2 Simple Strategies to Use When You Feel Stuck

I am sure we have all been there. Seemingly out of nowhere, your mood feels like it's shifted, but not in a good way. You might feel easily irritated, down, fed-up. Days and moments like this are a normal part of the flow of being a human.

But, what happens when you have a few days like this in a row? And, then you start feeling stuck. When we’re in a rut, feel stuck, fed-up, or bored, we don’t want things to feel that way, but oftentimes we don’t know what to do to change.

And, that’s the problem: when you’re in a rut, you usually don’t have the energy or motivation to change things for the better, and it’s tough to find the insight or resources you need to make that jump.

So here are two fun and simple strategies you can use to climb -- or better yet -- leap out of the rut and start creating a better day for yourself so you can get unstuck. 

1. Do Something Differently 

Life tends to run smoothly when we establish systems and routines for things, but the problem comes when things run too smoothly and we become blinded to any ideas or choices that sit outside of our routine. All of the stuff we do every day becomes the norm, running on auto-pilot. 

So start with making one or two small, simple changes to your day - be it drinking out of a different type of mug at breakfast time, sitting somewhere different to eat your meal, choosing a different radio station or genre of music on your ride to work or the store, shaking up your gym routine, picking a new route to work, etc. Don’t get too wrapped up in worrying about what the changes are or whether they’re right or wrong. 

Doing something differently or changing parts of your routine, instantly takes you out of the norm. By stepping out of your routine, you "trick" your brain into seeing things a little bit differently and you’ll find yourself in a position where you’re able to make different choices and get a different result. 

One of my favorite ways to use this strategy is when I walk my dog. Luna and I walk around a small lake each day. When I feel myself get into a rut, we walk in the opposite direction and I break my subconscious programing. 

2. Use your Intuition

Your intuition is a powerful ally, and we all have the power to work with it even though you might not recognize it. One of the best friends you'll ever have in life is your intuition, and tuning into it and learning to trust it is something that can have some truly remarkable, positive impacts on your life.

Accessing your intuition is a bit like working and developing a muscle, but it can be harder to tune into and develop in comparison to your bicep or your quadricep muscles. So here are two quick tips for learning to access and trust your intuition:  
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• Practice maintaining an open-minded, playful, experimental, non-judgmental attitude. This is the most fertile ground to tap into your intuition.

• Practice making wild guesses in your everyday life. Guess what a salesperson's name is, what a new person or place will look like or who's calling on the phone. Don't worry about getting it wrong, you're just learning how to work that muscle. 

By doing something different in your routine and learning to tap into your intuition, you will notice your mood start to shift in a more positive direction and you will find yourself out of that rut in no time. 

The great news is that the more you use these two strategies, the more effective you will find them to be in the future.