Inspired to Change

Feeling stuck in a Rut?

 

 

Feeling stuck in a rut?

How to get yourself back on track before the New Year!

Why do we do it? Why do we keep doing the same things and yet expect a different outcome? It doesn’t make sense does it? ‘Nothing changes if nothing changes’. It is as simple as that. If we are working with or training an animal and our approach wasn’t working we would change it. However, when it comes to ourselves we seem to lose our self-awareness and our common sense.

Feeling stuck can refer to our job, our physical health, our general wellbeing or our path towards achieving a goal.

 

It makes sense that we often keep things as they are, even though they are not working brilliantly. How our brain works plays a big part of this behaviour. Our primitive emotional part of the brain is always on the lookout for danger and what might go wrong. What you are doing now, whilst it’s not working great, has a level of familiarity which makes it feel safe. This part of the brain can only refer to previous patterns of behaviour and so you are encouraged to keep doing what you are doing because it has been proven to be safe. But, this uncomfortable familiarity isn’t making you feel good. In actual fact it can make you feel quite stuck and this leads to a feeling of frustration and sometimes anxiety which unfortunately makes the primitive brain only keener to ‘toe the line’ and keep things safe. It will use a stream of negative propaganda to prevent you from going astray, telling you that another route ‘wouldn’t work anyway’, ‘you’d only fail at that too’, ‘you might let someone down’ or that ‘it’s just too difficult right now’.

So, how do we step out of this rut? Quite simply by doing something different. Whilst our brain does like routine and consistency, our feel good hormones flow more freely when we are challenging ourselves in some way. Our brain rewards us, not only when we achieve our goal but also on our path to that goal. Therefore planning and setting out our expectations can improve our wellbeing before we’ve even started doing anything different! When we are determined to make a change but those little words of self-doubt from the primitive brain are getting in the way, we need to ensure we take small steps to avoid this part of the brain going into overdrive and shutting down because it senses too much of a threat. It is amazing how one small step in one area of our lives can have such a ripple effect. Each small step takes us on our path towards our goals without the primitive brain being overwhelmed by our final destination.

If you keep dragging yourself to the gym ‘because you should’ but are hating every minute of it, use that time to do something different. If you keep on doing things that aren’t working for you, those feel good hormones won’t flow. If instead you take small steps in terms of positive thoughts, actions and interactions that work for you, then our feel good hormones flow, which in turn motivate us to do more. The more we do this, then the more our thinking and problem-solving part of the brain can take control and when we are operating from here, our path becomes a lot clearer. Over time, we are building a new pattern of behaviour which the primitive brain refer to, rather than those old patterns of self-destructive rut making which it encouraged you towards before. This is how we re-wire our brain!

Hypnotherapy can enable the re-wiring process happen more quickly and easily. If you want to know more about how hypnotherapy can help you get back on track, please get in touch with your nearest Inspired to Change Associate.

If you’d like to find out how hypnotherapy can help you cope with pressure and get the results you want get in touch to book your FREE initial consultation with your local Inspired to Change hypnotherapist. Inspired to Change Hypnotherapists are based across the UK in Bristol, Cambridgeshire, Devon, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk and Somerset.

Inspired to Change Hypnotherapists are all recognised by the National Council for Hypnotherapy, the UK’s leading not-for-profit hypnotherapy professional association.

To find out how you can train as a solution focused hypnotherapist click here for our hypnotherapy school information

About the Author: Emma Treby is based in our Mid-Devon clinic near Winkleigh.  Emma has owned and ridden horses for over 30 years and as a solution focused hypnotherapist specialises in coaching horse owners and riders to overcome any fear, regain confidence and achieve goals.