Transcription
Translator: Hani Eldalees
You are in the middle of a project when moving forward suddenly seems impossible. Perhaps you don't know what the next step is. Or perhaps you've faced setbacks, and started thinking, "What's the point?" Many of us have suffered from feeling stuck. This can happen when tackling something as simple as a research paper, or as monumental as social inequality or the climate crisis. So, are there ways to get unstuck?
People often report feeling highly motivated at the beginning and end of a project, but the middle can feel uninspired. Psychologists call this the "stuck in the middle" effect, and it's thought to be caused by a shift in perspective that happens as you get closer to your goals. When you first start working toward something, any progress can feel like a win, as we tend to compare ourselves to where we started. For example, when someone starts training for a marathon, even a short run can be motivating. But the longer you work on something, the more likely your focus is to shift to your ultimate goal. In other words, instead of seeing how far you've come, it's easy to get discouraged by how far you still have to go.
A simple way to avoid these motivational slumps is to break down your endeavors into smaller, more achievable sub-goals. This creates less daunting incremental benchmarks to compare your progress against. It also creates more opportunities to celebrate wins along the way. This is especially important when working toward larger societal goals. These issues, by their nature, are broad and complex—they are unlikely to be solved by a single action or a single person. So if you only focus on the ultimate goal, it's easy to feel personally powerless. And the sheer scale of these problems might be why many people, including those who care deeply about the issues, believe progress is impossible, leading them to disengage. In fact, a 2021 global youth survey found that more than half of young people believe humanity is doomed.
But despite these obstacles, some people manage to stay motivated, engaged, and unstuck. So, how do they do it? Surprisingly, it's not just about how much you worry or how much you care about the issue at hand. For example, research has found that among those who feel most anxious about climate change, only about a third take regular climate action. However, the common factor among those who do take action is a belief that their personal involvement can make a difference. And this belief is not misguided. The long history of social progress proves that change is possible. And individual actions—whether it's volunteering, voting, protesting, or personally contributing to a societal cause—are fundamental to building the collective momentum that has addressed seemingly intractable issues.
This doesn't mean that worry and emotion have no place. Moral outrage or anger can help us focus on what's at stake. And when harnessed properly, anger can be a powerful unifier. In the American Civil Rights movement, shared anger over systemic racism, injustice, and violence against Black people galvanized diverse communities to work together in the struggle for equality. And bringing together people from different backgrounds and mindsets is essential for building longevity and resilience in any movement. In this way, thinking about how your unique perspective, knowledge, and expertise can be applied to foster change can be beneficial. And finding community has many other benefits. Simply seeing other people in action has been shown to motivate personal action, creating a positive feedback loop. Collaboration can help you problem-solve better when you're unsure of the next step. And supporting and encouraging others can be a source of inspiration and joy if you're feeling overwhelmed, defeated, or stuck.
The path to conquering any long-term goal is bound to hit points of contention. Often, the best way to get unstuck is simply to take any action, no matter how small the outcome or how incomplete. Progress begins with writing the next sentence, running that extra mile, or even casting that vote to build a better future.