One of the biggest lessons that we aren’t taught in our lives in how to get up once you’ve been knocked down. This can also be known as being in a rut. For me, one of the most frustrating parts of this is that when people get into a rut, if they don’t know how to get out, they can stay in that rut for not only days and months, but years! That is why I want to share with you one thing you must to get yourself out of a rut which works every single time.
Recently, I experience exactly that. I was in my usual stride, productive and doing. However, what I didn’t realise was that my quality of creativity was slipped. I felt as if I was forcing my content. This was going on for a few weeks and I felt that something wasn’t quite right, so I did what I do regularly. I stopped, re-evaluated and realised what the problem was. I was in a creativity rut. So my response was to do something different and take a short break from physically creating and focus on brainstorming to spark my creative thought again. And guess what, it worked! I felt as if I was in a better place that I was before!
It’s important to understand that ruts are natural. Every single person experiences them. Take for example football players, they can be in good form or bad form. Good for is when everything seems to be going right, they’re in full flow, making things happen and scoring goals. Then suddenly they hit a patch of bad form (or a rut), where they make wayward passes and struggle to hit the target.
What’s more important is not that they’re in bad form, but how they react to that. When the player decides to change something is allows them to rediscover their form, and often it’s just by going back to basics. That’s why the phrase is:
Form is temporary, class is permanent.
So that’s here’s the tool for you. If you ever find yourself in a rut, do the following steps:
- Stop
- Evaluate why you feel in a rut
- Identify the one big thing you feel is causing the rut
- Change what you’re doing. Literally, do something different.
The biggest way to make a change is to take action where the most effective method is physical action. Our body and mind are connected and when the mind struggles, our bodies are designed to change the way the mind behaves, simply by doing something. That’s why when you’re in a rut, by physically changing your situation. Just so it hits home, here are some real examples:
- If you’re struggling with creativity, take a break
- If you’re plateauing in the gym, change your workout
- If you’re struggling to progress in an activity (sports/ drawing/ writing), go back to basics
- If you’re struggling to increase your income, learn and apply a new skill
- If you feel like you have too much going on, stop and go back to doing one thing at a time
- If you’re feeling like your environment is overwhelming, physically change it by de-cluttering or moving to a different environment
The list goes on and on. The above is an example of the first core area of a leader which is critical in leadership and life; this is an example of Adaptability. Adaptability comes in four steps and once you master it, you’ll be able to make the best out of any situation. If you’re struggling with a suggest feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll respond with how I’d react to the situation, also I’d love for you to learn my A.R.E Leadership Model which teaches you the incredibly simple steps to behaving like a leader and changing your situation. Grab a copy by clicking the image below.
So there you have it. A fool proof way to get out of a rut in one step. I hope this helps, JT
