If you are feeling a little bit stuck in life, you need to be proactive to find ways how to get out of a rut.
It’s all too easy to have a defeatist attitude and wallow in your own misery. You may feel unchallenged, bored and forced to meet unrealistic targets at work.
You may hate your boss who is overbearing and bullying. And you may have no friends in the office at all.
Don’t just bury your head in the sand and dread going into work every morning. This gets you nowhere, your mental health will suffer and you will find yourself feeling more stressed, anxious and depressed.
You need to be proactive and do something about your situation.
How to Get Out of a Rut
Being stuck in a rut doesn’t necessarily have to be job-related (although it often is). Sometimes, as we grow older, we can begin to question our life choices, where we are, and how we view our future.
That can leave us with regrets or worries. Instead of letting these get on top of you, you need to be proactive and work towards a more positive frame of mind.
You’ll now see some ways that could see you emerge from your rut stronger and happier. Here’s how to get out of a rut:
1. Get a New Job
While easier said than done, it makes sense that a professional rut would be cleared if you secured a new role.
Think about what it is that you want to do next. For many people it is a clear promotion, and a scaling up of the career ladder.
If you are in a middle management position, consider enrolling on an MBA to enhance your resume and skill set. If you work in the legal profession, why not do some of the online courses offered by Hofstra University to help you to secure your next position.
Upskilling is vital if you are to secure a new role. You might want to go on a soft skills based course to help you improve your communication, oral presentation or leadership skills.
By showing any new potential employer that you are willing to invest in yourself, you are demonstrating your commitment to your continuing professional development.
Ensure that your applications for new roles are specific and don’t use any online generic templates.
If you want to find a way how to get out of a rut, you need to hone your application letter so that it is addressed to a named individual. Make sure that you talk about what you can bring to the company that you are applying for, not what they can do for you.
Be enthusiastic, use a formal tone, but be specific in your experiential examples. If you are invited to an interview, get yourself suited and booted, and don’t forget to smile every so often.
Answer questions concisely, harness your nerves and impress. You may face rejection, which can be tough to take, but keep persevering.
Eventually, you will find yourself a better and more fulfilling role to get you out of that rut.
2. Be Your Own Boss
If you fancy veering away from your current career, why not do something totally new to earn a living.
Leaving a full-time job, a healthy wage and sound career prospects can be ridiculously difficult. You may feel worried and nervous about leaving something comfortable for something more unpredictable.
However, you can use your common sense, your contacts and your networking skills to plan an escape route.
Consider the sorts of clients that you may be able to take with you. If you are planning to become a freelancer but within your current field, this could be easy.
If you are more keen to do something radically different this may be trickier. Swapping accountancy for cake making or change management for jewelry design may mean breaking into a new industry by starting a side hustle in the first instance.
A side hustle allows you to dip your toe in the self-employment waters before making a full commitment. You still receive a healthy salary and you can do something that you are passionate about.
Baking in the evening for a food festival at the weekend may leave you little time to do much else, but it can also ease your worries about your work.
If your side hustle takes off, you can then consider how best to transition from a full-time employee to an entrepreneur. That’s a fantastic way how to get out of a rut in life.
Starting a new venture means constructing a business plan. You need to detail how you will raise investment, look into your financial projections and know your gross from your net.
You can secure a professional loan form a bank or seek investment from business angels. Pitch your new and original ideas to investors and be enthusiastic. Be knowledgeable and enjoy talking through your plans.
Know where any potential investment will be going and prove that you understand your niche through thorough market research. With any luck, you will be able to secure investment, have a buoyant cash flow and become successful as a new entrepreneur.
3. Do Something New
Sometimes a change is as good as a rest. If you haven’t had a vacation in years and you feel chained to your desk at work, take some of the holiday that you are owed and embark on a new adventure.
It doesn’t matter whether this if for two weeks or two months, hot footing it overseas and having a new sort of challenge to tackle can be thrilling. This shock to the system will inevitably get you out of your rut and leave you returning to your job reinvigorated. That’s also how to get out of a rut.
Getting away from a stressful situation can also help give you some perspective. Don’t live to work and instead, work to live.
Life has so much more to offer than a laptop, some clients and a salary.
Why not consider trekking the Inca Trail in Peru, hot footing it to Thailand to backpack, or venturing to Japan for a Far East adventure. The possibilities are endless and you could broaden your horizons by immersing yourself in new cultures and meeting new people.
If travel is a little out of the question at the moment, why not think about the free time that you do have and do something new with it.
If you have always fancied learning a new language, get yourself enrolled in a beginner’s Japanese evening course. If you want to have a go at a martial art, see what the local judo dojo has to offer. And if you fancy a cake decorating course, see what tuition is on offer.
Being in a rut is no fun, but it can be easy to languish there. Take the bull by the horns and launch yourself out of that rut by following this guide.