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Ever feel like you’re waiting on life to change—but nothing does? The truth is, nothing moves for you until you pair intention with action.

This issue? It’s about breaking the cycle of stuckness. The illusion of progress. The thinking trap. Waiting for the right time. The right sign. The right feeling. All of us at one stage or another experience the feeling of being stuck, hoping life will shift on its own.

This isn’t about hustle culture or grinding for the sake of motion. It’s about decisive intention and action.

Prefer a Listening Option? Check out one of the following options below: Spotify

Modern Compass Insight:

Intent and action tie back and manifest within the Trust direction of Modern Compass in a big way. To make moves and decisions in life, you need to feel you can trust yourself—with the choice, the outcome, and the unknowns. The outcome won’t always be a win, but even failure is forward. Why? Because you learn how to move better next time. Growth isn’t a clean clear path, it’s iterative.

The Problem – The Loop of Stagnation Can be Hard to Spot

Being stuck doesn’t always feel like being stuck. Sometimes it looks like planning, researching, getting “closer” to ready—all things that seem like progress. But the loop of stagnation is deceptive. It feels like movement, but nothing changes.

Some call it a comfort zone, but it’s not always a comforting place to be. That depends on the context of your loop. If you’re avoiding new challenges to grow, maybe that’s true. But if you’re struggling with financial hardship as one example—that’s not comfort, that’s pressure. And still, that requires action from you no less to get out of.

The Insight – Focus on One Recurring Drive Where You’ve Felt Stuck

Think of one thing you’ve been trying to get better at. Something that keeps resurfacing in your mind—maybe a skill, a project, paying off debt, or maybe a shift in mindset like trust, confidence, or connecting.

That recurring thought is trying to push you forward. But thought isn’t action. Thinking about it hasn’t moved the needle yet, only doing will.

The Plan - Back Intent with a Small Action

Pick one action that changes your relationship to that area. Not another article. Not more reflection. Something physical, visible, doable.

  • If it’s confidence: strike up one small conversation you’d usually avoid.
  • For self-trust, follow through on something you told yourself you’d do—even if no one’s watching. For developing trust in others: give someone a small chance to show up—share a thought, ask for input, or accept help.
  • If it’s connection: try one of these—reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, join a like-minded group, volunteer, or spend time with people outside your usual circle at least once over the next week.
  • If it’s learning: skip the research—try one rep, test one idea, start messy.
  • If you have anxiety that your brain tells you to stay in comfort, do one small action that seeks to understand that better or talk to your General Practitioner about it.
  • If it’s paying off debt, sit down and look where you can start cutting expenses or additional work.

Intent paired with action is the only way out of the loop. Even a misstep breaks the cycle.

Interactive Generative AI Activity

Want to sharpen your instinct for real progress?

This 5-minute ChatGPT activity will test your ability to tell the difference between planning and doing.

You’ll see 10 side hustle–related scenarios. For each one, decide: Is this intention or intent with action?

No feedback until the end. This is about building your radar for what actually moves the needle.

Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT on your phone or computer—it’s ready to run!

Run this; I want to run a short challenge to sharpen my instincts around taking real action. Present 10 side hustle–related scenarios, one at a time. Make sure there’s an even split: 5 are intention, 5 are action. For each, ask me: “Is this intention or action?” I’ll reply “Intention” or “Action” after each one. Do not tell me whether I’m right until the very end. After the 10th scenario, give me a summary that includes: a one-line explanation for each correct answer; a one-line explanation for each incorrect answer; a brief reflection on whether I’m good at spotting real action—or more prone to confusing preparation with progress. Then move into a personal reflection section. Ask me: “What’s one area of your life where you feel stuck or stalled right now?” (I’ll give a short answer.) After that, ask: “Is this intention or action?” Once I respond, tell me whether my judgment was accurate and briefly explain why. Then, suggest 3 ultra-simple next steps I could take right now to move forward. They should be tangible, doable in under 5 minutes, and focused on creating motion. Examples: send a message, open a doc and name it, write one sentence, schedule 15 minutes on my calendar. If you have any issues with the prompt, please reply to this email and let me know.

Alternative Quick Mental Activity

Not ready for AI? Here’s a fast activity that works just as well on your commute.

Two scenarios. Can you determine which is intent and which is intent with action?

Scenario A: You spend an hour designing a logo and comparing fonts—before deciding what you’re selling.

Scenario B: You message a friend offering to help them for free in exchange for a testimonial.

Which one includes intent with action? Which is just intent?

A=Intent B=Intent & Action

The difference? One makes you feel productive, and the other moves you forward.

Now ask yourself: What’s one small, imperfect action you can take today in any area of life (doesn’t have to be side hustle)—that gets you moving and out of your loop?

Your Compass in Action

  • Don’t aim for perfect. Aim for motion. Even the wrong action gets you out of the stagnation loop. Choose to fall forward vs staying stuck.

I’m eager to hear how this topic resonated, how the activity played out for you and any insights gained from it. Feel free to reply to this email or drop a comment on the browser version of this Newsletter.

Modern Compass Progress

I just finished the chapter on Informed Trust—the third layer within the Trust direction of Modern Compass. Now I’m diving into the final trust layer, and most difficult yet rewarding to have: Profound Trust.

Lately, writing took a minor backseat while I experimented with something unexpected—TikTok. I’ve never used it before Modern Compass, but some quick marketing research made one thing clear: my target audience for the book anyway is young adults (although as mentioned the content applies to any age group) and that audience is on TikTok. And it turns out, there’s a lot of science behind crafting a TikTok post that actually lands.

Want to learn how to grab attention in under 3 seconds? Try making TikToks about something you care about. It’ll teach you real quick what hooks, pacing, and structure actually work. The analytics available for each of your videos is astounding!

Why bring this up? Because it’s a textbook case of intent paired with action. I didn’t just research TikTok—I posted. Four videos so far. After tweaking my approach based on some research, my fourth video hit 300 views pretty quick (3x what the prior 3 had gotten). So I doubled down and threw $12 into a small test “view boost” ad (through TikTok)—and that video got just over 2,200 views, 325 likes, 39 bookmarks, and one newsletter subscription. Not game-changing, but it was motion. Imperfect, but real. Money well spent in my opinion! 😊

That’s the spirit of this issue: start messy, learn fast, and fall forward.

Stay Connected and Keep Exploring

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Planning feels productive. Researching feels like movement. Waiting for the “right time” feels rational.

But none of it breaks the cycle of being stuck.

I’ve watched countless people (including myself) spin in this loop - thinking about the same goals, the same changes, the same next steps - without ever taking them. The thoughts become familiar. Comfortable, even. And that’s exactly the trap.

Comfort zones aren’t always comfortable. Sometimes they’re zones of pressure disguised as safety.

Why We Stay Stuck

We’re waiting for something:

  • The right feeling
  • The right sign
  • The right circumstances
  • The right level of confidence

But here’s what I’ve learned: nothing moves for you until you pair intention with action.

Not perfect action. Not confident action. Just action.

When I tracked my own patterns of being stuck, I discovered I was spending hours consuming content about the changes I wanted to make - podcasts about productivity, articles about building habits, videos about starting projects.

Zero hours actually doing any of it.

The research felt like progress. But it was just another form of staying stuck.

The Framework: Intent + Action

Breaking out of stagnation doesn’t require a massive overhaul. It requires one small, concrete action in the direction of your intention.

Here’s how it works in real scenarios:

Stuck in low confidence? Start one uncomfortable conversation today.

Stuck in self-doubt? Follow through on one commitment to yourself, no matter how small.

Stuck in isolation? Reach out to one person you haven’t spoken with recently.

Stuck learning something new? Stop researching and try one practical attempt. Start messy.

Stuck in anxiety? Take one small step toward understanding it or seeking support.

Stuck in financial stress? Examine one expense you could reduce this week.

The specifics matter less than the movement. Even a misstep breaks the cycle.

Why Small Actions Work

Progress isn’t linear. It’s iterative.

Every small action:

  • Builds momentum where there was none
  • Creates data where there was only theory
  • Replaces planning with learning
  • Transforms intention into evidence

You don’t need to know the whole path. You just need to take the next step visible from where you’re standing.

What I’ve Learned About Getting Unstuck

The times I’ve felt most stuck weren’t about lacking information or readiness. They were about lacking movement.

When I swapped researching for doing - even imperfectly - everything changed:

  • Ideas became projects
  • Plans became experiments
  • Somedays became todays

The shift wasn’t about having more confidence. It was about moving despite the uncertainty.

Your Turn: Break One Cycle Today

Pick one area where you’ve been stuck. Not five. One.

What’s one small, concrete action you could take in the next 24 hours that pairs with your intention?

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be movement.

Ready to track your progress and build momentum? Join a growing list of engaged readers getting monthly personal growth insights, frameworks, and tools - including access to Impulse Wallet, my social accountability app designed to help you follow through on what matters.

Plus, get the TimeOS framework - a simple 5-step system for understanding where your time actually goes and redirecting it toward what moves you forward.

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Related reading:

Always… follow your compass.

- Josh