Are you in a rut

I heard this little saying this past weekend.  What a rut really is.  Pretty funny and true.  A rut is just a grave without the dirt kicked in.  Anyone who has been off-road in a vehicle knows exactly what a rut looks like.  If it is wet and muddy you cant get your car out of it.  If it is solid and dry, your car is guided by it and it is hard to get out of it.

So how do you get out of rut.  I guess it is different for everybody.  But here are a few things that I have started doing that has slowly gotten me of ruts before and is getting me out of ruts now.

All motivation begins with inspiration. And inspiration usually begins with some kind of further education and experience.  Maybe you had a chance to see a new venture. Or someone came along and showed you a way you could make some additional money.  Or maybe someone showed you how you can actually lose that 15 pounds you have been talking about for three years.  Whatever it is, getting out of rut usually begins with some kind of inspiration which comes from some further education.

Be willing to take new risks.  This is a topic I like to write about, but for the most part I have lived a pretty risk free life myself.  I have taken a few big risks at times, some I thought I lost, but I actually won, and some I just lost.  So I guess my advice here is to be willing to take some calculated risks.  That is where my risk meter kind of stays, the calculated risk point on the meter.  However, as I continue this journey my confidence continues to grow and my calculated risk meter continues to gain momentum.

Walk away from everything and everybody that is keeping you in the rut.  If you were talking about this or that a year ago and you are still talking about it, it may be time to move on and get around some people who inspire you to take action.  This goes back to your associations.  You are who you spend most of your time with.  You are what you spend your time thinking and talking about.  So to get out of that rut get around some people who inspire you to think outside the rut.

Make some goals and write them down.  This is where all motivation and inspiration begins really in my opinion.  I am coaching a few clients on goal setting and goal developing as we speak (BTW: I am doing this as well) and the things that they are accomplishing and I am accomplishing are just truly amazing.

So are you stuck in a rut?  The key is to take action, do something different.  I would love to hear from you on what you are doing to get out of the rut.

Brian Willett