Getting started again can be challenging, but fortunately, once you get started, the benefits make it easier to keep going and most people quickly gain momentum. Any tiny improvement will make it easier for you to continue.

Write down the things you feel you need to do to get your life in a better place, particularly the things that bother you and that you are avoiding. Writing them down is like emptying your pockets: you don't have to hold them in your head anymore. If any items on your list are huge, break them down into steps, and that will make it easier to deal with them when you are ready to begin.

You will know when the time is right to begin. For most people this will be either when you get sick of being stuck, or when something happens to force a change.

If you wish, you can even begin right now, this minute. Look over your list and find something you can do or start on now. For instance, many people feel overwhelmed by applications, legal papers, taxes, financial records or bills. Find some small way you can make progress. Perhaps a start would be to gather the papers you will need in one place where you can work on them. Or perhaps you can fill in your name and address at the top of an application.

Often once you do the smallest, safest amount, your anxiety diminishes and it is easier to continue. If you do only one very small thing, you have begun. If you do one small thing every day, you are no longer stuck.