A Guide to Getting Unstuck

Ever thought about why you get stuck? Im sure you have. There are entire industries built around productivity. There are multitudes of books, seminars, webinars, podcasts, blog posts, desktop apps, email apps, mobile apps, and physical products centered around helping you get things done. They are supposed to help you get unstuck, right? Because if you werent stuck, you wouldnt need any of those things to keep you going.

But what if you didnt need any of those things? What if you could solve all of your “problems” with getting things done with one simple question?

So the question is: Do I care?

Sure, sometimes you may have to do things you dont really care to do. You probably dont care much for cleaning litter boxes and filing your taxes. Thats a given. But were talking about the big things here, like the work you devote your life to.

Do you care about it? Be honest with yourself. Do you really care?

If you dont care, allow that to be okay. At least youre acknowledging the fact that you dont care. Now you know that its not a water-tight productivity system you need to get you motivated. What you need is work that you give a damn about.

The first step is allowing yourself to not care and being honest with what you do care about it. Thats where most people get stuck. A lot of people spend their lives working on things they dont care about, because they think it doesnt matter that they dont care. They think theyre supposed to suck it up and deal with it. Are you one of these people that believes it doesnt matter if you dont care about your work? Its okay if you are. I used to be this way, too.

Then I realized something.

I discovered that not only is it valid to care about the work you do, its absolutely necessary. I used to think that you didnt have a choice, or that doing work you love was some kind of luxury for the retired or gifted. And you know why? Because were taught that we cant get paid to be ourselves. Were taught that we need to become something in order to earn a paycheck.

Heres some refreshing news: Thats an assumption.

More refreshing still: Just because a huge number of people believe in an assumption, doesnt mean its true.

A lot of people once assumed the world was flat. And a lot of people now assume that work and play are not meant to coexist, that life must be a struggle. But the simple fact is, your life is a gift. To spend that gift in drudgery and grim duty is a waste.

So heres the question you might want to ask now: How can I do what I care about?

Here are a few suggestions:

Do something amazing.
Start a revolution.
Learn to give up caring about all the unimportant things.
Pull out all the mental weeds to allow room for the things you care about to grow.
Create a legacy project.
Do something Epic.
If you allow yourself to stop caring about the things you dont really care about, something amazing will start to happen. Once you move out all that attentional garbage, you finally create room for the things you love to take up residence in your life.

This article was written by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind. Photo: whatmegsaid Flickr Creative Commons.