Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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November 19, 2009

Why Stuck?

Liz wrote this at 7:45 am

Todays guest post is from Kneale Mann.

Kneale Mann is a writer, a coach and a strategist. With 26 years experience, he consultants on communications, marketing and social media strategy in the private, hi-tech and public sectors. He is also an associate with CEPSM and a member of the TEDxOttawa organization team.

We All Have Choices

Recently, a friend sent me a copy of Rick Butts’ book “7 Choices”. In it, Rick talks about the time we work on us verses the time we work on what we do or getting customers or what we can offer. In the age of social networking, we can all create profiles and exchange ideas and share. But how much time do we spent on better understanding ourselves?

In 1943, Abraham Maslow outlined our need to belong in his paper Hierarchy of Needs. No matter your age or situation, you want your life to have purpose and passion. That is the core of why we may get stuck – we aren’t following either. We haven’t deciphered who we are and what drives our passion. All too often we seek external confirmation.

Internet Friends

If you are immersed in social media and haven’t taken a moment to think of all the wonderful people you would not have met otherwise you are missing the essential part of the process. In my case, I met Liz Strauss and Kathryn Jennex and over the course of two years we all got to know each other. A few tweets turned in to some emails and phone calls then in to actual work. I look forward to new projects with them in 2010. My friend Lisa Hickey calls it accelerated serendipity.

I was at an event last week and realized that the twenty or so people I was sitting with had all met online. We shared similar sensibilities, we found trust with each other and we want each other to be happy and do well.

So why do we get stuck? Is it because no one will help us realize our passion and purpose? Or is it that we haven’t discovered it inside us in order to tell people what we want?

Three years ago, a friend gave me a copy of The Secret and I have told this story numerous times but I watched the first half of the film with my closed mind and arms folded and the second half taking notes. But notes aren’t enough. We need action and focus. We are human. We get stuck. We fall into the same traps of listening to the opinions of naysayers. We fail to listen to that pang in deep in our gut.

I was speaking with a client the other day about Ellen DeGeneres. She endured three years of unanswered phone calls. No one wanted to hire her and she was running out of money. She was stuck. She then got the idea of doing her own talk show. The studios weren’t falling over themselves to help her realize her dream. But she made it happen and built it into one of the most popular shows on television. It took work and persistence. She did it because she found out who she was and got unstuck.

Why do you get stuck? Why are you not following your dreams and passions and purpose? Or maybe you are?

Does this mean we shouldn’t discover people we trust to help us navigate this journey? Ask the most successful people on the planet if they get stuck and you will get a resounding – YES! None of us is immune. But if someone asks you to help them get unstuck, forget their resume or the past and listen to what they need. If you do, magic will happen for both of you.





Filed under Basics, Guest Writer, Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 9 Comments »




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9 Comments to “Why Stuck?”

  1. November 19th, 2009 at 8:18 am
    Lisa Hickey said

    Hi Kneale,
    Yes, I’m the ‘accelerated serendipity’ gal – it’s how I met you, and Liz, and so many people in Social Media who actually help make things happen. In fact, early on, I realized that the power of Social Media is that it allows “the sharing of ideas that move people to action.” Thanks for this post, as always, thoughtful, insightful, and, heck, moved me to take about 5 new actions in 5 minutes.

  2. November 19th, 2009 at 9:10 am
    Dennis Van Staalduinen said

    Kneale, you’ve got a way with them word thingies my friend. Great insights, concisely put.

    I love the arms crossed thing.

    Arms crossed = stuck (but you’re not helping)
    Taking notes = the first step to getting unstuck.

  3. November 19th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
    Sal Nocitra said

    Well said Kneale & something I needed to hear today.

    It’s not the first time your words, energy & insight have made a difference in my day… thanks dude. :-)

  4. November 19th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
    Tim Bursch said

    Kneale,
    Excellent thoughts and good story. I feel really grateful for the connections I’ve made through social media.

    It seems like those un-sticking moments come when we get real with other people. And ourselves. Asking why and what do you want?

    With so many ideas out there, it helps to have your mission close by and some friends to check in with.
    Thanks Kneale!

  5. November 19th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
    Kneale Mann said

    Thanks guys for all the kind comments. We all get stuck and it happens often and at the oddest places. But if we understand we aren’t alone and we reach those people we care about and who care about us – we can be easily reminded that help is on the way!

    km

  6. November 20th, 2009 at 3:43 am
    Powerful Affirmations - Claus D Jensen said

    Hi Kneale, thank you for a great post.
    I have personally met some really great people via social medias. Some of them are even cooperate partners. We are helping each other. Giving advice and feed back. I live in denmark, and I can create products with people in USA via the internet. It’s so cool! It prevents me from getting stuck.

    Greetings,
    Claus

  7. January 9th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
    Danny Brown said

    Late to the party on this one, Kneale, but bang on analysis.

    If people either never took chances, or better still gave “nobodies” chances, we’d never have the likes of Bill Gates, Richard Branson, indie music and more.

    Getting unstuck is going to be on my office wall for 2010.

  8. January 9th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Danny,
    Getting unstuck is a good mantra for any year, but especially this one!

  9. November 7th, 2010 at 3:08 am
    Brandon said

    I think sometimes we get stuck simply because we don’t think we have the expertise to do what we know we must do. Contrary to what I think is popular belief, the hard part is not knowing what to do, it’s knowing how to do it! I think we all know what we “should” be doing…what most people need to get “un-stuck” is to be alright with making mistakes out of the gate. As long as you’re OK with that, you’re on the path to getting to where you need to be.

    Brandon

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