As a business coach for creative people, I find that the number one thing my clients often tell me is that they are in this nebulous space called “a rut”. Ah, yes. THE RUT. Have you been in a rut? Are you currently in a rut? Do you hate the sound of the word “rut” as much as I do? Then read on, friend.

As with everything in life, I like to think positively about things that most people like to freak out about. It’s what I do. It’s how I like to live. If people think that a rut is a bad thing, you can guarantee that I will find ways to see it positively…..and I have!

Drum Roll Please!

1. A Signal You Need Quiet Time: Being in a rut is the first clue I have that I need to deal with some stuck emotions. The emotions are usually stress, worry, anxiety, and frustration (which all lead to fatigue). When these emotions are prevalent in your day-to-day life, how can you expect to not feel stuck? If you are constantly worried about making your business work, worried about where the money will come from, anxious over how can you get more clients, or stressed about all the things that aren’t getting done, it’s no wonder you feel stuck. We live in a very hectic world, one where the burdens and responsibilities can seem heavy. When we focus on the negative, we can get ourselves in a rut. I like to do a few things to help me out of this—the first is that I give myself time to just be in the rut. I give myself exactly three days. If the darkness is looming ahead of me, if I feel that this is the end, if I feel that my business will never be what I imagine it to be, if I have some emotions to process with lovers or family members or co-workers, I allow myself to claim the three day rule. For three days I can be lazy, I can eat ice cream, I can binge watch Gilmore Girls, I can do all of it without guilt. That’s the key. Without guilt. I have some guilt-free indulgent time that belongs just to me and 99% of the time I feel better by the morning of Day 4. I’m back again to being my positive and forward moving self. I also have two of my close girlfriends on speed dial who fully support me feeling awful for these three days (I don’t want anyone to talk me out of it or try to make me feel better too soon), in fact, I learned this little trick from one of them. Even if you can’t take three days, carve out some time to just wallow in the rut—go to a movie in the middle of the day, buy something stupid from Sephora, do whatever you want to do. You won’t know it, but by feeding the beast you actually calm it down and it goes back to sleep. When we resist the rut, it persists.

2. Time To Reflect On Who You Are Listening To: Oftentimes I can find myself feeling stuck when I am hanging around people who say that they are in a rut. Or, if I hop online to read Facebook forums where people are talking about how confused they are and how hard things are. This can come out in various ways—people who just talk negatively about business, who say it’s too hard and too saturated to be successful, people who complain about clients and really just complain about everything. I shield myself from these people in real life and online. I shield them like I am shielding myself from a zombie-apocalypse-flesh-eating-virus. I surround myself with people who can turn their thoughts around, who have a vision, who are strongly connected to their raison d’etre.

3. It’s Time To Invest In Yourself. Being in a rut is a major indication that it is time for a transformation. The major key to happiness is truly progress. When we are moving forward in life we feel satisfied, happy, and ready to take on any battle because our vision is clear. Life is one constant journey of growth, discovery, and upping our game. During the times when I have felt “stuck”, I have seen it as a positive indication that I need to take massive action towards something better. I remember when I first joined an intensive mastermind over two years ago. The cost to join was $5,000. It was an amount of money I did not have and could barely conceive of spending. I put it on a credit card and went into this mastermind with full force. From the amazing support, clarity, and networking opportunities I had with the women in the mastermind, I went on to make over $12,000 the next month promptly paying off the credit card. Women in this group continue to hire me for professional and personal photo shoots even two years later. That $5,000 investment did a few things for me—1. It took away the power of money to hold fear over me. I saw clearly that I could invest in myself and it was worth it. I have no barrier or problem spending $5,000 on myself now, and it’s a magic number for me. 2. It got me out of my rut because I invested so much. The truth is, when we spend money on coaching programs and workshops and other things, it helps us get motivated in a way that sitting at home and worrying never will. This is by no means an encouragement to go out and get in a lot of credit card debt so you can feel inspired, but I believe when you tap into your intuition you can make the right decisions on how and where to spend. I recently felt that I wanted to uplevel my own business and thus invested almost $15,000 into something that I know will help me master my “A Game” more than anything I have ever done—until I reach the next milestone and so it goes. Investing in yourself starts with knowing that you are worth it, that you deserve it, and that money is just one big game, baby!

4. Do Something 100% Different From What You Are Paid to Do: many of you reading this article work in a creative field. You take something you were once very passionate about or that was once your hobby and you turn it into your job. This means even if you aren’t feeling especially creative on any certain day, you still have to do a photo shoot that day or deliver a product to your client, you have to do something creative even when you don’t feel like it. The fastest way I rejuvenated myself from a photography burn out two years ago was to start a photo series that was completely different than anything I had ever done. I researched ideas until I came up with something that really intrigued me and spoke to me and was a million percent different from everything I was doing for money. I did this for free, I made each session only 30 minutes long and I limited myself to taking only 32 images (2 rolls of 120 film) for each person. It was challenging and exciting and fun and brought a lot of different people into my life. I did in my living room so it was easy and stress free. The series got a lot of attention and love from a lot of different people, but more than that, it made me feel creative in ways I hadn’t felt for a few years.

5. Get Connected to Something Bigger Than Yourself: If you can really know the reason behind why you are doing what you are doing—why you want to build and create what you want to build and create, getting out of a rut is easy. When we REALLY emotionally connect with our WHY, our reason, then life becomes even bigger and better. One of the reasons I want to run a successful business is that I am passionate about helping women succeed in life. I truly feel it a calling to support, illuminate, and lead the way for women leaders, presidents, bosses, and more. I want each woman in this world to feel empowered, seen, safe, and cared for. I want each woman to feel connected to a mission larger than herself and to pay it forward to other women. I want to live in a world where women are free from shame, guilt, and the crippling effects of objectification and perfectionism. When I think of my larger mission, it fuels me forward to create, to learn, to grow, and to be plain ole’ badass.