebellion. It goes against the cultural norm that drinking is necessary to living a full life. It counters the widely accepted idea that you don’t need to quit drinking unless you have a problem. But it’s even more than that…

Ditching booze is the first step towards busting out of the paradigm of settling for a life that doesn’t light you up. It requires stepping into clarity and taking responsibility for your own desires. It calls for coming into presence with the distance between where you are and where you want to be. It reconnects you with the inner resources that you need to achieve your dreams. It’s a revolutionary reclamation of the huge potential that you were born to fulfill.

This may sound daunting right now, and that’s okay. I’d bet that just on the other side of your fear is the biggest and brightest life you can imagine. I’ve been in your shoes, and I’m so passionate about helping others through this process.

It all starts with baby steps–ditching the booze for a few days, then one week, then several months. Before you know it, you won’t even recognize your life (in the best way!)

If you’re ready to take the first step, download my guide on how to have the best month off and feel amazing.