Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut? Want to give your life a kick in the butt so it gets up and starts moving ahead again? Try a few of the following techniques.
- Don’t Procrastinate
As soon as you have something important come up, such as having a bill arrive in the mail, take care of it immediately, as in don’t even wait until that night. Take care of it as soon as it “hits your desk”… you’ll get more done and have less stress due to having less stuff hanging over your head in the “pending” mental file. - Expand Your Network
A great way to break out of a rut is to go meet new people. New people can provide inspiration and/or motivation to get out of a rut, either by example (they are successful, possibly even successful at the same thing you want to do, or you really don’t want to end up where they are) or you might be motivated by a desire to impress this new person you have met. - Do Something New
Another great way to unstick yourself from that rut is to do something you’ve never done before. It can be a great stress relief, it can inspire you to do other new things (which, by itself, could be considered getting out of your rut), and it can just restore your motivation that you need to do what you need to do. - Re-Evaluate Your Goals
Look at the goals you have, especially the long term ones. Is it even something you still want? Letting go of a goal that no longer appeals to you can be a big weight off your shoulders. - Break Down Your Goals
Now that you only have goals that you still want to accomplish, write them down and break each of them into smaller goals that are more easily accomplished. Accomplishing a smaller goal on the way to your desired end goal provides a feeling of progress, a feeling of NOT being stuck in a rut, thus providing motivation to keep moving forward. - Find A Creative Outlet
Find a way to express your creativity… and don’t say “I’m not a creative person”. Everyone is a creative person, they just express it in different ways. Unused creativity builds up and puts pressure on you internally, increasing the feeling of being trapped, not going anywhere… or “stuck in a rut”. - Change Your Definition Of Success
People who feel they are currently successful seldom have a feeling of being stuck in a rut. Take advantage of this by changing your definition of success. Success doesn’t have to be measured by society’s standards… you can be successful by being a good person, by taking care of the people you care about, by producing creative output (see above item), or many other things. Don’t just stick with the default definition society gave you, choose your own.
So there you go… seven different things you can do to kick your life in the butt and get it moving. Get to work and stop being stuck in your rut.
