How I Approach Getting Out of a Rut

I’ve been stuck for a few weeks.

The days are starting to blend together as the cool fall air rolls in and routines have a strong grasp on my consciousness.

Most of the plans I set for the year have come and gone. Successes and failures seem to have balanced themselves out.

Discontent starts to set in as I battle my internal struggle with wanting to make more significant positive changes in life against being present to enjoy what has been accomplished to this point.

“When we are stuck in a rut we are being invited to grow and expand.”

― Dana Arcuri, Reinventing You: Simple Steps to Transform Your Body, Mind, & Spirit

Getting Unstuck

My Approach:

Trust my gut: Stop ignoring or suppressing the feelings and accept them for what they are. Sometimes you don’t even realize you’re in a rut until you get the feeling you should do something different. By trying to avoid it, the problem lingers longer than needed.

Understand my comfort zone: Knowing where my responses are coming from will help with getting on the move. Realizing what aspects of these feelings stem from previous experiences that could go as far back as my childhood could shed more light on why these ruts arise.

Put my anxiety in perspective: Although something might seem extremely risky; it might not be. Taking a step back and analyzing my anxiety can reveal that the end results aren’t serious life-changing experiences.

Getting Real & Doing better. Taking an exam to get another professional certification, reading books about best practices, working on my book, and taking on harder projects are all ways I’ve been pushing myself to get better. Trying super-hard and seeing what happens helps with shifting my outlook.

Find someone who will tell me the truth: I’m starting to pay attention to the confronters more than my biggest fans. The feedback that is the most painful usually turns out to be what I needed to hear to get back into motion.

Acknowledging that I’m in a rut has been the most powerful step for me to start getting unstuck. Do you know when you’re in a rut?

How I Approach Getting Out of a Rut