Get Out of Your Rut!
Be Intentional
Sometimes when I run I don’t have a specific intention. There’s something about having a goal attached, but when I don’t, it seems like I get caught in a rut. There are times that my workouts just become a habit, something I do, without purpose. It’s a daily discipline I’ve created, but there’s no purpose behind it. I’m running the same pace, the same mileage, and the same route day after day, but I don’t really know why I am doing it. That’s a rut — and that’s a problem.
Are you stuck in a rut? The definition of a rut is “a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change.” It’s something that we do on a daily basis that has become a normal but isn’t moving us forward. Sometimes it’s something we thought was beneficial, but even good habits can become a rut if we remain the same and don’t make progress.
How to Know if You’re in a Rut
Here are some questions I have for you. A mini quiz if you will. See if any of these resonate with you, and I want you to answer them honestly:
- Do you stand in the same spot at your fitness class every week?
- Do you sit in the same spot at church every week?
- Do you park in the same spot at work every day?
- Do you eat the same exact breakfast or lunch, prepared the same way, every day?
- Do you find yourself mindlessly checking your phone every spare moment?
- Have you lost motivation or feel unfulfilled in your day to day tasks?
- Does every day feel the same?
If you said yes to any of these things, that’s a rut! Life should be exciting. Every day should be a new day with new experiences and new growing opportunities. We should wake up feeling alive, not dreading getting out from the covers.
So think about what it is that you do without even thinking about it. Is it beneficial? Is it moving you forward? Is it creating a passion inside of you? To get out of the rut you’re in, you’ve got to shake things up. Change your routine just a little bit, and you’ll be amazed at how it can change everything!
Successful people acknowledge the rut when they see it and shake things up to get out of it.
Even our daily disciplines can become a rut if we don’t grow or change from them. If reading fifteen minutes has become easy and is now just a checkmark that you did it, change it up! Increase it. Start reading 30 minutes a day.
If you’ve been reading but not applying what you’re reading, start there. Reading doesn’t change you. Applying what you read is what makes the difference. Don’t let your disciplines just become a routine or just become a habit. They have to be intentional if you want results.
Shake It Up
Maybe you need to try something different. Learn something new. Do something for the first time. Take a walk and reflect on life. Fresh air does a soul good!
Did you answer yes to sitting in the same spot at church or standing in the same spot in your fitness class? Here’s the thing, if you sit in a different spot, you have a different view, a different vantage point. A different view means you can see things in a new way!
I’m a fitness instructor, so I see it all the time. Members get fairly annoyed when someone takes their specific spot or bike or equipment. Many times I make them move around the room for that very reason. I want to shake them up a bit! If you’re in a different spot in your fitness class, you’re surrounded by different people, and you have a new atmosphere!
If you sit in a new spot at church, you may interact with someone you haven’t met yet, and it could bless either you or the other person! You may see this in a whole new way!
Successful people are intentional people. They do things on purpose and for a purpose, and they get what they can out of each moment. People who are successful acknowledge the rut when they see it and shake things up to get out of it. They don’t choose to remain there. Successful people to whatever they need to do to get out of their rut.
Without mental transformation, the actions we take to “change” may only produce a new place where we continue to do our old things. — Myles Munroe
Final Stretch
So what rut are you in today? What are you needing to change up? Choose one thing this week to change up and see what happens! I’d love to know what that one thing you choose is, whether it’s trying something new, sitting in a new spot, parking on the other side, or whatever it is you come up with. Comment below, and let’s build each other up! I want to know what differences you see by the end of the week just in the one minor change you made. I bet you’ll find it’s easier to get out of your rut than you thought!
Choose today to shake things up and get out of your rut!
Remember, you are a winner. Just run YOUR race!
