Spending more time at home, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. Ashley Stahl understands. At the same time, the counterterrorism professional and career coach refuses to accept excuses.

She set off as an entrepreneur at age 23 and follows these principles:

• Success takes work, but it doesn’t have to be hard or painful.
• Growing a business is easy when you follow a proven step-by-step system.
• You can hit the six-figure mark within your first year if you’re focused and clear on your steps.
• You don’t need to post on social media or spend money on advertising to get clients.
• You don’t need to sign up for more certification programs.

Not only has success reinforced her determination, Stahl has written an entrepreneurial tell-all book, “You Turn: Get Unstuck, Discover Your Direction, Design Your Dream Career.”

“Ashley provides so much personal wisdom and professional takeaways in the 11-step road map that she has shared with thousands of coaching clients to help in self-discovery and find success,” said Chelsea Krost, who is also a successful millennial entrepreneur, renown as a speaker and LinkedIn instructor.

She and Stahl talked during Krost’s #MillennialTalk Twitter chat about how to get unstuck and jumpstart your brand and business career.

To begin without getting overwhelmed, force yourself to be patient. The drive to get back to normal has to be tempered with avoiding unnecessary mistakes along the way.

Interest doesn’t equal success

“Focus on your best skill set and not just on what industry you want to possibly be in or passions you have,” Stahl said. “An interest in something doesn’t guarantee a successful career in it.

“There are two dynamics in our careers: the what — the skill set we’re using — versus the how — how our job looks, what environment we’re in,” she said. “The how has a lot to do with knowing your non-negotiable core values.”

Krost said everyone has to acknowledge being part of a year that no one could have ever prepared for.

“We are charged with the mental task to view what we went through as an opportunity to reboot,” she said. “‘You Turn,’ and come back stronger.”

Many people have developed new core skills as they’ve gone along, finding others who also have found their skills to link up in new online communities.

“According to research, other people sometimes recognize our best skills better than we do,” Stahl said. “Ask friends, colleagues and family members, ‘When have you seen me at my best?’

“When you collect feedback — I like to text it to people so I can read the replies and mentally process them — notice what skill set you seem to be using when people think you’re shining,” she said.

That might well be innate talent emerging.

“Your core skill set is something that comes naturally to you,” Krost said. “It’s that X-factor that people compliment you on. It’s that thing that you excel at while feeling motivated to do it.”

Grief versus greatness

Life is guaranteed to have grief along the way, but greatness has to be earned. It’s not so much waiting for grief to be great, but being ready to jump on opportunities so you don’t look back in grief later.

“There is so much wisdom we can find at rock bottom,”Stahl said. “I wish it on no one because it hurts to be there, but if you look back in time, ask yourself: How did I become better because of my last rock bottom or crisis?

“One thing I write about a lot in my book is the lessons and failures from starting my first business and getting success ‘too early,’” she said. “There were lessons at my rock bottom I had to learn to create sustainable and aligned success later on.”

That is the point where people are most vulnerable to getting stuck.

“There is such a fine line between feeling something and indulging in it to the point where you’re not moving forward in any way at all,” Stahl said.

Krost took the point deeper.

“Grief and greatness can go hand in hand if we treat grief-failure-hardship as a breakdown for a breakthrough,” she said. “Each challenge always provides a learning opportunity or silver lining. It’s our choice to learn from it.”

Stahl and Krost also talked about the importance of networking, interviews and personal brands in the rest of their conversation.