Fed up of the whole “new year, new you” mantra? You’re probably not alone. While the turning of a new year is packaged as the perfect time in which to start anew, you might not always have the means to reinvent yourself each January, emotionally or otherwise. Getting stuck in a rut is a more common side effect of modern life than you might have realized and despite the fact that the media is telling us that now is the time in which to start afresh, many of us might simply not feel up to it. When the pressure to change gets too much, the natural response is to run and hide.
It’s all a matter of perspective. Feeling forced into changing your lifestyle can lead you to make any number of bad decisions and along the way, you can end up feeling a whole lot more lost. The trick is not to panic. If you slowly pinpoint areas in your life that could do with an overhaul, you’re more likely to make the kinds of changes that are really going to alter your life for the better. These everyday tweaks can help you to get back on track, making it easier for you to carve out the kind of life that you really envisioned for yourself.
Get Honest With Yourself
Making changes just for the sake of it is only going to end in disappointment. To get to where you really want to be in your life, you’re going to have to have a serious conversation with yourself to get to the root of the problem. While you might feel tempted to alter certain parts of your lifestyle, is doing so really going to make you feel better? Try and get to the heart of the problem and really listen to what’s driving you. Doing so will change your life for the better in more ways than one.
Give Up Your Complaining
Ruts are not forever and viewing them as so is only going to make the situation feel all the worse for you. Complaining about the fact that your life is at a stand still is going to slow down any progression you could be making, stopping you from taking a positive step forwards. Rather than dwelling on your complaints, try taking all of that negative energy and seeing how you might change it into something productive. Changing your perspective can give you a whole new understanding of your surroundings, making it easier for you to know what you need to do to get going once more.
Take Back Your Power
Feeling like the world is using you as its punching bag is never a good thing. When your life fails to move forwards in the ways that you had envisioned, you can feel incredibly powerless, unable to take a step towards finding a positive solution. While you might feel like you’re a passive piece of the puzzle, the power to change your life is entirely in your hands. Instead of trying to tackle everything you want to change at once, try focusing on one element of your life and seeing how you might tweak it for the better. Taking baby steps towards a goal will give you the confidence to take back control once and for all.
Look Forwards
When it comes to getting yourself out of a rut, the key is in the future. Focusing too much either on the present or on the recent past will only leave you feeling powerless and unmotivated to make any real changes. If you want to really stop focusing on past mistakes, you need to keep your eye on the future. Instead of looking what might have gone wrong before, opt to search for solutions to your current situation. The future is something upon which you can really have a positive effect, so make sure you seize it by both hands.
Stop Looking Over Your Shoulder
Try as we might, we can often find it impossible to stop comparing ourselves with those around us. Looking at the progress that other people make can stop your motivation in its tracks, leaving you feeling seriously down in the dumps. People will only show you a fraction of their lives and behind the scenes, you have no idea what their day to day existence could be like. As much as you can, cut your focus on other people and keep your attention fixed on your here and now. Getting out of your rut starts with you alone.