If You’re Stuck In A Rut, Look Around You!

If you want to make small changes in your life, a few adjustments might just do the trick.

But if you feel that your life is totally out of balance and control, little nudges probably won’t work.

To make big changes in your life, you will need to start doing things very differently and it might just require taking drastic actions.

It didn’t happen overnight

Remember that you don’t just get out of bed one day to find that your life is chaotic and overwhelming, where you feel like your world is collapsing.

These problems have built up over time. Many factors in your life will have played a part.

In particular, the people around you have a huge impact on your state of mind and emotional well-being. The big question is: “Have you got the right people in your life?”

Image | flicker: Car in Ditch (1940) by Don O’Brien

Read more: Expose Yourself

Expand your circle

How do you know if you have the wrong kind of people in your life?

If they have been around for years, they will feel really comfortable, like a well-worn pair of jeans – even if deep down you know that you don’t look as good in them as you did 10 years ago.

The best way to find out if you have the right people in your life is to make the effort to go out and meet others and do a comparison.

Break out of the old, safe routines and patterns that have got you to this difficult point and start to expand your horizons. You have to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people.

Of course, when you feel like your life is out of control, the last thing you will want to do is spend time expanding your circle of friends, associates and business contacts.

You will probably find a million reasons not to break out of your comfort zone, but now is the best time to make the effort to broaden your horizons.

Gain some interesting new perspectives – something that generally comes with meeting new people.

Reap the benefits 

When I’m working with business owners, I always suggest that they spend time mixing in new circles.

I want them to be challenged, to have fresh energy in their life, to be able to benchmark themselves and their businesses to show that it’s not all doom and gloom.

There really are only positive upsides: financially, and in your health and happiness, in mixing with a new circle of people, even if it simply makes you realise that the people around you are actually great.

In conclusion 

So, depending on which aspect of your life you want to improve, muscle up, make the effort to get out, meet new people and you will be astonished by the effect a fresh perspective will have on your life.

You may also like: How Do You Change ‘Inside Out’?

This article first appeared on inc.com.