3 Tools to Get Out of a Rut and Into Your Zone

I currently feel like I’m experiencing a massive inner growth spurt.

I’m seeing things about myself that I would say are weaknesses.

I’m becoming aware of my own shortcomings.

Toward the end of the year naturally we get reflective, and so this month for me is creating space to reflect and allow insights to come for 2024.

For growth minded people like us, when we are gaining awareness of ourselves it can be difficult.

Life isn’t all roses and fairy tales.

We get thrown with curveballs.

We are dealt with setbacks.

We are chucked into the deep end.

What seems like a straight forward path is often a lengthy convoluted spiralling journey.

We see things about ourselves we don’t like

We see where we are falling short.

We sometimes judge ourselves.

For example, over the last two weeks I’ve felt a range of emotions…

For me, this is normal! I will talk about the importance of feeling like failure in another post but today I’ll share 3 tools I’ve used to get myself out of a rut over the last couple of weeks.

1. The 10 Year Reflection

It’s easy for us to look in the gap of where we are now to where we want to be. Naturally, we are masters at looking at our shortcomings and amateurs at reflecting on our progress.

It makes us feel small, not good enough, helpless and sometimes stuck. It’s an easy way for our mind to sabotage our progress and keep it in victim mode.

Being your own cheerleader is a superpower and being your own cheerleader can mean being a person you can rely on to get out of a funk.

One way I do this is what I call the 10 year reflection.

This can be as simple a reminder whilst you’re driving or a full blown journal exercise.

10 year reflection:

10 year younger version of you

Reflect on your growth:

Imagine what is possible in the next 10 years?!

As the saying goes, “we overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can achieve in 10 years.”

2. Contrast: Fuel for Desire

Getting ourselves in a funk and being in a rut is an excuse for not doing the thing we really know we can do. It keeps us feeling sorry for ourselves and it doesn’t feel good.

It’s easier to complain about areas of our lives rather than do the thing.

The times when I’m feeling like I’m in a rut I ask myself:

“Given what I don’t like about my situation, what do I want?”

Use these situations to fuel your desire.

All creation begins from a strong desire.

Or a few other questions you could ask are:

Sometimes we need to hit a bottom to then realise what we want.
Sometimes we need to feel so shitty that finally we take the action we need to feel internally alive.

I say internally alive because we are not talking about quick dopamine fixes.

We are talking about internal fire, aliveness, and alignment.

If it were not for these emotions, there would be limited desire for forward growth.

3. Gratitude: An Active Practice

Gratitude is the switch to get out of your own mind and plug into the flow of the universe.

It’s your gateway to happiness in any moment regardless of what is happening externally is appreciation.

It’s not something you do. It’s something you feel.

It’s also not something you do passively.

It’s as active as lifting weights at the gym.

It’s not something you do once you get that thing you want.
It’s something you do now, because it makes you feel internally alive.

For me, I practise this every morning when taking my dog for a walk. I practise it even more when I don’t feel like doing it.

As a byproduct of you feeling abundant, you naturally start attracting the external things you want. I’ve had this occur time and time again in my life – it’s an experiment I’d recommend with no downside.

But over time, you realise you don’t do it for the external things. You feel appreciation because what else is there in life than to be in control of your own state mind and happiness in any given moment?!

So, final tool: Active gratitude and appreciation.

What are the things in our life, right now, around you, that you can appreciate?

People in your life.

The food in your fridge.

The colour of the trees.
The books on your shelf.
Your health and energy.

Infinite things. Feel it.

Notice your energy change and your life in this moment, completely out of a rut and into the flow.

P.S. Want to support me in the Lead From Within movement to empower more people live a life closer to their inner greatness?

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