How To Get Unstuck in Life When Nothing Feels Right
Feeling stuck, burnt out, or unsure what comes next? This guide breaks down how to get unstuck, rebuild momentum, and borrow confidence until you find your own.
By
Josh Felgoise
Nov 25, 2025
The OC
There are moments where life feels heavy in a way you cannot fully explain. You wake up, look around, and everything is technically fine, but something in you feels off. Your confidence drops. Your motivation disappears. Your thoughts get louder and meaner. And you catch yourself wondering things like, what am I doing, why do I feel like this, and how do I get out of it.
One line sums up that feeling perfectly:
“One day you feel like you know exactly what you’re doing and other days you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing and what you’re supposed to do.”
That is what being stuck feels like. The contrast between who you are on your good days and who you become on the hard ones.
If you are in that headspace, this is your guide for what to do next. And if a lot of that stuck feeling is actually about dating, you might want to pair this with Why Did I Get Ghosted or How Do I Stop Overthinking Everything once you finish reading.
The Quiet Weight of Feeling Stuck
Feeling stuck is not loud. It does not crash into your life. It sneaks. It builds slowly.
You start waking up tired. You stop feeling excited about the things you used to care about. You keep telling yourself that next week you will feel better, or next month, or next year.
But nothing changes.
As the year drags on, there is a point where everything catches up to you.
“Burnout and feeling like you need a break happens around this time every year.”
Your brain feels tired. Your expectations feel high. Your belief in yourself feels shaky. Your sense of purpose starts to flicker. Put all of that together and of course you feel lost.
You are not broken. You are depleted. You're tired and exhausted.
If this is hitting you around your job, How To Advocate For Yourself At Work.
Why Stuck Moments Are Turning Points
There is always a moment where your gut tells you the truth. A flicker of clarity. A quiet realization that something in your life is no longer fitting. Maybe it is your job. Maybe it is your confidence. Maybe it is the path you are on.
That moment is not failure. It is awareness.
“If you’re not learning and growing, then you should probably look for something new.”
Stuck moments feel uncomfortable because they are supposed to. They are signals. Invitations. A gentle pull toward a different direction, even if you are not ready to admit it yet.
Being stuck is not a sign that you are failing. It is a sign that something in you is ready for change.
If you are in that “do I stay or do I leave” space with your first job, bookmark this piece with What No One Tells You About Leaving Your First Job. They work really well together.
Understanding Your Mindset: Fixed vs Growth
The most important shift you can make when you feel stuck has nothing to do with your career, your routine, or your circumstances. It begins with your mindset.
“A fixed mindset is the idea that your circumstances are your circumstances. A growth mindset is the idea that things can change.”
Most guys feel stuck not because their situation is impossible, but because their mindset has quietly slipped into fixed mode.
A fixed mindset says:
I will always be like this.
This is just the way things are.
Nothing will change.
A growth mindset says:
Maybe things could be different.
Maybe I could try something new.
Maybe I am not done yet.
The moment you shift from fixed to growth, even by one percent, you create the space you need to move again.
If overthinking is the thing keeping you frozen, How Do I Stop Overthinking Everything is the next read after this one. Think of this article as the big picture and that one as the step by step.
Borrowed Confidence: How to Move When You Cannot Feel It Yet
There is a simple idea that can pull you forward when your own confidence is gone. Borrow confidence.
Look at the people who inspire you and study their patterns. What traits do they rely on. How do they think. How did they start.
“You can actually look at the people who inspire you and take it. You can emulate the things they did when they started.”
Borrowed confidence is not pretending to be someone else. It is trying on the mindset and behaviors of the version of you who already figured it out.
It is not copying someone’s identity.
It is borrowing their belief until your belief returns.
When you feel stuck, ask yourself:
Who is someone I admire.
How did they start.
What is one thing they would do if they woke up feeling how I feel.
Then do that.
Not perfectly. Not dramatically. Just once.
Momentum starts small.
How To Start Moving Again When Nothing Feels Right
Getting unstuck is not about reinvention. It is about creating motion where there is none. Small motion. Simple motion. Motion that reminds you that you are not stuck forever.
Here are the five steps that actually work.
1. Rewire your first thought of the day
Your mind wants to spiral the second your feet hit the ground. Interrupt it.
“Right when you get out of bed, say three things you’re grateful for. It already rewires my brain.”
Gratitude is not poetic. It is practical. It resets your internal direction before negativity has the chance to take over.
If mornings are where your anxiety starts, pairing this with the tools in How Do I Stop Overthinking Everything will make a huge difference.
2. Lower the pressure you put on yourself
Most ruts do not come from laziness. They come from pressure.
“You may have super high expectations of yourself every day and sometimes you may not meet that. But that doesn’t mean you’re not good at what you’re doing.”
Pressure kills clarity. Lowering it brings you back to yourself.
3. Try on the mindset of the person you want to become
Confidence is not a personality trait. It is a pattern you practice.
“Confidence is a choice. You can wake up and decide to be confident until you get the hang of it.”
Acting like the version of you who is confident does not make you fake. It makes you prepared.
If that shows up most in your dating life, read this alongside How To Have A Great First Date. Together, they turn “I feel stuck” into “I know what to try next.”
4. Identify what needs to change
Feeling stuck for too long is usually a sign you have outgrown something. A habit. A routine. A job. A version of yourself.
“If you’ve been feeling stuck for a while now, it probably means it’s time for your very own change.”
Change does not have to be dramatic. It just has to be real.
If you are wrestling with whether to stay or go, this pairs really well with What No One Tells You About Leaving Your First Job.
5. Do one small thing today
Do something that proves to your brain that the rut is not permanent.
Reach out to someone. Change one habit. Read one chapter. Test one idea. Ask one question. Try one new pattern.
Action breaks ruts.
Avoidance strengthens them.
Confidence grows through movement, not through thinking.
Where To Go Next On Guyset
If you are here because you feel stuck, there is a good chance you will see yourself in a few of these too:
