Today, I am going to show you how you can do a hard reset of yourself and get unstuck in 1 week.

We’ve all been in a situation that feels like a dead end, but we struggle to move forward. We can’t even move back. Both our mental “feet” are buried deep in the ground of what seems to be helpless.

In a world of hacks and shortcuts to get you where you want to be, I’m going to walk you through a more mindful and sustainable approach.

By embracing mindfulness and sustainability, you ensure you never get stuck again; if that happens, you quickly reverse the situation and move forward without losing time and energy.

The problem is that most people remain stuck without realising it, and the popular approaches and guides try to solve the problem without even exploring the root cause of why they get stuck in the first place.

You can’t make a lemonade if you don’t have lemons. But you also don’t have to wait for a lemon tree to grow to get them.

Life and work are what you make of them. There will be no magic tricks in this issue. Just proven tactics to help you pick yourself up when feeling stuck and frozen and move forward without looking back.

That includes:

• How to stop swirling in the rabbit hole

• Identifying the symptoms and the root cause

• Pressing pause to reset

• How to manage your emotions and why they are overrated

• Rewiring your thought patterns with a focus on reason

• Creating a sustainable exit path from helplessness

• Building new habits to support the mindset shift

Let me be clear: discomfort aversion is the No 1 reason people get stuck and remain frozen for good. Our comfort culture conditions people’s minds to avoid discomfort of any kind and source. It’s better not to try, take action, or think much (what happens if you discover uncomfortable things?). That’s easier than deep thinking, making tough decisions, and taking swift action because all that includes risk.

Why risk when you can stay safe - and stagnated? Not moving forward sounds like a safer option than taking the first step toward a better life or work. That’s called inertia. 

How the natural law of inertia applies to your life, too

In physics, inertia is defined as the inherent tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. Let me explain how that is linked to life changes.

Because of the law of inertia, physical objects resist any changes when they are either at rest or in motion. In simpler terms, if an object is not moving, it resists any change to move, whereas an object that is moving resists any change to stop moving unless an external force is applied to it. Aha!

This is how inertia is applied to humans when they get stuck. They resist any change to make them move unless an external force is applied to them. That’s a kind of liberating thing to know. By nature, you don’t change or get unstuck but remain at rest if you don't do anything. 

Let’s reverse that: if you take the right action (contrary to the risk aversion and comfort culture people become addicted to), “move”, and change, nothing will stop you unless a force is applied.

It’s incredible to see how nature works similarly, whether we are talking about objects, humans, or any situation.

It’s also profoundly important to understand the implications of the law of inertia on your life and how it can keep you stuck or keep you on the move toward a better life (a Good Life).

Now you know the theory. Let’s move on to practicality and explore 7 proven ways to hard reset and start moving forward.

How to hard reset yourself in 1 week

When your phone, computer or other electronic device freezes and stops responding (or even working altogether), you hard reset it to start functioning anew. That’s the first thing IT experts recommend when you tell them your device stops working. “Have you reset your device?”.

Let me ask you this. Have you tried resetting yourself when stuck and frozen? If the answer is no, that’s the first thing you need to do.

Humans are like devices. We are complex systems consisting of smaller systems and processes that perform the body functions, most unconsciously. You don’t think to breathe, pump blood to your organs, or feel hungry. 

Most things in your body work on autopilot, but there’s a good reason. It allows you to allocate your resources (energy) for the more complex and vital functions, like thinking and acting.

So, every time you feel stuck or frozen, you need to hard reset yourself, restart your system, and reallocate the right resources to the right things (what matters most).

Let me guide you through this 7-step process (designed to last 1 week), which includes 3 distinct stages: exploring, unfreezing, and rewiring. 

I use this process myself when I feel stuck with something in life or work. That process is the result of many iterations, and it’s proven that it works. You can achieve incredible progress within 1 week only.

STAGE 1 - EXPLORING

1. Days 1-3 (morning) - Journal

This is the first step in exploring the situation. Sit down in peace early in the morning (ideally when you wake up) and write whatever thoughts come to mind on paper (preferably not on a screen). It feels better when using your hand and a pencil to put your thoughts to words on paper. 

At this stage, simply describe your feelings and whatever thought pops up. Don’t try to use reason and find the root causes or remedies yet. Letting it all out raw, without judgment or justification, is essential.

Do that for three straight days. Stay kind and curious without censoring yourself.

2. Days 1- 3 (afternoon) - Reflect

When you finish your morning journaling, put the paper away in a safe place. Later in the day (preferably in the afternoon, when you have some peace of mind), read your morning journal for 10 minutes. Ample time between writing and reading is crucial for objective reflection. Read your morning thoughts a few times and observe two things.

• What positive or negative feelings and emotions do you spot in your writings? Search for specific words that describe how you feel (e.g. I’m afraid…, I feel unsafe…, It’s hard to…, It’s amazing how…, etc.)

• Do you identify any patterns? Is there any recurring theme in your journals? (e.g. fear, anxiety, doubt, etc.)

Those two questions are essential for exploring what’s happening. They help sharpen your observation skills, not only with your writing (to observe what you actually write, not just the words but the notions and ideas) but generally (to observe what happens in your life or work objectively).

At this stage, you still shouldn’t dive deep into your journals. You just need to observe and identify.

3. Days 1-3 (evening) - Reflect more

In the evening (preferably before bedtime), take another look at your journals. Now is the time to delve into your morning writing and identify the root cause of your feeling stuck and frozen.

That may sound difficult, or you may not know how to approach it. The secret recipe for finding the root cause is to take an eagle-eye view of your situation as you describe it in your writings. Zoom out and try to understand why you got stuck. The words you used, the feelings you described and the patterns you identified in your writing in the previous step will help you connect the dots.

As a last step in this process, reread your journals from the viewpoint of a friend. Imagine one of your friends telling you all those things and asking for help and advice. We humans are way better at advising others than helping ourselves. That’s because we tend to lose objectivity regarding our problems (our ego usually gets in the way). But we can still advise others who have the same issues.

It’s essential to let judgement out of the door. You are here to investigate, not judge and give a verdict. What’s done is done.

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I now pause presenting the steps of the 1-week process to highlight a few things. Repeating the 3 steps above for 3 days in a row is crucial. Three is the magic number. Doing it for one day and your journals may not be straightforward (especially the first-day journal may be messy). On the other hand, repeating the steps for over 3 days may make you more lost and confused and throw you into a new rabbit hole of negativity and doubt.

Three days suffice to complete the journaling and reflection stages effectively. The first 3 steps also complete the exploring stage (stage 1 of 4).

Let’s get back to the process.

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STAGE 2 - UNFREEZING

4. Days 4-6 - Take long walks

I can’t stress enough the importance of long walks. They are essential for physical and mental health, and you must do them any day or time to sustain a healthy balance. In the context of getting unstuck, it’s crucial to plan to take long walks after the journaling and reflection stage are over (again, long walks are beneficial anytime, so don’t get me wrong).

The thing is that those walks are necessary after you have reflected on your situation and found the root cause of your feeling stuck. When you walk for a long time (over 1 hour preferably), your brain continues to work on your problems in the background while you enjoy the walk, observing the surroundings and taking in external stimuli that have nothing to do with your issue.

It’s like a computer running an algorithm in the background while you browse the internet or have a call with a friend.

This background processing works like a Rubik’s cube. During the walks, your brain tries to solve the “cube” by connecting the dots, just like you try to match the colours on each side of a Rubik’s cube.

Even if you don’t realise what’s running in the background, your brain works on solving your problem. At this stage, it’s sufficient to take walks, enjoy the change of scenery and indulge in the sights, sounds and smells of the surroundings. It’s about being present and mindful.

5. Days 4-6 - Avoid distractions & seek solitude

During the unfreezing stage (stage 2 of 4), you must isolate yourself. Doing so helps you avoid distractions that usually ruin the process and infuse doubt. Those distractions may come from people (parents, family, spouse, friends, with the best intentions) or activities (screens, work, calls). That’s what I call Background Noise.

That’s a form of noise and distraction that sits in the background of your mind (without realising it) and tends to disorientate you and get you off the right track of getting unstuck.

If you avoid distractions to the best of your ability (I am not suggesting isolating yourself alone in the woods, but you can do that if you want), you will avoid the risk of contaminating your thoughts with other people’s viewpoints, opinions, and limitations.

They may all be well intended, but only you can turn the tide and get unstuck. Solitude and peace of mind are essential for unfreezing.

6. Days 4-6 - Decide what to eliminate

During those quiet days, sit down and take a paper. Write down the things that keep you stuck (your findings from stage 1 during the journaling and reflection steps), and list all the associated activities for each one. 

For example, you may find that you get stuck because of fear triggered by doubt caused by certain people in your circle who doubt your worth or value. Or perhaps it’s the lack of purpose and meaning in your job because you don’t like it but agreed to do it to earn money for your bills. Or something like a lack of confidence in your skills that keeps you from quitting your 9-5 job and building your own business because you are a perfectionist and wait for the right time (or timing). 

The list is endless. Only you know what’s holding you back for good. Even if you are not 100% sure (after completing steps 1-5), you are still on the right track. You may never have 100% certainty over what holds you back (because of personal bias or inner judgment). 

However, trust your gut feeling. That’s no magic power. It’s rather the wisdom you accumulate with years of experience and the gazillions of little bits of information you take in and process unconsciously or subconsciously over time. Trust your wisdom. It should guide you properly 99% of the time.

Now, decide which 10 of the things on your lists you need to eliminate because they harm you the most. That sounds bold, and it is bold. But it’s necessary to eliminate anything that keeps you back by reinforcing your blockages.

Be bold. Eliminating means drastically reducing exposure to those things (situations, activities or people). That process may sound negative, but we can use negativity to produce positive results.

If you know what you don’t like, you can focus on what you actually want. If you eliminate what keeps you back, you free time, energy and mental space to focus on what inspires you and can help you grow.

STAGE 3 - REWIRING

7. Day 7 - Act swiftly

By now, you should know what keeps you stuck and frozen and what you need to eliminate from your life to break free from your blockages.

The final step is the most important because it is the only way to achieve positive results.

Without real, tangible action, everything remains in theory, and it’s just a matter of time (days) to slide back to blockage.

You need swift action—today, not tomorrow, Monday, or next month. Today is the day to take the first step towards rewiring the situation and your mindset.

List 3-5 things you need to take action about today. No fewer than 3 (or the change effect and momentum will be minimal), no more than 5 (or you will get overwhelmed and get stuck again).

Those 3-5 immediate actions must be the most important and urgent ones with the greatest impact. Don’t overthink them or try to do them perfectly. Perfectionism fuels procrastination, and procrastination keeps you stuck and frozen (again).

Without much thought, act on that list on the spot. Preferably, make bold moves that you can’t undo. For example, when I was stuck in an unhealthy lifestyle years ago, I decided (among other things) to start regular exercise with a trainer (accountability partner) in a gym 3 times a week. Instead of planning to go to the gym or call them to get more information and sign up, I put my contact details in their contact form to book a trial session. I couldn’t undo it. They would call me back whether I was in the mood for exercise or not. It was out of my control, and that helped me move the needle. They called me the next day and booked the session. For the records, I had that task (enrolling in the gym) for weeks on end.

One last thing: making “mental contracts” with yourself helps you commit to action. Consider them as legal contracts. You wouldn’t violate the rules or break a legal contract because there would be legal consequences. In the same way, don’t violate the rules or break the mental contracts with yourself. The conditions are binding.

Commit to action no matter the situation, occasions, circumstances or (most importantly) your mood and feelings. There will always be days when you don’t feel like exercising, eating healthier, writing content for your business, calling your mom or a friend to see how they are doing, you name it.

Wrapping up

This tried-and-tested process can help you get unstuck in just 7 days. One week is not a long time for radical change, but it’s the right amount of time to unfreeze and start moving forward.

The first stage of the process (exploration) is crucial. Most approaches go directly to solutions without exploring the underlying root causes first. Simply put, you can’t get unstuck if you don’t genuinely reflect on your situation and identify your blockages first.

It’s also essential to become more mindful. That includes being more present and in the moment (especially when you journal and reflect), kind and less judgmental to yourself. You can’t break free from blockages that keep you frozen without mindfulness. The lack thereof reinforces the negative emotions and patterns.

The process I presented is also sustainable. When you feel stuck, work on the steps and improve execution with every iteration. You can use it again next time you get stuck with a work or life situation. Plus, it rewires your mindset, shifting your focus from thoughts to actions.

Keep in mind that it’s all about systems and processes, i.e. habits. Breaking free from bad habits that keep you back and building new healthy (in the broader sense) habits to help you move forward (and avoid getting stuck).

That’s how you hard reset yourself in just 7 days. That process works for me 100% every time, but feel free to customise the specifics of each step to your needs. Just keep the steps, the order and their timing. The rest you may refine.

What’s next?

Feeling stuck and frozen in life or work may feel helpless. For many, it’s even a shame, and they try to hide it without doing anything about it. What if I told you it’s the opposite? Feeling stuck manifests your desire to change and the resistance you find. Instead of dreading or ignoring change and friction, embrace them and seek help to navigate the transition.

If you need support getting unstuck in your life or work, let me step in. I can be of help if

• you want to quit your 9-5 job and create your one-person business but are too afraid to venture

• you are a currently struggling solopreneur

• you are an introverted person struggling to leverage your introversion and unique superpowers

DM me on LinkedIn, and let’s explore how Mindset Coaching can help you move forward and claim what you desire and deserve for a life with purpose, meaning and enjoyment.