10 Fresh Mindset Habits to Stop Being Stuck and to Start Growing

Are you honestly happy where you currently are in life?

For many of us, the truthful answer is no.

Feeling stuck is normal. We all experience it from time to time, and truthfully, it is unsettling. It is a subliminal message that something needs to change.

No one likes being stuck. As kids, we felt uncomfortable being stuck in the sand when our friends buried us up to our waist. As adults, we hate it when our car is stuck in mud or when we are simply stuck in traffic! It goes against their natural desire to keep moving. It is a warning to progress, get better, and simply move forward.

So if we aren't willing to be stuck in traffic for an hour, why are we prepared to be stuck in life?

Frankly, being stuck is a glaring sign that you’ve stopped growing. It is uncomfortable and demands that you face the hard truths you’ve been avoiding. If you’re stuck, it’s usually because you chose comfort over challenge, safety over progress.

You aren’t moving forward. You are simply still. It's like being in transit at an airport—you're not going anywhere! You're just pissed off, killing time with a stale, overpriced sandwich!

So, to get moving again, you simply can't wish for it; you actually need to take action.

Wanting change won’t get you anywhere. You can ‘want’ until the end of time, but it’s action that shapes your life and where you are going. Wanting is being wishful and will not get you a single step forward.

And you know deep down you need to get moving and start growing.

Remember, no one is coming to save you or push you to the start line. There’s no rescue team waiting to pull you out of the hole you’re currently stuck in. It is you alone who must take the first step.

You can have all the excuses in the world for why you're stuck, but excuses quietly destroy your potential from the inside out, while painful decisions are the only fuel that propels you forward.

You get a choice between two paths - the easy or the hard path. You choose which path you wish to take. Both paths, however, lead to suffering. One path is slow and suffocating, the other sharp and shaping. The choice is yours: stay stuck and rot, or start moving, even if it’s messy and scary.

1. Feel stuck? That’s your signal to grow

Feeling stuck isn’t a random setback.

And whilst it hasn't been a conscious decision, it is still a conscious action, through inaction. If we're honest with ourselves, it's because we found a place that we are comfortable in. We settled into this comfort and dodged the difficult decisions and work that we need to do to make the change to move forward

In order to be different, we actually need to do different.

We know that we can't keep doing the same things, expecting different results.

Growth only happens when we're willing to embrace change and are forced to confront our fears and make tough decisions in an often uncomfortable, messy, and challenging space.

If you’ve been clinging to safety, it’s time to acknowledge that being stuck is a direct consequence of your choices. No one else put you there. Again, it's a conscious decision you've made for yourself.

Growth is painful, slow, and uneven. But it’s the only way out. Accept the discomfort as a sign you’re actually moving forward and on the right track. It's time to embrace this discomfort. It's time to stop with the excuses or waiting for the perfect moment or some magical motivation to kick your ass into action.

Feeling stuck is a call to action, not a call to quit. The moment you decide to lean into discomfort instead of fleeing, you start growing again.

2. Stop romanticizing wanting — do or don’t

We all wish and want things, but this doesn't mean that they're actually going to happen.

Wanting is cheap. Everyone wants a better life, a better body, more money, or success. But wanting without action is a lie you tell yourself to avoid facing reality. Wanting something doesn’t get you anywhere; doing does.

The choice is remarkably simple: you can either do something or do nothing.

So, what is stopping you from actually doing something?

Let's look at some general realizations.

Lazy people circle their dreams like vultures too scared to land. They will never start an action because they are fearful of the consequences.

Weak people do actually make a start, but quit when it gets hard. They fail to realize they're starting something new, walking down a different path, which they do not have the knowledge or skills to master just yet. They see the challenges that come their way as hardships instead of seeing them for what they really are: opportunities to learn and grow. If they were wise and took a long-term approach, they would eventually see that it can be conquered and become the norm.

Now, let’s look at the approach taken by successful people.

They are willing to push through, whether they feel like it or not, because they understand that momentum is everything. They know that it's awkward, the challenges will present themselves, and at times feel like they're out of their depth.

But they're willing to persevere, be resilient, and simply keep moving forward, no matter what it takes. Successful people don’t stop when shit gets real. They just keep on trucking. No matter how hard or the obstacles that come their way, it's all about forward momentum. It doesn’t need to be fast or glamourous. It's simply about not stopping.

So, what’s the message here?

Your life is the sum of your actions, not your hopes or vision boards. Wanting is a feeling, but doing is a decision. The brutal truth is that if you’re stuck, it’s not because you don’t want change, it’s because you haven’t committed to the action required. To have the greatest success, you have to start and then get moving and continue to keep moving.

So make a decision today - either do something or stop whining. There is no middle ground.

3. Excuses are termites eating your potential

I've always loved the expression, ‘Excuses are like assholes; everyone's got one’.

Excuses are poison. They are an easy ‘get out clause’ from doing something that is outside our comfort zone.

In order to do something extraordinary, you can't just do the ordinary.

You can't hide behind excuses if you really want to make a change and do something remarkable.

Excuses quietly chew away at your confidence and destroy your chances of growth without you even noticing. Every “I can’t because…” is another brick in the wall between you and your dreams.

Excuses make you feel justified in staying stuck, but they’re really just fear disguised as logic. The world doesn’t owe you anything. It doesn’t care about your reasons or your struggles. Fuck, we all have challenges in our lives, so that excuse is not an excuse.

If you want to grow, you must demolish excuses before they demolish you. Own your responsibility and accept that no one is coming to save you. Excuses are comfortable lies, but they kill your future.

The moment you stop feeding excuses is the moment you begin to build a foundation for real growth.

4. Stop outsourcing your responsibility

Only you are truly responsible for your life.

Sure, others influence it, but when push comes to shove, you make the ultimate decisions.
You are where you are because of the choices you’ve made, not because the universe has conspired against you or someone who you think has control sends you down a different path.

The hard truth is that no one is going to come knocking with a golden ticket out of your situation. The government won’t save you. Your boss won’t suddenly decide to double your salary. Your partner can’t fix your lack of direction. You are the CEO of your own life, and if the business is failing, that’s on you.

Blaming circumstances, parents, partners, or “bad luck” keeps you shackled to the past and robs you of your power.

It's time to be the adult in the room and accept your responsibility. Be the victor, not the victim.

When you take full ownership, you stop waiting for someone else to steer the wheel and start driving yourself out of the ditch.

Growth is about saying, If it’s to be, it’s up to me. No excuses. No outsourcing. No safety net.

5. Action is costly — pay the price or stay stuck

Nothing is free in this world.

Taking action costs everything, including your comfort, your time, your energy, and sometimes your pride. It’s brutal and exhausting and certainly frustrating, but the alternative is slow suffocation in the swamp of stagnation.

People who grow don’t wait for the pain to disappear; they pay the price and keep moving anyway. They see it as a long-term investment instead of a short-term pain.

As a writer, I know this firsthand. When I started, my sales were shit. Learning how to build a website and market was foreign to me, and there were many days when I became despondent and wanted to quit.

But I kept showing up each day, and as I learnt more and developed new skills, my self-pride grew. I kept reminding myself that in the long run, it would be worth it.

Even today, I still need to remind myself of this every fucking hour! Be resilient and be strong.

The cost of action beats the price of regret every time. I didn’t want to look back in five years' time and regret not trying something. It is a common statistic that on their deathbeds, many people regretted the things they didn’t get around to doing. Don’t have this regret.

Have a crack and give it everything. If it works, that is a win. If it doesn’t, at least you know you gave it a go and learnt more skills and, more importantly, learnt more about yourself in the process. And this is the real win.

Growth demands sacrifice, and you must be willing to give up the easy path. Listen to any motivational podcast, and this path will be a constant source of motivation. Walk on your own unwalked path.

The easy path leads to decay, boredom, and years lost in regret. I don’t want you having regrets for things you didn’t try. You have one life, so fucking live it to the best of your powers.

Sure, the hard path brings sharp pain but also progress, resilience, and strength. Growth doesn’t come cheap, so be ready to pay with discomfort and uncertainty. Engrave it into your mind like a motto of perseverance.

If you want to stop being stuck, prepare to invest in the only currency that matters: action.

6. Every day is day one — there is no rest for the stuck

Don’t rest on your laurels.

No matter how far you’ve come or how much you’ve achieved, every day you wake up is day one. You cannot rest on your past successes or rely on yesterday’s effort to carry you forward.

Life doesn't have an achievement finish line. There are merely phases along the way, goals to be conquered, and then a new one to be the guiding source of inspiration and focus.

I’m not trying to make this sound like some sweet, bullshit, fluffy motivational card, but this reality has hit me hard recently.

Let me explain.

Every day, I go for a walk and listen to a new podcast about people from all walks of life. I like to hear their stories, including their struggles and how they overcame them. I listen to many stories about successful people, which seem to be the first to pop up on my feeds. One thing I have noticed is that when people retire from their chosen field, especially sportspeople, they have trouble transitioning to their next phase of life.

They have spent their lives trying to reach a particular dream or goal, and once they achieve it, they seem lost. They were so narrowly focused on the pursuit of one particular goal that it consumed their lives. Instead of reaping the rewards of the accolades, they often go through an unknown patch as they try to work out their next purpose in life.

You don’t need to be an Olympian to relate to this. We all have our own dreams and aspirations, which, once achieved, leave us in a state of limbo and uncertainty.

Life doesn’t owe you rest. Just because you have achieved one goal, it doesn’t grant you eternal peace or allow you to go into cruise control for the rest of your life.

It demands consistent movement. The moment you take a break from pushing yourself, you start slipping back.

The yearning for growth and having a new direction and a new goal fights harder than any desire you have to resist it. Sure, you can have some downtime and reap in your current successes, but life demands you move on to bigger and better things.

I’ve heard stories of successful athletes who, at the end of the year, deposit all their earnings into savings and start fresh with a nil bank account and new goals, forgetting what has happened. It's their new challenge.

Another successful podcaster talked about the need to set new goals every 3 months.

The consistent message is that, regardless of what has happened, you must first have and, secondly, look forward to new challenges.

Stagnation waits patiently for those who let their guard down. The mindset that growth is a one-time sprint is a trap. Real growth is a daily grind.

If you want to stop feeling stuck, treat every day as a fresh start. Push yourself, hold yourself accountable, and don’t allow complacency to creep in. Momentum is built by consistent, relentless effort, which unfortunately doesn’t have shortcuts.

7. Be brutally consistent, not occasionally intense

As I mentioned before, success is the result of a consistent grind forward.

A lot of people go hard for a week, then vanish back into their comfort zone for months. That’s not growth. That’s a fucking hobby. One gym session won't produce change. In my case, it just causes injuries!

As a marathon runner myself, the winner is the first over the line at the end, not after the first mile. I love seeing the guy who sprints out wearing a monkey suit for their moment of screen time, but they are never the ones wearing the medal at the end.

The ones who actually get unstuck are the ones who show up relentlessly on the days they feel motivated and, more importantly, on the days they want to curl up and hide—the days that are cold and wet, when they have to try something they know nothing about, or when they try to find solutions to the questions that seem impossible.

Consistency beats occasional bursts of brilliance every single time. Don’t be the guy in the monkey suit.

You don’t need to be spectacular today. Just keep showing up, putting in the reps, and stacking small wins. Think tortoise, not hare. That’s how momentum is built. That’s how the needle moves. That is how true success is built.

Occasional intensity is sexy for Instagram posts. Daily consistency is what actually changes your life.

8. Use pain as your engine, not your chain

Pain and discomfort are inevitable in growth.

Do you let them drive you forward or hold you back? Many get stuck because they fear pain or try to avoid it at all costs. That’s natural to some extent, as pain isn’t on everyone’s bingo card. But no pain, no gain, right?

But pain isn’t your enemy; it's proof that you’re alive and pushing your limits. You are transforming for the better.

Go to any gym, and you will see the words ‘pain cave’ somewhere. It’s the concept of embracing pain, knowing it is the stepping stone to transformation.

So, create your own mental pain cave. Expect and embrace the pain of change.

Use the sharp, brutal pain as fuel. Let suffering be your engine, propelling you towards resilience and strength rather than the cage that traps you in fear and inertia.

Growth is forged in the fire of discomfort, not the calm of ease. The hard path shapes you into someone stronger, so let it be the brutal truth that wakes you up and pushes you forward, not the excuse that keeps you stuck.

9. Decide today is the day to stop waiting for “ready”

I hate bus stops.

They are a waste of time, and I get frustrated. Instead, I want to be on a bus going somewhere.

It’s the waiting that kills me.

I know it is a bit of a shit link to a habit, but how many of us are waiting at our own bus stops?

The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that we’re not “ready” yet to get on the bus of life. Ready is a myth created by fear to keep you stuck.

But the sooner you realize there will never be a perfect time or that you will never feel fully ready, the sooner you are ready to get on the bus and get moving.

Life is messy and uncertain. Waiting for the perfect moment is just procrastination. The only way forward is to decide today to take one step, no matter how small, toward growth.

Like a marathon runner realizing that to complete the whole distance, they need to take the first step, and while they won’t know what comes their way, they will take on the challenges as they arise. I always loved this unknown at the start of a marathon, but I knew I had the strength to overcome the inevitable hurt that would come my way.

Waiting for clarity, motivation, or perfect conditions is a guaranteed way to stay stuck forever. Every day, you are at a crossroads. You have the choice to either keep sinking or start climbing.

Growth begins with a decision, not a feeling. Stop waiting. Decide to move right now, with whatever you have. The first step is ugly, scary, and uncertain, but it’s the only way out.

10. Burn the backup plan

Now we are walking into the unknown, we need to disregard the known.

A backup plan sounds smart, but most of the time, it’s a comfy escape route in case things get hard. The off-ramp on the freeway tries to entice us to get off early.

Things will get hard. The moment they do, your brain will scream to just go with Plan B, and if you succumb, you’ll slide right back to square one.

If you’re serious about getting unstuck, you have to commit like there’s no way out. That means removing the safety nets, the “just in case” scenarios, and the comfort zones you can crawl back to.

When your only option is forward, you stop dabbling and start doing whatever it takes. You stop tiptoeing and start charging. You stop trying and start becoming.

Make your goal the only route worth taking and burn the map back to where you started.

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