How to Get Unstuck in Your Career
For the person who has been in the same place a little too long and cannot quite name why.
To get unstuck in your career, stop waiting for someone to notice you and become someone worth choosing where you are right now. Get honest feedback on what is holding you back, take on one stretch responsibility, tell people what you want next, and build skills for the job you want rather than the one you have.
Earlier in my life I felt stuck in a way that was hard to see a way out of. I had stepped away from college to raise my son. Every job application asked about education and criminal convictions, and I knew my answers would shape how people saw me before they met me. A lot of applications brought no response.
At the time I was working in a restaurant as a bartender and server. I decided that if corporate America was not going to give me an opportunity yet, I was going to become the best I could with the opportunity I did have.
I asked for more responsibility, learned from my leaders and worked to deliver the best service and results I could. I stopped asking for a chance and started becoming someone worth choosing.
After that, my next moves came from people who saw how I worked: a promotion into my first leadership role, then a distributor who recruited me into sales, and later a beverage company that recruited me too.
Instead of waiting for someone else to believe in me, I started building something that made it hard not to.
Six steps to get your career moving again
Be excellent where you are
It is tempting to check out when you feel stuck. Do the opposite. The way you do the job you have is what people see when they decide who gets the next one.
Get honest feedback
Ask your manager or a trusted peer: “What would you need to see from me to trust me with more?” Listen without defending. The answer is often closer than you think. My guide to questions to ask for feedback can help.
Take on one stretch responsibility
Train the new hire. Lead the project nobody wants. Fix the process everyone complains about. A stretch responsibility shows people what you are capable of more clearly than any conversation.
Say what you want out loud
People cannot help you get somewhere they do not know you want to go. Tell your manager, and the people around you, what you are aiming for.
Build for the next job
Look at the role you want next and list the skills it needs. Pick one and start building it now. Development is the part of your career nobody can do for you.
Look beyond your company
Sometimes the next step is somewhere else. My first move into sales came from a vendor who saw how I worked. Stay visible to the people around your job, not just inside it, and stay open.
Stop asking for a chance.
Start becoming someone
worth choosing.
Stuck or just comfortable?
Feeling stuck and being comfortable can look the same from the inside. If nothing is wrong but nothing is growing either, you may have hit a comfort ceiling. Try Is This a Rut or a Comfort Ceiling? or the Comfort Ceiling Assessment.
You may also find Feeling Stuck in Life, How to Get Promoted and You Do Not Need the Credential helpful.
Common questions
How do I know if I am stuck in my career?
If you have stopped learning, your responsibilities have not grown in a long time, and you feel a gap between what you do and what you could do, you are probably stuck.
What should I do if I feel stuck at work?
Raise your standard in your current role, ask for honest feedback, take on one stretch responsibility and tell people what you want next.
Is it better to change jobs or stay when stuck?
It depends. Try growing where you are first. If the feedback and opportunities are not there, a move may be the right next step.
Can I get unstuck without a degree?
Yes. Many careers grow through results, relationships and traits rather than credentials. Become someone worth choosing and make your work visible.
Be excellent where you are, ask what is holding you back, take on one stretch, and tell people what you want. Become someone worth choosing.
You Are Capable
of More.
Ten principles for becoming the person you know you are capable of being, built from real stories of people who doubted themselves and did it anyway. Winner of the How-To category at the 2026 Paris Book Festival.
When I’ve got something worth sending.
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Sometimes that’s twice in a month. Sometimes it’s not for a while.