Are You Stuck? Find and Clear Your Log Jams | Tuesday Tip Week 10

Two weeks ago, my business flow came to a screeching halt. This past week, I got unstuck. Allow me to explain.

A month or so ago, I talked to my business advisor about key projects to launch my business on the organizational front. I have 4 years’ worth of business and leadership research. And it occurred to me that not only does the research have a common thread, but I needed to find my voice and perspective in all that I’ve produced in biz school. So she suggested that I begin pulling together an eBook for organizational leaders. The added benefit is that the process would give me teaching points and training material, in addition to clear thoughts about what I’m marketing. So I started pulling my research together and by the time I finished, I had 260 pages of stuff. Having blogging experience, I went through and assigned 5 categories of tags to each discussion post and assignment. I needed to see the bigger picture (I’m a big picture person).

Well, two weeks ago, I received an email about a book proposal contest. I don’t get too excited about alot of things. Writing books is no exception. But when I saw the email that read “Faith and Business – Book Proposal Contest” – I was intrigued. So I printed out the announcement, went to the website, and signed up for their emails. I placed the flier on a clipboard, set the clipboard on my desk…and purposely ignored it for the next two weeks!

All last week, I felt like my ideas were trickling. There was no flow to my thoughts. I was going through the motions. I was trippin’ over trivial stuff…and I do mean trivial. My future got really fuzzy. I was not as motivated as I had been. My daughters were even asking me “Uhh Daddy, why are you so…grumpy?”

This, my friends…was a LOG JAM!

Log jams like the one in the picture were common in the 1800s. In fact the 19^th century logging industry in the U.S. changed the landscape, provided income for thousands of workers and provided economic resources during difficult times. Loggers would could cut down trees, trim their branches and roots for easy rolling, and haul them to the river banks. The spring floods would float the logs to the mills downstream. And then the unexpected happens. Blogger Seth Kahan explains:

“Imagine a rapidly flowing river, packed with logs. Suddenly there is a change in course that shifts the flow…The front of the jam locks down under severe pressure forming a single, immovable mass. Timber continues to pile in. The trees compress against each other with crushing strength, squeezing under the strain until they form a huge, tension-locked mass. The straining pressure is intensely dangerous. Water backs up behind them as if they were a dam and the force cements them in place.”

This book contest caused a log jam without me knowing it. And I was in a race against time to find out what was blocking up my free-flow ideas. If I didn’t find the cause, like the river, my actions would have begun to reform around the new trickle of ideas and thought.

Removing a log jam is dangerous. There is major risk involved. As soon as loggers would remove the right log, all of the water pressure would be released. This is the point where they were the most vulnerable. As they worked with everything from axes to dynamite, a bunch of heavy logs could rain down on the workers as soon as the jam was broken. Many lives were lost clearing logjams. While dangers, the benefit of finding “that” log is unimaginable.

I have since recovered from my log jam. But it took a lot of talking, thinking and taking dead-end bunny trails, before I realized what was stopping up my free-flow of thought and action. Talking to Jamie, I realized something that’s important to share with you.

This is what a coach does. An effective coach helps you find the right log without risking your life to pursue your big dream (in the case of the loggers it was getting the logs downstream). Coaching helps you clear the log jams. Helps you get unstuck. But the uniqueness about my style is that 1) I believe the best in you and 2) because of this belief, I draw the answers out of you.

I guide you through a process to identify areas in your life that you are not satisfied in, and define how you want your life to look. In other words, you can remove your log jams without risking your life.

• Do you have a dream to start a business, but haven’t taken that first step?
• Or maybe you want to do some freelance work, but don’t know where to start?
• You may even have a detailed plan on paper and you know exactly what your steps are. But you feel that you’re not ready.

Email me at t_anderson@teaiiano.com to remove those log jams once and for all. Introductory coaching sessions start at just $65.00 for a half-hour session.

Here’s to getting unstuck!

Thomas E. Anderson, II is a vision development coach who enjoys motivating and equipping individuals to pursue personal, professional and organizational goals that lead to a more fulfilling life. He specializes in life focus, vision development and goal acceleration.