Megan Riksen:

Hello and welcome to the Work Like a Laker podcast. I'm Megan Riksen. And today I'm joined by Brian Bossick. Hello, Brian.

Brian Bossick:

Hi Megan. How's it going?

Megan Riksen:

Great. How are you?

Brian Bossick:

Good, good. I am excited today that we get to talk about breaking out of a rut. So whether you find yourself struggling to find motivation to study for one of your classes find the energy enthusiasm to narrow down your career path, or you just can't seem to keep putting off putting the finishing touches on a resume to apply for that job, but you need to find we hope this podcast is helpful for you to

Megan Riksen:

Absolutely. So let's, let's start with the basics dictionary.com. What does this phrase mean? Stuck in a rut. So dictionary.com tells us it means in a settled or established habit, or course of action, especially a boring one. Right? I think we we all have some nice experience with the pandemic of maybe feeling in a rut and get a little boring.

Brian Bossick:

Yeah. Stuck in a bed in a boring routine. Well, if you had to guess Meagan, and this is somewhat unfair, cause I know the answer to this, but where do you think this phrase comes from?

Megan Riksen:

So the first thing that comes to my mind is like a car like stuck in a ditch that it can't get out of. But now that I'm saying that I'm thinking maybe it goes back farther than that. Like a wagon stuck in the dirt.

Brian Bossick:

No. Oh really? I didn't. Okay, good. That's exactly it. Yeah. So wagon wheels, right? So wagon wheels, they said as they made their own path, right. We create these huge divots over time. That would be called ruts. And at some point the path became almost impassable. So you'd be stuck in a rut.

Megan Riksen:

Oh my gosh. Well.

Brian Bossick:

Yes, yes.

Megan Riksen:

We started this off in such a high note feeling so good

Brian Bossick:

Education paid off Megan.

Megan Riksen:

Amazing. Okay. So before we talk about, you know, the important part, how you break out of this rut, that your wagon wheel is stuck in. We first want to talk about maybe how you even identify if you're in one, because sometimes that can be hard. So Brian and I are going to share six signs that I, you can help to identify when you're in a rut, but then 10 tips. We made sure it was weighted that way to help you bust out of it. So sign number one is that you want to try something new or you want to be creative, but you just can't find the energy to do either

Brian Bossick:

Sign number two, you daydream a lot. You daydream about the past, about the future, or sometimes just alternate reality because you want to get out of what you're in right now.

Megan Riksen:

Number three, you keep checking things off your to-do list, but it still doesn't feel like you're getting much done. And there isn't really any enjoyment from what you are getting done.

Brian Bossick:

Sign number four, your days blend together. And you find out you wake up every day and it's a Tuesday or pick your bad day for yourself, but it is the same day over and over it.

Megan Riksen:

I think Tuesday is a good one. It's not quite hump day. It's not Monday where maybe you're feeling refreshed from the weekend. Yeah. That's a toughie.

Brian Bossick:

Still have a long weekend. It's still got the whole week

Megan Riksen:

Number five by the time that you do have free time and have the opportunity to do something new or interesting. You're just too tired to try anything.

Brian Bossick:

And number six you find that you've been ignoring your physical and your mental health and that if somebody asked you how you were doing, your honest answer would probably be like ma and that's really where you're at.

Megan Riksen:

Right? I heard this term flying around the internet kind of toward, toward the end of the summer, the languishing, where you're just not really thriving. You're not maybe totally depressed, but maybe somewhere in the middle, you're kind of

Brian Bossick:

Existing. Yeah, yeah,

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, exactly. It kind of feels like a rut. So hopefully, maybe as you were listening to those six signs, you maybe saw yourself in one or two or three or six of them. So now let's get into the tips. Let's break out, let's do it. So number one is accept the situation, accept reality, acknowledge that you're stuck. That's always the first, the first step is just the acknowledgement that you're feeling this way, so that then you can start to have compassion for yourself and realize that it happens to all of us. We all have these points in our lives. Maybe once a day we feel this, but certainly there are like periods throughout our life where it could be, you know, a little more extended. I was trying to think of an example for myself and I get in a rut with what I'm cooking. Oh, that's a good example often where we just end up making the same meals every week. Cause it's kind of easy. It makes my grocery shopping easy, you know exactly what to buy, but you know, I can acknowledge this, that we are in this dinner rut. So hopefully now I can do something about it.

Brian Bossick:

Great. That is an excellent example. And I remember reading about this. It's so easy to happen, right? You're five weeks in and you're like, oh my every week has been the same. And how did I cook the same exact yes. So our tip number two after acknowledgment is to create a vision or a goal for what might want to work toward. And you can do this a couple of different ways. This could be something for a specific class. It could be, you're saving up to go on a vacation. This could be a vision of your life after graduation, but regardless, whatever that vision, that goal is, find a way to make it real. So you can visualize it in your head and try to add as much detail as you want. We'll put a couple of links after this podcast kind of in our, in the podcast link.

Brian Bossick:

So you can kind of find resources for that. You could write it down, just brainstorm, put it all on paper about what this looks like. Or Megan, I think we've talked about this before vision boards. So if anybody's ever done a vision board, you can basically either you can, if you have magazines go forward and do the old school, you can do the old school way or you can go online, look at images, any image that kind of pertains to what this vision is, just put it down, paste it on a document, remind yourself of what that is.

Megan Riksen:

Right. Let it inspire you. Get you excited. Cause that feeling that like like reigniting of passion, I feel like is one of the biggest pieces that can help you to move forward.

Brian Bossick:

Absolutely. And sometimes you forget that it isn't there. Right? And so you have that feeling right.

Megan Riksen:

Exactly. Tip number three is to then assess that vision, assess that goal. And you can do this by starting to kind of break it down into those manageable pieces. So maybe you have that vision board with all the lovely pictures of the beach where you want to end up, but getting there is going to take maybe, you know, a better budget every month. How are you going to save money? What are you going to sacrifice in order to do that? And then maybe you start getting to the fun stage of how you're going to actually plan it and figure out where you're going to go and who you're going to go with and how all of that is going to happen. But each of those little steps can help you feel like you're making progress toward that goal rather than, I mean, of course you want to be inspired by the vision board, but taking these, you know, kind of bite-sized chunks helps to actually move forward rather than doing it all at once. And I think even, you know, to kind of apply it to career an internship search can often feel that way, your goal, your vision. I know I want an internship, but it can seem super overwhelming. So why not break it up into some of those smaller steps? Like maybe you start by talking to fellow students who have interned, then you work on your resume, then you're looking at handshake, right? There's all these small steps that don't have to feel like these huge insurmountable things. But we'll definitely help you move forward.

Brian Bossick:

Absolutely. I think that's great. And then suddenly you realize you're making progress. Yes, exactly. Well, our fourth tip and really tied into that is discover something new about yourself, right? Take a time. If this is the opportunity to take, maybe you've wanted to learn to dance. There's books you've been putting off. There is a language you've wanted to learn engage your and your interest in new ways. And what typically happens is our brains tend to create like patterns of how we solve problems. If we add something new, we engage like a new hobby, a new habit. We bust out of that and we see creative, new ways to solve problems and new solutions. So engaging your brain in new ways can be a great way to do that.

Megan Riksen:

Absolutely awesome. So tip number five is to break away from perfectionism and you know, this is an easy rut to get into and feeling like everything always has to be perfect. And it can be a great way to maybe be successful if you're always pushing yourself to do your best. Like of course, that that's not really what we're talking about, but you know, focusing too much on something can kind of lead to that prognosis by analysis. Yes, yes, yes. Sometimes like resumes can be an example of this. Like you're trying so hard to have every single word be so perfect that you don't ever end up sending the resume out. Yeah. Good point for an actual person to read. You're never sending it to someone cause you're constantly perfecting it. You know, of course you want it to be in really good shape and you know where to go, all of you listening, come to the career center for help with that. But you can, you know, start sending it out there, then you're getting feedback you're breaking away from that kind of paralysis of feeling like things need to be perfect. Yeah. And that can kinda help in that way too. Is there anything else, would that one Brian,

Brian Bossick:

That, that is perfect. Yeah. I think just giving yourself that freedom to kind of not be perfect and suddenly you, you find that you're making progress.

Megan Riksen:

And it relates to like trying something new, right. Like breaking it down into manageable pieces to yeah. These all kind of are interconnected.

Brian Bossick:

Yeah. They start to flow together. Yes. Right. And for like our, our six tip and, and really similar to kind of trying something new, add a little impulsivity. And this might be the parent part of me speaking, but measured impulsivity. Right. Thoughtful impulsivity. But this can be really helpful to jumpstart something new. There's a couple ways you could do this. This could be saying yes to meeting friends, signing up for a weekend away visit a city that you've always thought about apply for a job that you thought you never had a chance for. Right. That maybe I'm so not qualified. We'll give it a try and see what happens with that. Explore a new part of the city, engage in a volunteer opportunity you've wanted to do for such a long time, but just trying something new and successful completion of a new task or a new thing gives you confidence. And it can help you break out of that. Rut could ignite that passion and kind of get you going again.

Megan Riksen:

Right. So, you know, pay attention to those, those little voices in the back of your head saying, oh, I should try that. But then you like shoot it down. Right. Pay attention more to when those little thoughts come up or when you're scrolling through Instagram and you see something like, oh, there's this event coming up or I've never tried that before. I see my friend doing that. I'm going to go try it and be a little impulsive. Yes.

Brian Bossick:

Yeah. And if you're busy at the time, write it down somewhere. Right. Like this is my list of new things to try because sometimes we get distracted and we forget what was that? So write it down. So you've got a list and then when you're ready, jump into something out list,

Megan Riksen:

Add it to the vision board vision

Brian Bossick:

Coming back to the vision. Exactly. Yes.

Megan Riksen:

Good. Okay. So tip number seven then for adding a little impulsivity, why not throw in a little competition as well and you know, competition with yourself can be pretty effective. Cause it, I mean, it goes back to goal setting. So maybe it's with sleep, right? So this week I will work to get at least seven hours of sleep a night. I'm going to track that. So I'm keeping myself accountable. If I don't do well, one night I'm going to compete with myself the next night kind of a thing. Right. maybe it could be a competition with someone else. For example, you, you have a goal of getting outside more and walking or hiking, whatever it is. So maybe you're setting some goals and competing with a friend of how many miles you're going to walk or hike in a week or a month, whatever that is. But that little bit of competition can, I think really helped to spur you on.

Brian Bossick:

Excellent. And as you are doing that, our eighth tip, don't forget about your self-care. And with that, we mean it's important to look for ways to refresh your body and your mind. So you can do this really simple ways, right? So mindless, relaxation, if you're always on the goal, what are the ways that you kind of relax and take a break, take a break from difficult projects that you're working on. Let your mind refresh. There's a lot of knowledge behind the statement, sleep on it, look at it in the morning, right? Let your brain reset and see creative, new ways to approach a situation. Take time off. When you feel burnt out, engage in the exercise that works for you. Time with loved ones and friends keeping a regular kind of balanced meal schedule and just getting plenty of sleep on a schedule. So just some of those basic things, if you feel like your mind and your body's exhausted, maybe don't hit all of these at one time, choose one or two. And see if you can jump into those

Megan Riksen:

Instead of choosing one or two, because hearing you say that that almost can make you more stressed out like, oh, I have to get just the right amount of sleep and eat perfectly and get regular exercise and all of that.

Brian Bossick:

No, start small. It would be almost impossible to hit the reset button on yourself. And one day like today I sleep, eat and workout every single day. You're right. It doesn't usually work.

Megan Riksen:

Exactly. And I have time for my friends and everything else. Yeah. Right.

Brian Bossick:

And then you're back to exhausted.

Megan Riksen:

Exactly. Exactly. And you're feeling stuck again. Okay. tip number nine is to approach things realistically. So be honest with yourself about what you actually can get through in a day, what those real goals should be focused on, what you can control rather than, you know, kind of all the things that are swirling around you. I feel like the pandemic was a great example of this. So much of our lives were out of our control. We weren't even allowed to go places. But that doesn't mean you, you can't take control of kind of the day-to-day things that you're doing. And as long as you're realistic, like yeah, my productivity is gonna look very different when I'm in quarantine. Then you know, when things are opened up, opening up and I'm able to get out there more, so focus on what you can control, what you can change and then, you know, let the rest of it go.

Brian Bossick:

Absolutely well said.

Megan Riksen:

Thank you.

Brian Bossick:

You're welcome. And our 10th tip it almost going back to our very first one. So there's acceptance tied in with that. No one it's more than a rut. Yeah. Right. If you've tried some of these things and you can't bust out, acknowledge that and at that point, talk to your family, talk to your friends talk to those that know you well, that also can tell that something's off. I'd even give a plug here. You know, if, if you have questions, you can always schedule an appointment with the counseling center, right. To talk to somebody and see like, is this, am I in a rut? Is this more than a rut? And what can I do to bust out? And we'd be glad to help you there with that too.

Megan Riksen:

And I know the Counseling Center's website had some great tools and, and things related to mental health and, and this topic

Brian Bossick:

As well. Yes, we've given you know, as we talked about self-care, you can go to that website and check out videos on visualizations art therapy, goal-setting, you name it. So yes, that's a great resource.

Megan Riksen:

So go be impulsive right now after listening to that podcast and try one of those,

Brian Bossick:

Don't try them all.

Megan Riksen:

Yes, exactly good. Okay. Well this was a fun discussion. Glad we got to cover a bunch of tips to kind of break out of this. Hopefully those of you listening can pick just one or two, don't feel overwhelmed by the whole list. Pick the ones that make sense for you based on what rut you feel like you're stuck in and, and how you, you know, best can get out of that. So,

Brian Bossick:

And if one doesn't work yeah. Go to the next one, right. It is not a perfect science. So if you find that, Hey, I've tried two of these and it's not kicking in that's okay.

Megan Riksen:

Yes, absolutely. Great advice. Good. So of course, all of the sources we've talked about everything that we're mentioning, we will link in the show notes. So be sure to check those out and just thank you so much to everyone for listening, and we hope you tune in to a future episode soon.