Ever feel stuck in a rut? I dare say most of us have. Are those ruts well-worn paths to the same outcomes you wish to change in your life? Maybe the thoughts below can help.
The first day of a new calendar year is a time when many of us turn to some aspects of our lives we’d like to eliminate or enhance. Walking the dog this morning, I began my own reflection on the year ahead…until negotiating the condition of the road disrupted my effort.
The combination of a recent spell of warm weather and copious rainfall has impacted the town’s dirt roads in a dreaded preview of March’s aversive mud-season. Add two more wallops: the return of freezing weather and the steady pounding of heavy construction equipment as the state resets a major power line. The result for pedestrians is having to navigate compacted, crisscrossing, ankle bending, dirt and gravel filled ruts.
Having negotiated my way through the ruts without incident, while returning home an insight emerged from the episode. If, when setting a goal for change, we identify the one rut of routine that inevitably conspires to stop us, we can focus on the most likely action(s) to pave our way through.
As described in my last post, what we focus on may be our most valuable resource for making changes that we desire. Aligning our attention with our intentions empowers us to make and sustain the changes we seek. Recalibrating our new year’s resolutions into manageable steps that we can sustain may help us make gradual but continual progress.
What rut, if paved, would help you make the most progress you seek? Beginning this week, what one step will do the most to move you toward your desired change? Will you take it?
sacredlead 