Are You Stuck In Life?

January 5, 2010

Interview with Anneli Rufus, author of the book Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On

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Mike Carruthers:
Feeling stuck in life has become very popular so many people today seem stuck.

Anneli Rufus:
And when I say stuck I mean people feel stuck in their job, stuck in a relationship, stuck with the wrong social circle, stuck doing nothing, stuck doing too much, right?

Anneli Rufus, author of the book Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On has a theory as to why so many people feel so stuck.

Getting stuck is kind of a luxury now our pioneer ancestors did not have that choice. They had to be self-reliant, they had to be resourceful, they had to do something. We get stuck because of choices we made but the problem is we don’t want to admit that we made those choices and that we are still making them. It’s easier and much more fashionable to blame something else. Blame society, blame your parent’s, blame anything but yourself.

But the only way to get unstuck is to try something new even if you fail at that.

Because at least it’s different, at least you will have tried. If you’re at the point where you’re whining and saying, “Life is passing me by I’m miserable, I wish I could change” then any change you make should at least feel like progress.

And self-awareness is necessary; you have to be able to know what you’re good at.

We’ve grown up in a culture that kind of spoils us, and says, “You can do anything”. The reason American Idol is the most popular TV show in the world is because we secretly like seeing Simon Cowell tell people, “You can not sing, stop trying”. He’s helping those people come unstuck and it’s a relief to us.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here