Hear yourself talk: Are you building a rut story?

Like a river, our thoughts flow, continuously, day by day, night by night. Our thoughts are there, always. We may be aware of them, or we may not be. Often, what we are less aware of, is the kind of thought we are having.

If our thoughts carry any kind of negative implications, and are repeated often enough, they can become "our story". And, if this story is used time and time again to stop us from doing things we want, it can be called a "rut story" (Hargrove, book: Masterful Coaching). The trick is to get out of negative stories, or rut stories, and into action, or a positive flow.

It starts by practicing awareness. Here are the steps I have discovered that help in moving from being in a rut to moving to flow:

1. Becoming aware of the story is the first step.

2. Examining the story, saying: Is this really true? That is the second step.

3. Stopping and changing the story is next.

4. Taking action based on what you truly want is the fourth step.

5. Practice taking action, over and over, until it becomes easy is the final step.