How to Get Out of a Rut (When You're hoping that Something will Rescue You)

This post is a summarized companion to Episode 16 of the Radical Redirection Podcast: “Getting Myself Out of a Rut (From Stuck and Unmotivated to Energized and Inspired).” If you want to go deeper, listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.

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**“I just need Something to happen…”**

You know that feeling. Every day starts to look like the last one. You just wrapped something up, nothing exciting is on the horizon, and you're sort of... floating. Going through the motions. Mildly bored. A little melancholy. Telling yourself, I just need something to happen.

Stop right there.

That thought, I need something to happen in my life, is the signal. It's the moment you realize you've been outsourcing your own momentum. You've been waiting for an exciting development, an event, a person, something outside of yourself to swoop in and shake things up.

And I get it. When I'm in a slump, that's my default too. But the moment I catch myself thinking that way, I know exactly what I need to do: stop waiting, and start moving.

Because here's the thing. Our souls want to expand, like the universe itself. And when there's no movement, no growth, no evolution, we feel it. We feel stagnant. We feel like something's wrong. And the longer we sit in it, the harder it is to pull ourselves out.

Movement has to start from within. If we wait too long, growth will still happen, but painfully, through external forces and circumstances you didn't choose. The choice to move, change, redirect? That's always, always, always yours.

The Tools I Use to Get Unstuck

I want to share my actual process: the things I reach for when I realize I've been in a rut, waiting for something to save me. I do several of these a day until I feel momentum returning.

Here they are, in no particular order.

» Podcasts, Audiobooks, and the People You Let Into Your Head

The first thing I reach for is something to listen to: something motivational, spiritual, or just plain wise. I love voices that are soothing and encouraging, that talk about self-growth and healing without making you feel like you're broken.

My go-to authors and thinkers:

Eckhart Tolle: always helps me see a bigger perspective and remember what actually matters
Thich Nhat Hanh, Dalai Lama: for something mindful and calming
Michael Singer, Joe Dispenza: when I need to shift my thinking at a deeper level
Brené Brown, Rebecca Campbell, Nicole LePera: different flavors of the same medicine

And then, on the other end of the spectrum, sometimes I need a kick in the butt. That's when I turn to the “business bros:” Alex and Leila Hormozi, Dan Sullivan, Robert Greene. Sometimes you need a voice that looks you in the eye and says, get up and do something with your life.

I span the full range, from zen to hustle, and I tune in to whatever I need most in that particular slump.

Why does this work?

Think about it this way: when you're feeling low, you want to call someone you trust. Someone who gets it, who can offer some perspective and compassion. This is the same thing — except instead of hoping a friend picks up, you're calling on a mentor who's already been where you are and knows the way out.

And it's not just podcasts and audiobooks. If you're in business and you have a library of courses, trainings, or programs you've paid for and promptly forgotten — a slump is the perfect time to open them up. Let someone else's voice into your head for a while. Let them elevate you a little.

One more thing: when I'm in a rut and I do reach out to friends, I'm reaching out to my entrepreneur friends, because they’re on a similar path to me, and they understand what I'm going through. They can actually tell me, hey, look at what you've built, look at what you're doing well. For you, it might be a different category of people, but choose someone who has been where you are and who gets you.

» Movement, and Make It Big

A mindful walk isn't always enough. It’s nice and good for you, but walks or yoga or other gentle movement doesn’t always get you out of your thought loops. What actually gets you out of your head is something strenuous: running, dancing, hiking up a mountain. Something that demands your muscles, your breath, your full attention.

As long as you're inside your head, you're still spinning in the rut. Looping thoughts won't leave you alone. Physical movement that is genuinely challenging interrupts that loop. You stop thinking because you have to focus on moving, on breathing, on what’s happening in your body.

That's the point. Get into your body, and your mind can rest a bit.

» Nature (Somewhere Spectacular)

Similar to movement, where “gentle” may not cut it, just a walk in nature may not be enough.

I need to see something big. Just walking through the forest isn't going to do it for me, but climbing to the top of a mountain and taking in a sprawling view? That changes something.

There's something about going up high and seeing vast, beautiful distance in front of you. It feels expansive. It feels freeing. It literally expands your horizons — and I think that translates directly into your brain. You start thinking bigger than your situation. Your problems look a little smaller. And suddenly the fact that you just climbed a hard thing reminds you: I can do difficult things.

For you it might be the ocean. The night sky. A waterfall. Whatever it is, find the thing in nature that makes you feel simultaneously humbled and held. That's your reset button.

» Short-Term Discipline

When I'm in a slump, I look around and I almost always notice the same thing: I've let myself off the hook. My structure has dissolved. I'm sleeping through my alarm, going to bed at random hours, skipping the gym, eating at weird times.

Sound familiar?

Short-term discipline, committing to something small every day for a stretch of time, feels more powerful than it sounds. A daily meditation practice. Journaling every morning. Getting to the gym five days a week. You’re not doing it forever. The key is doing it consistently enough to feel a cumulative result.

That cumulative result builds something you really need when you're in a slump: evidence. Evidence that you can stick with something. That you can show up for yourself. That you're someone who does what they say they're going to do.

Confidence starts to come back online. And when confidence returns, momentum follows.

And speaking of confidence…

» Do Something Big

Slumps usually come with low confidence. You start to doubt yourself, doubt what you're capable of.

One of the best antidotes to this? Commit to something that scares you a little.

For me, that might mean buying the biggest canvas I can find at the art store and challenging myself to paint something huge. Do I know it'll turn out well? No. But am I stretching myself outside of my comfort zone and proving I can do something hard? Absolutely.

The goal isn't to finish or succeed. The goal is to stretch. To discover that you have more potential than you thought. Pick something that makes you think, can I actually do that? and then do it anyway.

» Actively Seek Inspiration

When you're in a rut, inspiration doesn't come to you. And we tend to wait for it. We sit around telling ourselves we just need something exciting, anything, to make us feel alive again.

No. You are responsible for your own inspiration.

That means going and finding it. A museum. An art exhibition. A concert. A cooking class. Something that gets you off your couch and out of your digital bubble — because scrolling doesn't count as seeking inspiration. The internet sucks you in and keeps you in your own little echo chamber.

Going somewhere in person is different. It's expansive by nature.

And here's why this matters at a deeper level: ruts and slumps happen when we get too comfortable. We're wired to seek homeostasis, to settle into what's familiar. But our souls don't want comfort, they want expansion. They want to learn, discover, explore, try things. As soon as we get too comfortable, stagnation sets in. And stagnation feels like sadness, like something being wrong with your life.

The antidote is always change. Shakeups. Redirection. Doing something new.

The Science of Getting Unstuck

Here's what's actually happening when you use these tools: you're building new neural connections. When you do new things, your brain literally wires itself differently. And with a more intricate neural web, you're better equipped to think creatively, to come up with novel solutions to the problems you couldn't figure out before.

Creative thinking isn't a product of more focused, harder thinking. It's a result of doing wildly unconnected things.

So if you're feeling lost and genuinely aren't sure what your next move is, whether in your career, your business, or your life in general, any kind of movement will jostle other movement. Like ice breaking on a river after winter: one dislodged piece knocks into the next one, and suddenly things are flowing again.

Don't think yourself into a tizzy. Go dance. Start an unrelated creative project. Use a different part of your brain. The clarity will come.

Follow the Breadcrumbs

Once you've started using some of these tools and you feel momentum returning, do this: pay attention to what excites you. What are you curious about? Where are those quiet internal nudges pointing?

Excitement and curiosity will never lead you wrong. They point to what your soul wants — to what you need in order to grow and expand and live out your purpose.

Follow those breadcrumbs. One at a time, toward more and more things that feel alive to you.

That's what brings the color back.

One More Thing…

There's a pleasant side effect to all of this that I noticed recently during my own most recent slump. A few days into using these tools, I noticed my husband paying more attention to me. More compliments, little signs of affection. And I thought, is this because I'm raising my own energy?

Yes. I think that's exactly it.

When you feel empowered, confident, excited, you radiate something different. As soon as I started raising my own vibration, the people around me couldn't help but notice. It's a nice confirmation that you're on the right track.

You are responsible for your own inspiration, your own energy, your own vibration. And when you take that seriously, everyone around you feels it.

And remember: the opposite of stagnation is movement. That's the whole thing here. When it feels like nothing is moving, you move first. Even small movement will unlock more movement.

Save this one for the next time you need it.

—So much love,
Kat

If you’re craving a gentle life reset, where you ease the stress & pressure in your life, get your energy back, and actually find time and space for you, I invite you to do a 90-minute call with me. Self care meets strategy meets ease. Let’s do it!