5 questions to help you get unstuck at work

Creating a culture that values failing fast can create chaos, but encouraging courageous failure that engages in calculated risks and thoughtful experimentation can lead to innovation and growth, writes Tony Martignetti, the chief inspiration officer at Inspired Purpose Partners. "A good failure is one that teaches something valuable, aligns with strategic goals, and moves the organization forward," writes Martignetti.

Put it into practice: Empower your team to fail courageously by creating low-risk experiments first, treating failure as a way to collect data and publicly praising productive failures, suggests Martignetti. "Celebrate well-intentioned failures that led to key learnings, just as you would a big win."

You can feel stuck if your challenges seem impossible to overcome, writes leadership coach Amber Johnson, who suggests focusing on what you can control, seeking help or conducting research and taking small actions to move forward. It's essential to identify what's stopping you and find ways to remove or bypass those barriers. If official routes are blocked, consider unofficial actions to keep progress going, Johnson advises.

Put it into practice: Taking small steps forward in ways that feel productive can help you achieve your goal, Johnson writes, referring to novelist E. L. Doctorow's quote, "You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way," for inspiration. "It's time to drive to the end of your headlights and then drive to the end of your headlights again," Johnson writes.

Managers play a pivotal role in helping Gen Z employees find meaning in their work by fostering a supportive environment that promotes self-knowledge, adding value and building relationships, write Kelly Kennedy, director of transformative learning and Cathleen Swody, managing partner with Foster Talent Consulting, both at the University of Connecticut. By asking insightful questions and providing mentorship, managers can guide young professionals towards aligning their personal goals with organizational objectives, benefiting both parties, they write.

Put it into practice: Use one-on-one meetings with younger workers to ask what energizes them about their work, where they feel they contribute the most and who within the company they'd like to learn from, suggest Kennedy and Swody. "Encouraging them to seek out knowledge from others not only strengthens their network but also fosters a culture of continuous learning and collaboration," they write.

Registered dietitian Emily Lachtrupp outlines a seven-day meal plan designed to support cognitive health by incorporating the MIND diet, which combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets. The plan emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthful fats and a variety of protein sources while limiting processed foods and added sugars. It offers flexibility with three calorie levels and includes meal-prep tips to simplify cooking.

Honeybees use the waggle dance to communicate food locations, but not all dances lead to successful recruitment, and a study in Current Biology found that individual variations in dance styles enhance foraging success. By overshooting the true distance, bees give recruits a second chance to find food, suggesting that diversity in communication improves outcomes.

When you feel stuck, focusing on the things you can control and taking the smallest action possible to move you forward is excellent advice from Amber Johnson. It reminds me of life coach and author Martha Beck's idea of "turtle steps."

Beck defines turtle steps as "a step that takes you toward your ultimate goal, but is so tiny you could do it easily on your worst day." Trying to write a book? Write a paragraph, or even a sentence, each day. Eventually, you'll write one.

Taking things one small bite, or step, at a time can reduce your feeling of overwhelm, build momentum by giving you a sense of accomplishment and you'll feel less resistance to doing one small thing than tackling a whole project.

The key is to keep moving forward, no matter how small the step. What goal are you working on that could use some turtle steps?

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