Escaping the Rut

Do you sometimes feel like you are stuck in a rut, one that seems to get deeper every day? You are in good company, because it happens to all of us, at one time or another. Today let’s talk about something we can do to help ourselves climb up and out.

If you feel you are feeling stuck these days, as if you’ve run out of gas and are stranded in a place you don’t want to be, you need to get some traction. One way to get yourself moving again is to create your own challenge.

Now, if you’re wondering “Why in the world do I need another challenge, when I haven’t been able to solve the problems at hand,” it’s because creating your own challenge is different from having one thrown at you. Creating your own can give you the opportunity to purposely test yourself in new situations, and then return to the old problems with renewed vitality, vigor, strength and greater confidence in your ability to succeed.

By creating a challenge, you set the limits of the test, based only on your own estimation of your ability to get it done. The risks you’ll be taking are self-determined, so the challenges you create are completely different than those that have come to you unbidden. They become touchstones of growth, a proving ground for inner potential, a reminder to you that you are competent. It will be a great boost to your self-efficacy – your belief in your ability to make things happen.

Feeling stuck doesn’t just happen to us as individuals. Families feel stuck. Teams feel stuck. Departments feel stuck. Entire organizations feel stuck. The key here is to not focus on the “stuck-ness” but on the goal beyond the current rut. Get some distance from “the stuck” and work on building the attitude, the mindset if you will, of accomplishment.

Choose a challenge that has meaning to you, not just to those around you. Make it something that you really believe you can pull off. Tackle it with all the energy and resources you have, to make sure you succeed. Then, when you do, use that success to catapult yourself out of that rut and on to bigger things – and smoother roads!