How I Got Unstuck (So You Can, Too)

The tiny practices that rebuilt my year

The beginning of 2025 was not my happiest period. I felt trapped, stuck, and devoid of energy. There were a lot of reasons for this—partly having to do with living in the wrong place, partly having to do with having zero community, partly to do with working in a way that was totally misaligned with my values—and I was desperate for something to change.

I stewed in my discontent for a moment, then I pushed myself into action. Toward the end of January I made goals for where I wanted to be at the end of 2025. To my great surprise, I had achieved all of them (and more!) by mid-March.

There is no silver bullet or magic trick to getting out of a funk, and of course what works for me might not work for you. But I wanted to share a few things that completely shifted the trajectory of my year, in case any of them spark something for you.

The smile gets bigger as the months go by :)

Invest in Support

I’ve been working with a wonderful human, Mona Esser, for several years now. I don’t know how to describe exactly what she does, but she’s studied in the ancient Chinese practice of face reading, she’s deeply versed in the zodiac, numerology, and other systems, and she is a gifted healer and teacher. At the end of each year, we do a session together that looks back and ahead—mapping what I’m leaving behind and what I want to bring into the new year.

This year, I went deeper. I signed up for weekly sessions, fully committing to the idea that I could learn about myself through many different lenses. Each meeting brought a flood of insight. Words and feelings would suddenly click into place, I’d uncover something that had been blocking me, and I started to feel reconnected to my creativity.

Around the same time, I reached out to Xanthe Appleyard, a brilliant online leadership educator who embodies her own philosophy of the “leisure ethic.” She offers high-touch 1:1 coaching for people who are trying to build things but are feeling stuck. We committed to a four-month coaching arrangement, with daily support across every corner of my work life.

These two women are truly best in class—but I would argue that even taking the step of deliberately investing in your own growth and happiness can make a big difference. Instead of spending money and time on everyone else's contentment, you’re finally prioritizing your own. That alone can be a powerful mindset shift.

Solo Retreat

You might’ve read about my solo retreat already, but it was a real jumping-off point. Armed with Xanthe’s excellent workbook of self-reflection prompts, I booked a cheap ticket to Vienna and gave myself three full days to do only what I wanted.

I explored when I felt like exploring, I ordered room service and stayed in bed in a robe. I sweated through hours in the sauna. I ate and drank whatever I wanted. But most importantly, I worked through the questions.

What kind of energy do I bring to relationships? What do I want to be known for? How do I spend my time each day, and how do I earn and spend my money?

By the end of the weekend, I was clear on what wasn’t working and where I wanted to go. I mapped out concrete goals and backed them up with a timeline. I was sad, but I had a plan.

I wrote this in my earlier post, but I want to emphasize that the point here isn't the travel, it's the time spent alone doing only what you want to do, and carving out time to do some deep self-reflection. You can do that for a couple of hours in the bathtub at home, you can spend a Sunday morning in bed or at a coffee shop doing it, or you can pretend to be a tourist in your own city if you can't leave home.

Custom Curriculum

I’m obsessed with learning new things and often fantasize about going back to school. Since that’s not in the cards, I decided to make my own curriculum.

I went to my favorite bookstore in Lisbon and bought twelve books from diverse authors—memoirs, essays, and big idea books about leadership, burnout, creativity, and failure. I learned why burnout happens (and how it's often rooted in misaligned values), how vital creative energy is to wellbeing, and why sometimes giving up is the smartest thing you can do.

It gave me comfort to read about others who had struggled, and it helped me believe that what I was feeling wasn’t forever—and it wasn’t unique.

The wall at Salted Books

Win and Moon List Journals

I’ve already written about my win journal, but it bears repeating: when I started recording a small win every single day, I began to see all the ways in which I was actually winning. It helped me track what made me happy, what sparked energy, and which days aligned with my goals.

In addition to my wins, I also tracked something I did daily in service of my three overarching 2025 goals. Sometimes that action was tiny. But by focusing my attention on the commitments I made to myself, I was able to stay aligned with what I knew would matter most.

I also started writing in The Moon Lists journal, which offers weekly prompts that are surprisingly grounding. Sometimes you're asked to describe what each of your senses perceives. Sometimes it's a list of images that define your week. Sometimes it's totally unexpected. But it always brings you back to the present.

That daily and weekly check-in became both an investment in myself and a kind of compass. It helped me understand what I needed more of, and what I was ready to release.

Voicing What I Wanted

It’s easy to convince yourself that talking about your goals or asking for support is “cringe.” Most people I know—myself included—have a quiet fear of being met with crickets. What if we put ourselves out there and nothing happens?

But here's the thing: people like to help. People like to see others happy. If you voice what you want, you give the universe (and your community) a chance to show up.

I knew what I wanted but hesitated to share it online. I judged myself before anyone else could. I became my own worst critic—no, worst audience of critics!

But one day I pushed through the discomfort and posted an Instagram story about the kind of work I wanted to do. The very next day, everything changed. One of my wonderful clients reposted it, and her influence brought in a wave of new opportunities.

The key here isn’t visibility for visibility’s sake—it’s being clear enough and confident enough to say what you’re looking for. My work with Mona, Xanthe, and my journaling practice helped me get there.

Making Space for the New and Good

Letting go of something stable can be terrifying. It's "good enough", so we keep it around. It has a purpose--consistency, ease, it's the devil we know vs. the devil we don't. Everyone has different priorities but for me, "good enough" is not enough. When there's the potential to do, have, or be something fulfilling, exciting, and deeply satisfying, I really believe you owe it to yourself to let go of the stability and reach for more. 10 times out of 10, when you let something go something better comes in its place. This is true in relationships, friendships, work, everything. Even if you don't realize how much mental or emotional bandwidth something is taking, I guarantee that once it's gone you'll feel a sense of openness that will quickly call in something better.

For me, the stability I let go of was something I had worked hard to earn. It made me question whether I was being foolish or selfish. But as soon as I walked away, two dream-level opportunities showed up almost instantly.

From a very special night in Austin, TX

Conclusion

At least once a week I prompt myself to remember how I felt at the beginning of the year and realize how much has changed, and how quickly. I try to reflect and remember every single thing that I did so if I ever find myself in a similar situation in the future, I’ll have a good blueprint for how to turn things around. After many weeks of reflection, this is where I’ve landed: investing in support, going on a solo weekend, keeping a daily win journal, and reading a bunch of thought-provoking books gave me the confidence and self-trust to start asking for what I wanted. Voicing those desires and saying a final goodbye to stability opened up doors that I didn’t even know were there.

What turned things around for me wasn’t a dramatic pivot. It was a series of invitations I finally accepted—from my body, my creativity, my intuition. And responding to those, day after day, is what changed everything.

If you’re feeling stuck right now, I hope this serves as permission to begin again—gently, honestly, and on your own terms!