So how do you bust out of a rut? Most of us have been in one in our life, either literally or figuratively.
Let’s take the literal version of being stuck in a rut. I have had quite a lot of experience with this. My home town is Elkhart, Texas, a small town in East Texas, population 1,360. Think of unpaved roads (red clay) and driving across the pasture (sandy loam mix) to check on cows or go deer hunting. Yep…I’ve been in a rut or two in my life and often times very stuck.
Unlike the image I gave you last week of the ruts in stone in Pompeii, the ruts in red clay are slick and you get no traction. Certain areas of the pasture were the sandy loam mix that sucked your wheels into the ground. We often employed the theory of “drive fast enough and you won’t get stuck” to learn time and time again that it is not a proven theory!
When you are stuck in red clay or soft loam in the cow pasture, there are a few strategies to deploy:
- Self-Help
Attempt to rock yourself out of the rut through a combination of reverse and drive and alternate application of the brake and the gas. While at times this can be successful, it can also lead to a much bigger and deeper rut. It is also tough on the transmission.
- Enlist Help
-
If you are fortunate enough to have a friend along for the ride, have your friend get out of the truck and apply their strength and body weight as additional force to rock the wheel out of the rut as you accelerate. Occasionally, this will work. More often than not, you just end up with a very muddy friend.
-
Locate an object that would provide traction for the tire. Red clay is slick when wet. Try a sizable limb or maybe a two by four that was in the back of the truck. This is usually a more successful strategy, particularly with red clay. However, if it is soft, loamy ground, your object simply sinks into the ground, and even further when acceleration is applied.
-
Go get Grandpa (no cellphones back then) and ask him to bring the tractor and a chain to pull you out. This is usually a successful strategy, unless the ground is too wet and soft for the heavy weight of the tractor. Then you just must wait until the ground dries out somewhat.
-
How can you apply these strategies to your rut?
- Self-Help
Rock it! Change things up. Get up earlier, go to bed earlier. Drive a different route to work. Eat better. Communicate better. Decide how you want things to be different and make it happen. This can be a successful strategy; however, you can also create a bigger and deeper rut with unmeasured “rocking.” Think “mid-life crisis.”
- Enlist Help
We often know what we need to do; however, the comfort of the rut may be too compelling or perhaps we don’t want to get dirty (how true might that be for you?) Getting out of a rut is not always pretty (see above descriptions – muddy friends, busted transmission, etc.). The strategies that often bring the most success enlist the help of others. Others are not typically our friends or spouses, as they are not equipped with the tools, like a tractor, to help us. Support from a professional, trained and equipped with the appropriate tools, is likely the best bet. Consider a coach. Results are not guaranteed, but the probability of success is higher. Be prepared to get muddy in order to bust out of that rut!