This Is Why You Keep Falling Off Track (And How to Stop) #702

You know what you should be doing. You've got goals. You're probably going well in life. But somewhere along the way you dipped, and now the things that used to feel easy feel hard.

You're sleeping in. Skipping the gym. Having that extra beer. Scrolling when you should be doing. And waiting to feel motivated again before you make a move.

That's not how you get out of a rut. In this episode I show you exactly what is.

You'll learn:
- Why ruts don't happen from one big failure — they're built from small choices stacking up
- The dip: why motivation always fades and what to do when it does
- Why waiting to feel ready is the thing keeping you stuck
- The choice you have to make in the moment — and how to make the right one
- How I kept going during the 58 marathons at minus 16 degrees with frostnip
- Why trying to fix everything on Monday never works — and what to do instead
- The one small win to get today that starts building momentum again

This is one of the first things I work through with every client, because until you can get yourself out of a dip, nothing else sticks.

Ready to stop going in circles and lock in the life you want? Apply to join the 1:1 coaching : https://www.lachlanstuart.com.au/coaching

Transcript

How Ruts Quietly Begin

Lachlan Stuart 0:00

If you feel like you're stuck in a rut at the moment, I want to show you how I think you can get out of it very quickly. You know what you should be doing. You've probably got some goals. You're probably even going well in life. But somewhere along the way you dip, right? We all have that dip. Things are going this way, this way, but there's always a dip. This is where we start sleeping in. You might have that extra beer or wine. You skip the gym session. All the things you know you should be doing. And your focus drops. Now all of a sudden the things you know you should be doing suddenly feel hard. This is why I want to run you through a very simple process as is going to help get you out of a rut extremely quickly.

Set A Goal With Direction

Lachlan Stuart 0:37

Now the first thing we want to do, and I'm drawing here, I'll put a screenshot in the comments. The first thing that we want to do here is make sure we have a goal. When you have a goal, you know what you're going to work towards. It might be getting fit, it might be making more money, it might be doing some more date wise with your partner, being better at home, whatever it is. But initially there is energy because it's new. Then after that comes a dip. This is where the motivation wears off. As we've said, you get tired, work gets busy, you don't sleep well, training feels harder, all of the things that really push against you, doing the things you know you should be doing. And this is where that rut starts.

Motivation Fades And The Dip Hits

Lachlan Stuart 1:14

And I want to remind you, a rut doesn't just happen because something goes massively wrong. It could just be the accumulation of a small number of choices building up over a long period of time. And this is what leads me to the third point, which is the choice, because the choice, we all have choices in the dip. If we look at the dip as a bit of a semicircle or a half pipe for the skateboarders out there, you know that when you're going into it, it feels like it just happens. And then to get out of it, sometimes we don't make the other side and we just sort of swing back and forth, and then you feel like you're spinning your wheels. You have a choice in that moment. And most of the choices can be you remain where you are or you do something to get out of it, which will lead us to our fourth

The Choice Point In The Moment

Lachlan Stuart 1:53

point. So it's going to have you asking questions like, do I sleep in or do I get up? Do I have the extra beer or do I call it? Do I train or do I skip it? Do I sit on my phone and continue scrolling or do I do the thing that I said I would do? Because the truth is, you're not going to get out of the rut by waiting to feel motivated again. You've got to make a decision in the moment to take that step.

58 Marathons And Hard Dips

Lachlan Stuart 2:16

And I learned this, I guess, the hard way, I'd say the hard way, but I chose to do it in the first place. During the 58 marathons, I had the goal. I definitely hit the dip, and the dip happened when I got injured. The dip happened when it was minus 16 degrees outside. The dip happened when I was hungry, when I was getting frostnip. I was stuck in that dip. But I knew that I had a choice. It's like, do I get up and do I put one foot in front of the other? Do I make sure that I find a way to warm my hands or do I just quit? And I didn't want to quit. Much like I'm sure you don't want to quit either. That's why you're watching a video on how to get out of a rut. And this leads me to the final point, which is stacking small

Stack Small Wins To Build Momentum

Lachlan Stuart 2:56

wins. Because when we're trying to make choices or we're making decisions, when you're feeling confident, we all know, when the motivation's high, it is so easy to make it the right choice. We know that. But when you're not feeling very confident, when you feel like everything's against you, you don't want to look at the top of the mountain. You don't want to look where you're going. You just want to look at the top of your toes and look at that next step. What is the smallest possible choice I could make that is going to move me towards where I want to go? And that's what we call the small wins. And the great thing about small wins is two things happen. One, you start building momentum, right? The hard push, and eventually we get up there. It's like once again you're in the half pipe, and you go, and for those who are watching on YouTube, it's like when you push and you do the pump and then you come back and you keep getting further up each side until you eventually get out. And the second thing is you build your confidence, right? You build your confidence in that you're capable of doing the thing you said you would do, right? And the courage to get started is what gets you there. You don't just wake up feeling confident, you don't just wait for the motivation, you got to get going. And I want you to think about this as well, just as a little side project. You don't want to try and fix everything at once. So when we're looking at the small wins, there could be a number of things you need to do. And there's three things that I want to give you today that we can break it down here, just to keep it simple for the context of this video.

Skill Focus And Energy Audit

Lachlan Stuart 4:20

The first one is a skill, right? You could have all the skill in the world, but you're lacking in focus. You're not putting your skill in the right direction, or you might have all the skill and you might be super focused, but you're just so tired. You don't have the energy to be able to get things done. So this is what helps us identify do you have the skill to achieve the outcome or not? Okay, because that's going to help you go. I need to work on this, developing this skill. The second one is am I remaining focused enough on doing the things consistently enough to get out of this rut? Or thirdly, do I have the energy? Do I have the vitality? Do I have the physical capabilities to get out there? And that's where the fatigue factor kicks in because sometimes we're just too bloody tired. The focus point you might be spread way too thin, as I know I have done over the years. And those will be things that hold you back. So when you're looking at stacking those small wins, don't try to do everything at once. Just identify, in my opinion, the thing that if you were to fix that, it would have the largest improvement on you getting to where you want to get to. Because I don't want you saying, right, uh, on Monday everything's gonna change, I'm gonna have the perfect diet, I'm gonna train every day, there's gonna be no alcohol, there's gonna be the 5 a.m. wake up. Like that's a lot of change and that's a lot of commitment, but even more opportunity for you to let yourself down. So make sure you take it easy

Pick One Change Not Everything

Lachlan Stuart 5:37

for this one. Just choose one thing, right? What's one small win? It could be go for the run, make your bed, take your wife on a date night this week, think about it and put it there. Now, this helping men get out of the rut is one of the first things we do in my coaching program, which is under mastering yourself or master yourself, because when you learn, and there's another video we did last week, own uh own your day or own your story. Sorry, you can then move on to getting out of out of a rut, which is essentially owning your state. And if you want to learn more about that, there will be a video coming out soon that takes you through this whole process that once again you can watch it and you can implement it yourself. If you ever feel like you want to work with me, the opportunity will be

Simple Plan And Final Reminder

Lachlan Stuart 6:20

there. If you're stuck in a rut right now, do not try to change your whole life today. All I want you to do is remind yourself what your goal is. Accept that you're in a dip, make a choice that is going to move you closer towards where you want to get to, and get that small win today. Thank you guys for being here. My name is Local Stewart. See you in the next video.