I’d rather be ANYWHERE else other than stuck.

A  N  Y  W  H  E  R  E !!

I’ve been caught in major lightning storms twice while camping. One was so bad we couldn’t even drive to safety. With the other, we set up camp across a lake, which we obviously couldn’t cross to get out of danger. Both times I felt trapped and terrified, and needless to say, this isn’t a look I wear well. Or care to repeat.

But there’s more than just being physically stuck.

Sitting on the fence of indecision, not knowing where to start, or being emotionally paralyzed by fear are other debilitating behaviors with serious ramifications.

And they all scream S T U C K, S T U C K, S T U C K!

I once had an attorney share with me the following thought:

“Regardless of the outcome, it’s always better to take some kind of action than to sit and do nothing. If you’re on the fence about a decision and you jump down to the ‘right’ side, more power to you! However, if you jump down to the ‘wrong’ side, at least you’ll know for certain what doesn’t work, and you can then move forward and do what is right. Not knowing what to do and remaining stagnant is worse than making no decision at all.”

Boy has this ‘stuck’ with me. And while I don’t believe that sitting and doing nothing is always wrong, as a general rule of thumb, I think this attorney had a valid point.

Inaction thwarts any opportunity for victory, while action, regardless of the outcome, at least gives you a fighting chance to get it right.

[Tweet “Inaction thwarts any opportunity for victory.”]

I’ll take the odds in the fighting chance.

E  V  E  R  Y     T  I  M  E!!

I’m a huge baseball fan, and when my sons were younger, they both played for city and school teams. Oh, I was in heaven! Often the team mom or scorekeeper, I loved being part of the game. My boys and I discussed the inevitable ‘strike out’ on more than one occasion. It was gonna happen. Likely over and over again. That’s just part of the game. My advice, though, was not to strikeout ‘looking’, which means striking out without even trying. Just standing at home plate and watching the ball, obviously a strike, sail across the plate. To me, that’s the epitome of giving up.

To be fair, there are times when a strike doesn’t look like a strike and you are completely sucker-punched. This can happens to the best of us. But I’m speaking of the person who makes a habit out of ‘striking out while looking’.

This really makes me crazy because with just a little effort, the outcome has at least the potential to be so much better.

So what do you do when you are stuck? When you have a difficult decision to make or are feeling overwhelmed and confused? What if you just don’t know where or how to start?

At Declutter Now! we’ve developed an eight step plan, The Action Plan Template, to help get you going by encouraging a healthy leap to the ‘right’ side of the fence.

***   ‘Action Plan’ because it will help you construct a plan of action, and action is required for any change.

***   ‘Template’ because you can use the framework for a myriad of different challenges.

Once you get familiar with the process, you’ll naturally work through the steps with less and less effort and realize quicker and more frequent successful results.

What is something that has you feeling stuck right now? Plug the problem into the template below and see it unravel right before your eyes!

Action Plan Template

1. Pray. Lay your burdens before God. Ask Him for assistance in working through the situation / problem you’re dealing with and for His truth to be revealed.
2. Identify the specific dilemma. Get rid of the unnecessary fluff and zero in on the actual problem.
3. Research what God says on the matter. Dive into His Word and seek trusted Christian friends and resources. Fully understand God’s position.
4. Determine what about the situation / problem IS within your control.
5. Determine what about the situation / problem IS NOT within your control.
6. What is your desired end result? Bottom line, what do you wish to accomplish?
7. Bearing in mind what is within your control, what steps can you take, while walking in God’s Will and Word, to attain the desired end result?
8. Can you live with the steps it’s clear you should take?

If the answer to #8 is no:

• Pray. Ask God for encouragement and direction.
• Seek wise counsel to gain additional insight or the support you need to move forward.

If the answer to #8 is yes:

• Pray. Ask God for the right words and constructive actions. Pray for divine intervention and His presence with you every step of the way.
• Write down a game plan. Include specific steps you will need to take, along with a projected timeline.
• GET STARTED.
• Set up checkpoints along the way to track and monitor progress.
• Pray. Thank God for the ability He gave you to work through this
  challenge and for His never-ending faithfulness in your life.

Click here to download the ‘Action Plan Template’ now!

I pray for your success. I pray you work through the issue and uncover the perfect solution. But if all else fails, I pray you will feel joy in the process. And most importantly,   I pray you’ll go down swinging!