9 Subtle Signs That Indicate You’re Stuck in a Rut, And How to Get Out of It

Many things in life happen without a reason. One moment, you are living your life normally – waking up, preparing lunch, leaving for work and coming back, doing your chores and going off to bed – and in the very next moment, you find yourself losing the motivation to do it all anymore. You feel anxious thinking why you have to go through all this hustle and you start looking for the reasons to keep going in life.

You feel stuck wondering why this has been happening to you. Maybe the atmosphere around you needs a change, maybe it’s the people around who are making you feel so or maybe it’s your daily routine that has turned monotonous and demands some change. There can be many reasons for why you’re feeling stuck and it can be quite recurring. Modern day life is more complicated than you think but all you need to know at the moment is that being stuck in a rut is a feeling that even the best of us experience. All of us need a push to keep going ahead and there’s nothing wrong in looking for some motivation every now and then.

Your mind and body will show you a number of signs that will help you identify whether you’re stuck in a rut. It’s important to pay attention to these signs to be able to pull yourself out of slump:

1. You start withdrawing from your social life and daily activities: You are always looking for excuses to avoid going to the girls’ night that once used to make you jump with excitement. You look for ways to escape conversations and you are trying to withdraw participation from the hobbies that were until yesterday a necessary part of your life.

2. You have stopped getting excited about anything: You have stopped looking forward to the next day and are simply carrying on because you’re supposed to. Nothing excites you no matter how long you have been waiting for it to happen.

3. You keep dwelling in the past: You keep thinking about your past and what you could have done to make it better. You don’t feel like yourself and you are always engaged in some wishful thinking about how you would have wanted your life to be.

4. You’re living in a parallel world which is not at all related to reality: You think about the things that are far from reality and you start imagining them to be real. You simply feel detached from the real world and you have stopped associating yourself with your normal life.

5. You have stopped prioritizing your health: You are falling ill more often and you have stopped taking care of your body. You have been skipping your meals and have stopped going for your routine morning walk.

6. You feel bored all the time: Every little thing makes you feel bored of it. You get bored watching movies, talking to people and even while carrying out your daily activities. You start feeling that there’s nothing exciting about what you have been doing but you are still doing it because you have to.

7. You have stopped seeing a purpose in anything that you do: You keep looking for the answers to your ‘Why’s’ and you are trying to find a purpose behind everything that you are doing. Why is it that you have been working? Why are you waking up in the morning? You are now looking for a purpose behind the things that have always been normal to your life.

8. You don’t feel the drive: You no longer feel motivated to get out of the bed in the morning. You just feel like completing the tasks on time without really having the zeal to do it. Even the new opportunities that are coming your way don’t motivate you to give it your best.

9. You keep complaining about everything: You feel annoyed over every little thing and you are always complaining about everything. It’s become a habit that you can’t seem to get rid of.

How To Get Out Of A Rut

Before going ahead, you must realize that you’re in charge of your own life and you possess all the tools that can help you get unstuck. Once you’ve recognized the signs of being in a rut, it’s important that you start working on it as early as possible. Here are some of the most useful steps you can take to get out of a rut:

1. Accept that you are stuck: Acceptance is the key to all your problems. Don’t just sit about thinking everything is fine and that your mind is only making things up. Spend time with yourself to learn about what has been going inside your mind. Acknowledge the fact that you are stuck and you have it in you to get out of the rut to live your best life. Tell yourself that you deserve to be happy and if there’s anyone who can help you to get unstuck, it’s you.

You must also understand that you are not the only one experiencing it and that this happens to the best of us. Rather than thinking of it as something abnormal or scary, think of it as a normal phase of life.

2. Start with a lot of self-care: A healthy body paves way for a healthy mind. Taking care of your body is the first and foremost step that you need to take in order to get out of the rut.

Drink a lot of water to keep yourself hydrated and for your body to function properly. No matter how busy you are at the moment, eat your meals on time and eat healthy. Create a morning routine to start your day right and don’t forget to include some self-care activities (morning walk or yoga) into it. Take a shower and pamper your skin to keep it healthy and happy. Here’s a detailed post on how you can take care of yourself in a budget friendly way.

3. Take Baby Steps: Start small. We are all different from each other and what helps someone else may not help you. Stick to who you are rather than trying to imitate what your friend did to get out of a rut.

Recognize the reason why you are feeling stuck and what is it that might help you get out of it. Is it that you never seem to have time for yourself? Or do you find every task so difficult that you lose the motivation to do it before even starting? Do you keep questioning your self-worth?  

Introduce small changes in how you go about your day – Try helping someone in need, interact with someone new at your workplace, pick a new hobby or simply take a break to spend a day out in the city. Don’t expect it to be all fine within a day but if you are taking baby steps, you will start noticing changes in yourself.

4. Look for a change in environment: It’s easy to feel stuck when you have been living in a certain kind of an environment for quite some time now. Won’t you get bored if you will have to eat pasta for the rest of your life? Sometimes, even a change as small as shifting your desk to a different corner of the house can make you feel refreshed and energized.

You can reorganize your living space or shift to a different room to introduce some change in the environment. You might even want to look for a different hangout spot to experience a shift from your atmosphere.

5. Get back your lost confidence: A period of slump can leave you with lowered self-confidence which may require a boost. Look for ways that can help you gain back your confidence. Look your best when you step out of the house and join your friends and co-workers to the parties.

Step out of your comfort zone and try something different. Try an adventure sport, take up a new challenge at work or switch your wardrobe a bit to make way for different styles of clothes. 

6. Try positive affirmations: In order to get unstuck, you need to constantly remind yourself that life is so much better than you think. In a mind full of negative thoughts, affirmations can help you see things in a positive light. Read more and more of these affirmations every day in order to feel motivated and to keep going with a positive mindset. Here a few of my favorite affirmations that I’m sure will motivate you too:

  • I am resilient and can get through anything
  • Good things are still to come
  • I love and accept myself
  • Today is going to be a great day
  • I am brave, I am bold, I am strong
  • I have the power to change my story

7. Think of everything that’s going right for you: Thinking of all things positive is one very useful mindset trick to acknowledge the fact that not everything in life is going against you. Enlist the things that are going right for you and gain motivation from them to pull yourself out of slump.

8. Get through the day: The one thing I tell myself when I am going through a rough patch is to just ‘get through the day’.  No matter how demotivated you feel, tell yourself not to stop. The fact that you have it in you to keep going is often the biggest motivation that you might need to get out of the funk.

What do you do get out of a rut? What are your go-to positive affirmations? If there’s anything you would like to say or ask, you can drop in a comment below or write me at richi@askmisswhimsical.com. I love hearing from you.

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