Stuck?

You almost certainly need more information / Issue 1,445

Oh, hi friends!

We've talked about milestones, absurd self-belief, and picking up the cat. (Love each of you who noted "Picking Up the Cat" has the same spirit and scansion as "Finishing the Hat," which was extremely unintentional!!)

Today is very simple. 

It's called…

You Need More Information.

Stuck in a block? A rut? A hole?

You Need More Information.

Annoyed by someone ghosting you? Tortured by some tedious to-do you can't figure out?

You Need More Information.

This theme has come up recently in my own life, my friends' lives, and the lives of people I coach and mentor.

When we don't know something, it's easy to feel lost or — frankly — like a dumb-dumb.

But you're not lost. You're not a dumb-dumb.

YOU SIMPLY NEED MORE INFORMATION.

So here's what you do.

You get extremely clear on what information you’re missing.

Examples of information you could gather:

• A definitive timeline

• A clear yes or no

• A maybe (maybe you can work with a maybe)

• A technology-related thingy

• What you need to wrap up

• The go-ahead from someone else

• Confirming a date

• Factual information

• How much something costs

• The actual time commitment

• Examples of how other people have done it

And so on. 

Instead of swimming in the classic morass of mind-trash, you uncover the EXACT information you need to move forward.

My friends, this can be as stupid as "google the place to get the phone number to call." 

Or "find the return address for the jeans you need to send back." 

Or "figure out the difference between a Substack subscriber and follower."

Maybe it's clunkier and more time-consuming, like, "Do I actually have the space and hours to commit to X?" Or "Should I make this career zig or that career zag?"

If so, break it down into tiny bits of information. How many free hours do you really have next week? What does the career zig actually look like, according to someone who did it? 

Once you ask the questions — once you get clear — you know more. 

And once you know more, you can move forward.* 

When you know The Information you need, guess what? You find people to help you! Your questions are more direct! You research with precision! 

You look up from your spirals and think, “Yes, now I know where to go!”

Wise Bear knows what to do / (source)

You do not have to sit around waiting for someone else to magically smooth out the rough edges. 

You do not have to wait for circumstances to change. 

You can be active. 

And active people are always moving.

Don't you want to move, too?

Then go find out your information.

(*Btw, this is something I do in my Launch the Plane sessions. Ask you a lot of gentle but direct questions about what exactly is going on and why you're not doing what you want to do…so you can start doing what you want to do. Just added a few slots for Friday and Saturday because clearly I am AMPED this week.)

This Is Part Four of a series.

Read Part One: Are you just two weeks away from your next milestone?

Read Part Two: How to believe it’s going to happen for you.

Read Part Three: Picking up the cat.