As the calendar turns, the new year brings with it a host of new resolutions.

Resolutions come in all shapes and sizes — some of the most popular include taming the bulge, decreasing debt, and finally getting organized.

If you are like most people, we make the same or a similar resolution each year, with hopes of sticking to it, this time. Usually, it’s something we’ve wanted to kick-start for a while and use the new year as a motivator to finally do something about it.

Many of us start off pretty well, quitting our vice or staying in touch with distant friends and family, while others find themselves exhausted by the simple thought of starting. Either way, most of us won’t stick to our resolutions because we get stuck. We can’t find the time, energy, or willpower to move forward. Our resolution fails to get us unstuck.

Are you stuck? Do you feel like you can only see one way forward, and it’s not the way you envisioned going? Have you found yourself in a situation when you know something isn’t working but can’t step back and see why? Ever found yourself doing it all on your own  and feeling simply exhausted?

Maybe you have an amazing dream that has become so big you don’t know where to start chasing it down. 

Being stuck can look and feel different for each of us, but it all boils down to wanting something other than what you have, and not doing anything about it.

Poet Rabindranth Tagore explains it as, “I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.”

Do you procrastinate? I do. 

Take a moment this week when you are procrastinating a task ahead and think about how you are procrastinating. Figure out one small action you can do to get things moving.

Some suggestions: Start from the end and work backwards — if you know where you want to go, you just need to determine how to get there. Set yourself a reward for accomplishing your task at hand, and don’t award it unless you’ve met your goal.

Getting unstuck isn’t always about fighting the urge to procrastinate. It’s about taking the first step. The first step is always the scariest, however, you will be walking in no time and running before you know it.

Christina Biluk is a member of FUSION Halifax. Visit FUSIONHalifax.ca to find out how you can get involved to help make Halifax a better place to live, work and play.