I’m Stuck

So it’s been three plus weeks since my past writing. My Google reader has had nearly 2,000 undread alerts and my volume of tweets and Facebook posts has dropped. Call it a Social Media hiatus. Call it burnout. Call it whatever you wish. The simple fact is, I’m stuck.

Even more frustrating is the fact that I’m just a couple short weeks removed from the single greatest event I’ve ever been a part of in SOBCon 2010. My head was swimming with passion and inspiration but with no identification of the ideas in which they were to drive.

So what do you do when you’re stuck?? I’ve learned rather quickly, and by quicky I mean failed significantly, that the idea that insanity is represented by repeating the same thing over and over expecting different results is quite a truism. So I’m writing thought to keyboard, which is frightening. If you’re reading, I fear mainly for you.

I have also learned, however, that getting stuck is usually the predesessor to step taking. We go through life and our careers climbing an staircase to which there is no end. Each step is filled with uncertainty and often laced with fear. Like breaking through a ceiling, that next step has invisible barriers before you’re truly on top, assessing the new landscape.

Amongst this step taking I’ve been also struggling with understanding a marriage of confidence and caring. It might appear rudimentary, but the success I want needs both. However, I think often times the two are balanced with one give way to the other. The confident, driven individual who lets little get in the way of goals versus the pacifistic, caring individual who sacrifices his/her own ideals for others gain.

So smack me in the face, here comes SOBCon 2010. An event that exemplifies this proper marriage and emulates the very persona of one of its founders, Liz Strauss. I’ve been privy to conversations with Liz that have punched me in the gut with kindness, smacked me in the face with care and cut out my legs while raising me up. My weekend at SOBCon was no different. Surrounded by people who pump ideas and thoughts from a factory that daily changes the environment in which our livelihood and businesses survive, I was overwhelmed by 149 others who emulated this marriage to me. Was I wrong in assuming that ego and insensitivity was the dominant virtue in a model of success? In short – hell yes I was.

It’s all good to have a Kumbaya moment and have a proper ideal for character engrained in my being, but what does this do for my business? How does good feeling beget paying my bills? I understand it isn’t quite as black and white, but B2B, B2C, whatever you have, is always going to be Person2Person and nothing muddies that relationship better than overthinking each detail in a minutia pile of doubt and uncertainty. Now would be a good time to simply quit burying an identity in excuses. Time to quit the drivel. Time to quit defining it and BE IT.

If you lasted this long, you’re likely dizzied from incoherency. I apologize as this is really more for me than it is for you, it’s a needed therapy to get me un-stuck. I’m not going to scrutinize for a half hour over each word. I’m not going to spell check. I’m not even going to add a cute picture. Sometimes insanity needs to be killed with insanity.

1. 

   Lindsay Fultz says:

   May 18, 2010 at 11:46 am

   Get it out buddy. Blog posts like this are sometimes a necessity, a foundation for something great to come. I know what you are going through and I know you have a ton of crazy but brilliant thoughts and ideas bottled up inside. June 18th…Bring it.

   reply
2. 

   Jenise Fryatt says:

   May 18, 2010 at 1:59 pm

   What Lindsay said. AND – it’s good to stop editing yourself and let the creative juices flow.

   reply
3. 

   Eric Lukazewski says:

   May 18, 2010 at 2:43 pm

   @Lindsay & @Jenise – Thank you for listening and commenting. Your support is the little push I need.

   reply
4. 

   Jeff Hurt says:

   May 18, 2010 at 5:17 pm

   Consider yourself officially “unstuck” now! Your post oozed with sincerity, compassion, insight and bluntness.

   Now take some of that stuckness and create new stickness for future posts. You’ve got the goods, the talent and the skill.

   Go forth and post! Be reflective, be insightful, challenge the norm, tell it like it is, tell us when you don’t get it, and most importantly, give voice to your thoughts, emotions and insights.

   Mr. Unstuck, your voice matters and we need to hear it.

   reply
5. 

   Jeff Hurt says:

   May 18, 2010 at 5:19 pm

   PS…a cute picture of gum stuck to your shoe would have added some nice comic relief to this heart wrenching post. I hope you don’t stop posting images with your posts…they help us get it.

   reply
6. 

   Eric Lukazewski says:

   May 19, 2010 at 9:04 am

   @Jeff – Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. It’s a blessing to have comments like yours to help break through the monotony.

   I’ll be bringing back pictures for sure, and strive for a little substance next time . I had to blow up my thought process for a day.

   reply
7. 

   Traci Browne says:

   May 20, 2010 at 7:39 am

   Absolutely beautiful post Eric. I would argue with your last point though…about it being more for you than us…definitely for us as well.

   reply
8. 

   Eric Lukazewski says:

   May 20, 2010 at 9:47 am

   Thanks for commenting and for your kind words Traci! I’m glad you found something to take away!

   reply
9. 

   Pam Harman says:

   May 21, 2010 at 3:24 pm

   Wow ~ You are an inspiration Eric! It’s obvious that you wrote from “the heart” and that’s what you’ve been telling me blogging is all about. Now …. I just need to quit “thinking” about it and start “doing” it.

   reply
   • 

     Eric Lukazewski says:

     May 24, 2010 at 9:41 am

     Thanks Pam. I’d love to see you jump in a write! I know your experience and passion for the industry is a sure winner.

     reply