When You Can’t Unsee What’s Been Stopping You

As a favor for a friend, I hopped onto a call with a 2018 grad who was looking for contract writing assignments with ad agencies—and was stumped.

The problem? She was stymied on how to get the right people to talk to her and then hire her.

When I pointed out that she wasn’t marketing herself as a writer, much less as an ad agency specialist, she had an “aha” moment. When I suggested several different niches she might consider based on her quite extensive internships and post-college experience, she grabbed one and ran with it.

The rest of our conversation was at warp speed (“so I should reach out to these kinds of people and update my bio to focus on X”) because now that she had a target, she literally couldn’t unsee what had been stopping her before.

So here’s my point: if you’re stuck, do whatever it takes to get unstuck. Ask for advice, pay for advice, hit up your industry pals for ideas.

Because literally the second you get clarity, you can stop running in place and go full speed ahead.