Get Unstuck Immediately

with This Simple Checklist

Keys to Unlocking Your Mind and Disrupting Your Life for Good

by

Whitney Johnson and Richie Norton

UNSTUCK45
 “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing:
the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any
given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
 
— Viktor E. Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning

Many of the people we’ve interviewed follow a life-plan that goes something like this:

Be a kid.
Have dreams.
Grow up.
Finish school.
Go to work.
Make millions.
Retire.
Live dreams.
They prepare. They work hard. They invest time and resources.

Then they wait, for years, only to discover that life doesn’t turn out exactly they way they’d
planned. Sometimes a spouse passes away. Sometimes health declines. Sometimes a job is lost.
Sometimes the stock market takes an unexpected downturn.

Sometimes people just want change, need change, become changed.

They feel stuck moving from where they are to where they want to be because they wonder how…
they wonder why…they wonder if they can even do it…”is the risk worth the reward?”

When people feel “stuck” they postpone pursuing dreams.

“Stuck” then becomes a visceral downward spiral.

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 What we hope to do is create a safe environment for people to embrace their so-
called “stupid ideas” and create the happiness they desire so they can flourish.

This checklist is a tiny fraction of that safe-change-process we hope you embrace, but it’s a strong
start.

Look at a Few Responses (of Thousands) We Received from a Survey that Show
How People Feel Stuck:

 — “As the son of an extremely successful father, I am constantly chasing his shadow. I fear I will never reach
his incredibly high standards in my professional life. Because of this I’ve always felt behind no matter how
far ahead I am. No matter how much management tells me I’m ahead of my peers, it’s hard for me not to
compare myself to my father and feel behind.”

 — “I currently work as an employee for a successful tech company, and I enjoy the mission of what we do. However,
I’ve got big dreams of being an OWNER of something I can call my own, and as long as I work as someone
else’s employee, I fear that day may never come…I would argue that my biggest hurdle right now is
the fear I have of leaving that security, of venturing out on my own, and putting my family’s
financial welfare in jeopardy. That fear is HARD to overcome!”

 — “My biggest struggle is trying to overcome my own self doubt. It has led to me convincing myself out
of opportunities or higher goals that I know I am capable of.”

— “So here I am at this dilemma of needing change, but afraid to leave my stable, 8–5, M-F, job with health and
retirement benefits, because it looks good to a potential companion, but I am dying inside. So, the question is
whether to stop what I am doing and find my heart and smile or contrary to experience, believe that what I want is
somehow just around the bend and will happen soon enough right where I am at.”

 — “[I’m] unsure of where to focus my time. I have so many ideas and projects it’s hard for me to zero
in on just one, because I’m also afraid I’ll get bored and burn my bridges to the other cookie jars I want to have my
hands in.”

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How Do I Get Unstuck?

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves

growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar
conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 
— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

This checklist is organized into three sequential parts:

Part 1: A list of questions for you to take an inventory of your life.

Part 2: Clarifing where you are, where you want to be and when.

Part 3: Calendaring milestones to reach your goals.

Dreams don’t get DONE until they’re DUE.

Remember that.

If you have due dates on achievements and milestones to get there, your “to-do” list will become
more transformational, less transactional, and your mind will be unstuck immediately in the
moment you act.

Let’s get started.

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PART 1: TAKE INVENTORY
First, you need to make an honest account of where you are and where you’d like to go. As you answer these questions,
really take inventory. Take the time to ponder and answer and be 100% honest with yourself.

Write your answers down. Use this worksheet by printing it out and writing by hand, or type the answers
into the PDF and then print it out. Then take your answers and put them on your fridge, bathroom or bedroom mirror
of the dashboard of your car. Somewhere you can see them as a reminder of where you’re positively going in life.

1. Two years from now, what would my life ideally look like? (professionally,
personally, family/friends/fun, etc.)

(Take the time to really dream here. Write down whatever comes to mind.)

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2. Why haven’t I made this leap already?

(Don’t get down on yourself. Just “name it to tame it.” You don’t need answers on “how” yet.)

3. How urgent is making this change for me?

(Put it in terms of months.)

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4. Who will be my accountability partner in making this change?

(Someone you trust that will be positive and supportive. This can even be a “collective someone” through social media posts
where you say what you’ll do and report on your progress online.)

5. Will I TAKE ACTION…now?

(Say, “YES!” Fill that whole box up with YES. We gave you plenty of room.)

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PART 2: GET CLEAR
Now that we’ve taken inventory of where you are, we need to clarify. We’re going to be clarifing where you are, where you
want to be and most importantly - when.

Dreaming is good. But dreams come true when you leverage your resources, make a plan, and start executing on that plan one
step at a time.

1. Of all the things you want in life, which is the most important AND most
urgent?

(Big dreams generally aren’t urgent. In this case, since you’re stuck, we want to tackle your most pressing issues and take
advantage of your must urgent opportunities.)

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2. What would the first step be in moving towards this goal?

(The VERY first thing. This could be an email to someone. Talking to someone. Writing it down. This shouldn’t be
complicated. This should be something you can do within the next 5 minutes. Do it now. Don’t move on to #3 until it’s done.
You want to get unstuck, right? Don’t argue with the checklist. :-) Just do it.)

3. Now that the first step is done. What is the second step you need to take to
move closer to your dreams?

(The second thing doesn’t have to be done today, but it should be done by tomorrow. Make it happen. Keep following this
pattern of “next steps) for the next 15 days. If you do this, you will be further along on your goals (probably by 3–6 months or
more) than you would have been if you had not started this checklist.)

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PART 3: ADD IT TO THE CALENDAR
Dreams don’t get done until they’re due.

When you write down your action steps and you keep those small commitments to yourself, you gain momentum. You start to
feel unstuck. The transformational process begins.

1. By what date do you want to accomplish this goal you just created?

(This is the date you will have achieved your aim. Done. Finite. Hallelujah.)

2. Work backwards. What has to happen right before you accomplish your
goal? When would that date be? What has to happen right before that goal?
When would that date be?

(Keep backwards planning like this until you have milestones that stretch from your goal to today.)

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3. What will you do to ensure you succeed on your next step to reach that first
milestone with a date? If you don’t succeed, what’s your plan B, C, etc?

(Remember that sometimes learning what doesn’t work is just as important as knowing what does so you can get on the right
track, pivot, restart or strategically close out the project for a new one altogether.)

You got this.

One step at at time.
Remember, there are footsteps on the moon.
Taking things one step at a time can take you
ANYWHERE YOU WANT TO GO.

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 ““The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.” 
 
— Marcus Aurelius

Our stories often predict our future, even as we make meaning of the past.

Consider these questions as you move forward. Consider each question a call to take action on
your dreams.

What are the personal narratives that frame your past,

and possibly predict the future and achievement of your dreams?

Can you build dreams that help make sense

of being stuck and getting unstuck?

What cues can you find about your dreams in the stories
you most often tell (and those you don’t) about your life?

Finally, consider the words of writer and theologian Frederick Buechner:

“God calls you to the place where your deep gladness

and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

If you were to craft a narrative using that quote as a starting point, what story would you tell? How
would you tell it? Would you write? Paint? Dance? Make a photograph? Sing? Acts of creation can
bring us to a point of action in the area that is making us feel stuck.

Call to Action
We’ve created a 45 day course and action plan to give you the roadmap to get unstuck and start
moving toward your goal.

Learn more at UNSTUCK45.com

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