What to Do When You Feel Stuck in Your Career

Feeling stuck in your career? You’re not alone — and you’re not powerless. This guide helps you break through the fog with practical tools to move forward.

Whether you’re bored, burned out, or unsure of your next move, there’s always a smart next step. Here’s how to find it.

Why You Feel Stuck

Career stagnation often comes from a misalignment between your daily work and your deeper goals or values. You may feel stuck because of:

  • Lack of challenge or growth
  • Unclear direction or purpose
  • Being overlooked or underrecognized
  • Fear of change or making the wrong move

3 Frameworks to Get Unstuck

1. The Career Clarity Canvas

Answer these five prompts to regain clarity:

  • What energizes me? (Tasks, topics, teams)
  • What drains me? (Situations, people, processes)
  • What do I want to be known for?
  • What problems do I love solving?
  • What’s missing in my current role?

Use this to assess fit, and clarify what kind of work or role you’d love next.

2. The 30-Day Reboot Plan

Restart your momentum with this short sprint:

  • Week 1: Audit your time and energy. What’s worth keeping?
  • Week 2: Have 1 conversation per day with someone outside your team.
  • Week 3: Take on (or propose) 1 small challenge or improvement project.
  • Week 4: Reflect, reframe, and plan your next 30 days.

Momentum beats motivation. Small steps lead to big clarity.

3. The Stop–Start–Stretch Model

A weekly self-check-in to spark direction:

  • Stop: What’s not serving me anymore?
  • Start: What small action can I begin this week?
  • Stretch: What’s just outside my comfort zone?

This model helps you stay intentional, not just reactive — even in difficult work environments.

Next Steps

Still unsure? Start with our quick career skill quiz — and we’ll point you to the most impactful skill to focus on next. You’ll also unlock our High-Performance Learning Hub to start learning smarter today.

Take the Skill Quiz Visit the Learning Hub

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