The Seven of Pentacles is also known as the Lord of Success Unfulfilled and is aligned with Saturn in Libra. It represents restriction and frustration, fear of failing, and facing and overcoming obstacles.
A crossroads has been reached after much hard work and now you need to summon even more effort to get to the next level, or change tack entirely.
Is it worth continuing on this project since the work has been hard and sometimes has taken a long time (if ever) to see any results, or should you pursue something entirely new with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and hope?
There is such a level of uncertainty that your fears are freezing you in your tracks, and so even though you have two options (at least) to consider, you are only focusing on the negatives in both options and so are unable to take any action that you believe will help.
The key to managing this situation and the answer that this card delivers is to persist with patience and not give ways to fears of failure or loss. Often when a seed is planted there is much preparation and then the waiting to see the results.
If you lose hope too early and cease to put in the care and attention needed then the seed will not live up to its potential, and nor will your project reach fruition - both the seed and the project will wither and die before they begin.
Look for patterns in your behaviour that causes you to lose hope and give up too early - if you do go on to something new the likelihood that history will repeat itself is high. Write down everywhere in your life that the worst will happen - list them all down.
On the flip side write down each thing's polar opposite and start affirming these to create a better frame of mind and ultimately, a better result.
Since you create your whole life from your thoughts, why not choose better thoughts?
Image from "Tarot of the Dream Enchantress" © Lo Scarabeo, 2009