What do Ferris Bueller, Thomas Edison, and me staring at the scale like it just filed a motion to dismiss my happiness have in common?
They all hit the same moment: the thing worked… until it didn’t. Ferris could charm his way through one more “sick day” until the principal basically went full Terminator. Edison could crank out inventions, but even he had an absurd number of failures and stalls before the “win” showed up. And me? I can do “the plan” for weeks… until my weight loss hits that lovely flatline where the scale becomes a passive-aggressive roommate…or maybe an aggressive-aggressive one…
That stall is where your brain tries to turn this into a character flaw. But it’s normal. We just have to figure out how to get through it. You either know what’s wrong and aren’t doing it, or you don’t know why you stalled in your progress and have to figure out why. Both have a path forward that doesn’t require you to become a celery-eating monk on a mountain top for the rest of eternity.
The Shift: A stall isn’t a verdict. It’s a diagnosis.
A stall isn’t “you’re broken.” It’s “your current inputs are no longer producing the same outputs.” Which is annoying, but also useful, because it means you can troubleshoot it like a normal human instead of spiraling like Batman brooding in an alley. Instead, you just need to figure out the issue, fix it, and wait for the next problem to arise. Sort of like Whack-A-Mole, only at the end you win at life instead of just getting tickets for some small prize.
Proof It Works: The moment you stop guessing, you start winning again
Every time I’ve coached someone, or myself, through a stall, the breakthrough usually happens when we stop guessing and start focusing. For one PI firm I coach, the problem was their marketing. They were getting lots of leads but not converting enough of them.
So we dug deeper into the data and figured out that the platform they spent the most money on was sending the most leads, but they were the lowest quality ones. They cut the budget for that platform in half and split it between two other marketing channels. Suddenly, raw leads were down, but sign-ups almost doubled… and six months later, average case values were up too.
For me, getting back on track with weight loss is the goal. I know my issue is letting cheat day stretch into cheat weekend, so I am refocusing on a fun but diet-appropriate Friday night dinner and meal prepping on Sunday. This way, I can still enjoy Saturday, but the food is ready for the rest of the week, and I can get my weight dropping again. Like Gwen Stacy…but in a good way.
Practical Moves: The Flowchart (aka “Stop Guessing and Pick a Lane”)
START: What is my problem? Am I sure that is the problem?
Q1: Do I know how to solve this problem?
YES → Execution Problem
Q2: Why am I not doing that now? Friction: It’s too hard to do consistently Emotion: Stress or tiredness makes “future me” lose every argument
Perfectionism: “If I can’t do it perfectly, screw it” Environment: The kitchen, office, or staff meeting is basically the Death Star and I am Alderaan
Fix: Pick ONE lever for 7 to 14 days Meditate for 5 minutes before the tough meeting, OR
Remove one trigger food, OR Call one referral source a day and check back in, OR Contact one prior client and ask for advice
NO → Information Problem
Q2: How do I figure it out? Ask someone who has been through this before, OR Read a book or listen to a podcast on the subject, OR Track your efforts for 7 days, no drama, just data, OR
Keep everything else stable so you can actually diagnose
Fix: Repeat Question 1 and determine if you now know how to solve the problem
After 14 days: Did the trend move? YES: Keep going. You found the lever
NO: Adjust ONE more variable
Wrap: You’re not stuck. You’re either avoiding the fix or missing the data
If you know what’s wrong and you’re not doing it, that’s not you being weak. That’s you being human in a high-stress profession with a brain that wants comfort now.
If you don’t know what’s wrong, your job isn’t to find a new magical plan. It’s to run a one-week audit like you’re prepping for trial. Or speak to one person who might have the answer. Or start working with coach who might know (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Evidence first, conclusions second.
And unlike Ferris, you don’t need to fake sick forever. You just need to figure out ONE thing to change and then see if it solves the problem.
“Next week we’re going to go deep on the Tech Stack Graveyard.
Until then, think of your biggest current problem. Do you know how to solve it? If yes, why aren’t you doing that now? If no, how can you figure out how to solve it?