Slaying the hydra

“Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” - Denis Waitley

Whilst reflection is a good and necessary thing, after all we do need to learn from our mistakes. However, going over and over the same ground isn't going to get you anywhere, except maybe a hole in the ground where you've been walking in circles - which is otherwise known as a rut - and what causes a rut - HABITS.

When we talk about getting rid of habits, we usually mean replacing bad habits with better ones. Unfortunately most of us don't realise we have habits until they are strong and like the multi-headed hydra.

The more habits we have, the faster we dig our holes, the deeper and harder they are to get out of, and stay out of.

If you can't see over the wall of your current "rut" you are going to need some major assistance. Someone may be willing to throw you a rope, or slide a ladder down for you to climb out of your self-made hole. However, the problem with waiting for assistance is this:

• Help may not come at all. Really if you want to slay your habit hydra then you are going to need a better plan
• Help may not come in time. We say, I'll do that tomorrow, I'll start that next week .... the creditors roll up and we have nowhere to go.
• Help may be disguised as hard work. Getting out of debt isn't easy, losing a lot of weight and keeping it off isn't easy, giving up smoking, alcohol, caffeine and drugs isn't easy. But to do so we need to create habits that serve us, not kill us.

What I know for a fact is this:

If you don't help yourself and by that I mean - truly understand what caused you to be stuck in your rut in the first place you are almost always guaranteed to repeat the process. You say - this time it's going to be different, this time I've got it all worked out, a few days after being hauled out of your rut, you are back to your old habits and - and you guessed it, fall smack bang into another one.

Are you stuck in a rut?

Then it's time to check your habits.