This Is How To Get Unstuck: 5 Secrets From Research - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

If you are to find your ultimate life path it would be an excellent idea to look somewhere other than your living room. The only ideas that will work are those that have been tried and tested in the real world to see if they bring you joy, are interesting and have the proper “fit.”

What produces “hot streaks” in careers — when someone does awesome thing after awesome thing? Research shows it comes down to “explore-exploit.” You spend time looking for ideas and cheaply test them for validity. Then, when you find one that works, you go all in.

You’re moving forward on your new path but it’s taking longer than you thought and it’s harder than you thought. You’re in a Mexican standoff between who you are and who you want to be.

It can feel like an epic Greek myth — but you’re Sisyphus. We always slow down in the middle. So break it up into sub-goals. You can’t get stuck in the middle if there is no middle.

You were stuck and you don’t want to be stuck again. You want this to be perfect… And that’s a problem.

In 1956, economist Herb Simon posited there way two perspectives on decision-making: maximizing and satisficing. Maximizing is aiming for total perfection. Satisficing is aiming for “good enough.” Which one do you think is preferable?

Perfectionism makes us miserable. Are you on some kind of kamikaze mission? Satisfice and strive for excellence instead of perfection.