Break out of your rut!

  • Published
  • By Brig. Gen. Arthur Rooney Jr.
  • 82nd Training Wing commander
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Originally, a rut was a deep, narrow track made in the ground by the wheels of a cart or carriage in a roadway after continuous use.

Today, the term is used to describe a condition where people find themselves doing the same tired routine in the same uninspired way.

In James Hunter's "The Servant," a favorite leadership book of mine, a character describes life's ruts as "little more than a coffin with the ends kicked out."

In short, a rut is a hole. Sometimes you're so deep in a rut that you don't have the energy to climb out of it. You may not even be able to see the way out. Many people are content to dwell inside their private rut. Many people blame others for creating the rut. Some never even realize that they are caught inside their routine.

It takes energy to climb out of a hole. Getting out of a rut or leaving your comfort zone takes more energy than staying in it. The Air Force is continuously transforming to remain relevant today and tomorrow. There's no rut here.

In your personal and professional life you might find that you've slipped into a rut. The path you dreamed you'd take has faded from view and become the path you wish you could have taken.

Some of the signals that you're stuck in a rut are the feelings of helplessness, loss of mobility and a general sense of boredom. If you've lost your desire to excel, you're in a rut. It's not too late. I encourage you to seek a way out.

I challenge you to do a painfully honest analysis of your current situation and then motivate yourself. Try a new, different, creative way of transforming a dead ritual into a living expression of your individuality.

Enlist others to help transform your dead work area into an inspiring creativity center. Approach your situation anew and challenge the general thinking of, "that's how we've always done it."

Read a good book on management, leadership or a hero of yours. Start a fitness regimen or plant a garden. By trying something new, you'll avoid falling into the ruts left by those who never attempted to succeed.

Ruts form when everyone goes in the same direction. Until you force yourself to move up, you aren't going anywhere, except wherever the rut is going, and if you don't like that road, then you'd better find a new track.

Don't let your motto be "We never did it that way before," but rather "Excellence in all we do." (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)