Give three reason why you are stuck. Give it some thought. Then list them.

Reason 1 ____________________________________

Reason 2 ____________________________________

Reason 3 ____________________________________

Now that you have them all in place, replace them with three other reasons.

Other Reason 1 ______________________________

Other Reason 2 ______________________________

Other Reason 3 ______________________________

Now I’d like you to engage your imagination and pretend that all those reasons have miraculously disappeared.

Here’s what you will notice: You’re still stuck.

Your reasons for being stuck are not the reason you are stuck; they are the justification for your “stuckness.” Notice how you want to argue for your reasons. Notice how wrong you want to make my assertion.

You now have another reason to justify your reasons and you’re still stuck in a pile of shit.

Here’s one of life’s secrets: You’re not going to reason yourself out of a smelly place.

Getting unstuck takes some sort of action. Something has to move besides your train of thought.

Coming up with another creative way to explain your stuck state won’t get you to the starting gate.

Notice that Chinese Philosopher, Lao Tzu didn’t say, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one reason.”

Modern day philosophers and singers/songwriters, Kenny Loggins and Michael Macdonald wrote it this way in the Doobie Brothers song, “What a Fool Believes“: “No wise man has the power to reason away.”

The next time you’re about to “reason away,” take a step. It’s the most reasonable thing to do.

All the best,

John