This is why you feel stuck (3 ways to find freedom and champion your life)

Don't live your life on a hamster wheel.

Now, when I think of a hamster wheel, I envision that cute little creature inside the cage just running like crazy on that wheel, spinning around and around, running as fast as it can, but not actually accomplishing anything meaningful or getting anywhere.  

From a big picture perspective it’s even worse than that, it’s actually trapped in a cage.

Ever feel like that?

It's okay. I’ve been there from time to time, and if you feel this way now, this article will help you to get off that wheel, find freedom, and get back to living the life that you want. 

I know the story. I think of how busy my life can get, and how it can become a trap to get stuck in the same old routine day after day. 

I own three businesses (along with my wife/business partner), I’m a father of two teenage athletes, a volunteer coach, etc.  I get the temptation to just keep going through the motions. There’s a certain peace that comes with not rocking the boat.

But if I stay in that comfort zone, am I really getting what I want most out of life?  Am I really reaching my dreams? 

In working with thousands of clients over the years, I hear this story over and over again. Falling into the comfort zone trap has a predictable outcome. Inevitably, you begin to feel really stuck, like life just isn't going anywhere, and that your true talents are being wasted. 

But there are three key ways to find freedom from the hampster wheel and rise up to live the Champion Life you deserve. 

There was a period many years ago in my life when I was really sunk into my comfort zone. It was just after we had our second child, Stacey and I were in comfortable government jobs, and everything was safe. 

We were secure, and there was nothing terribly wrong with our current situation, but life began to get stale.  We were busy, but didn’t seem to have much to show for it, and the future looked like a whole lot more of the same. It felt like, if we stayed on that path, we would never really win at life.

Before long it felt like we weren’t achieving what we were truly capable of. We began to feel trapped. Like our life was being written by an author other than us… A really boring author too...

We knew we had to rise up, and we chose to leave those comfortable, cushy jobs and venture out into the world of entrepreneurship.

The fear was real. It was taking a big step into the unknown, and committing to figuring it out along the way. 

Maybe we would fail?

What would people think of us?

But something I say to my clients all the time, is that you can't change if you stay the same. 

So if you’re not happy with where your life is now, and you want change in your life, you're going to have to take that step outside of your comfort zone and embrace being uncomfortable for a little while. 

Here are 3 ways to find freedom and champion your life;

• Know your Comfort Zone

First you need to actually take the time to define the things that you’ve grown too accustomed to.  Identify the habits that you continually repeat and ask yourself “is this who I want to be?”  Begin to acknowledge which of those things must change. 

And if you don't go through that recognition process, you'll never leave it. You'll stay right there, and that'll be that.  

• Cross the Threshold

Now think about this as a doorway. There's this defining line at the bottom that says you are either inside, or you are outside, and you need to cross that threshold in order to grow. Visualize the complacency of your comfort zone, and choose to leave it.  You need to do something uncomfortable, something that you've never done before.

Something that might be a little scary, cold, dark, You gotta face that and step outside.

You need to learn that new skill or do that new thing, or you will most certainly stay the same, or worse, degrade and devolve. 

In order to find freedom you need to cross that threshold.

• Know the Referees

You will inevitably bump into what we call referees when taking a threshold step, and knowing that ahead of time is huge. 

What do I mean by referees? 

Well, there are those people in life that are like, “Hey, (whistle blowing sound) timeout. You're going against the rules. You're not supposed to do that. Stop that immediately!”

And just like any sporting event, there can be good refs, and bad refs.

The good refs are the loving people around us that want to protect us. And they may be sharing their thoughts and fears in a way they think is helping. 

And then sometimes there are bad refs that are just plain old haters.  Or maybe they feel insecure because you're doing something that they wish they had the courage to. 

Regardless of which type you encounter, you need to be prepared to deal with them.  Just like a pro athlete who works the refs a little bit to get the calls to go their way, you need to do the same.

I know when my family was feeling stuck, wasting talent, and going nowhere, we recognized our comfort zone.  And it was starting to get smelly.

We crossed the threshold of massive action and regained control of our future by leaving our cushy jobs and venturing into business for ourselves.

And we had our share of dealing with refs along the way.  Parents and friends thought we were crazy, and we also had a few proverbial haters along the way.

But guess what?  It was so worth it!

I hope these tips help you to break out of your own comfort zone, find freedom, and set your course toward living the life you want. 

If you liked this, just click the link below to get our Champion Playbook “5 Biggest Reasons Why you Feel Stuck and Overwhelmed and Why You Can't Get What You Want Most Out of Life”. 

Please follow us. I hope you Champion yourself, your day, and your life.

-Coach Jesse