We’ve all been stuck in a rut. After 2016 served up unlimited blows, here’s a little how-to and a nudge to get yourself going again.
Through my 22 (albeit that’s not very many) years of experience, I’ve learned two truths which prevail every single time: first, I believe that life is a balancing act of ups and downs. This means that while good times don’t last forever, neither do bad times. Things are always changing and moving, so to remain permanently in any state of being is impossible. Secondly, you receive exactly what you put out. It’s that simple. Like the laws of nature, I’ve found these two “life laws” to prevail every single time.
But what happens when you hit a low-point that seems like it will go on forever? What happens when all you can do is focus on the negative, which in turn pulls in more negative?
Sometimes an old familiar saying can take on a relevance that wasn’t there before: When life gives you lemons - make lemonade. At the end of the day, the only person who can control how you feel and pull yourself out of a rut is you. So why not get started now with these very simple brain-rewiring tricks.
1. Gratitude
Life is either shitty or awesome, and the only thing that determines which of the two is true for your life is your own perception.
You can change your perspective in about two minutes by truly feeling grateful (and not just saying “I’m grateful,” but really feeling it) for what you have going for you. You will feel at least 100 times better, I promise. When you wake up every morning and count your blessings instead of focusing on what you lack, life seems relatively not that bad.
2. Positive Speaking
If you sit with your thoughts for a minute, you will probably hear yourself saying things like “I don’t want to be late,” or “I don’t want to get fat,” “I don’t want to be broke,” and the list goes on. You can change the way you tackle problems, and the way you feel by changing one simple word. Instead of “don’t” focus on what you do want. Say “I want to be on time,” “I want to remain healthy and in good shape,” and “I want to have plenty of money to spend.” This way, you can focus on what you do want, and it becomes much easier to make plans to achieve those goals. When you focus all your energy this way, not only will you be more likely to have what you want but you won’t have to worry about what you don’t want, because it won’t be a part of your reality anymore.
3. No Gossiping
This step might be the hardest of all. Disparaging other people has become a part of our everyday life, and it feels as natural to most of us as breathing. When a rude customer comes into work, your first instinct is to shit-talk them with your co-worker and maybe throw in a comment on their unflattering yellow shirt for an extra “f you.” You sure showed them, right? Wrong.
It might feel like a temporary relief to fight fire with fire, but it definitely does nothing to improve your situation. Someone did wrong by you? Guess what, it happens all the time to everyone. But what are you going to do about it? Are you going to take the situation for what it is and choose to stop giving it your attention, or are you going to spend the next 4 hours thinking about it, talking about it, and let it send your entire day on a downward spiral?
The law of “you get what you give” indicates that the more you focus on the negative in other people, the more that negativity will dominate you.
4. Have A Sense Of Humour
Know when to laugh at yourself. This just makes everything in life more fun, no questions asked. Getting out of a rut and rewiring your brain to think positively is like house-training a puppy. Every time it pees on the floor, you have to pick it up, bring it outside and gently remind it that this is where it should go to the bathroom. It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you make these small changes into a habit eventually you will see a difference. And don’t beat yourself up if you accidentally pee on the carpet once in awhile, as long as you’re trying your best no one’s going to fault you, because you are on your way to change!
What do you do to help you get out of a rut?
