Get Out of a Rut by Discovering and Using Your Natural Strengths
And find a new sense of purpose in the process
When you combine your ability to express your unique talent with service to humanity, then you make full use of the Law of Dharma.
— Deepak Chopra
The rut. When life becomes repetitive, progress stops, and motivation stalls.
Comes a sense of boredom and a lack of enthusiasm. Nothing feels exciting anymore. Your life can even feel somewhat purposeless and your daily tasks devoid of meaning. What’s the point of doing this?
You may have a desire for change but don’t know how or even what to change. How to make things interesting again?
Don’t worry, there’s a way out of this.
From the end of 2020 until recently, I’ve been experiencing cycles of being stuck in a rut. I’ve often felt uninspired, and even when there was inspiration, the motivation to act on it just wasn’t there.
I craved enthusiasm for something. For anything. But enthusiasm had dried out.
Worse, I knew all too well that my low vibe wasn’t very attractive. I didn’t want to contaminate other people’s moods, so I started isolating myself, which made me feel even more depressed.
A few things eventually helped me get unstuck, such as need-based self-care, which I’ve talked about in a YouTube video (it’s embedded at the end of this article if you want to watch it).
But perhaps the most practical way I’ve found to regain the motivation to try new things and get my life back on track was by intentionally using my natural strengths in new ways.
Let me explain how this works and how you can do it too.
How Does This Work?
The opposite of feeling stuck in a rut is being fully engaged with life: being present, enthusiastic, and connected to our true nature, and having a sense of purpose.
According to Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, one of the most effective ways to live an engaged life is to use our natural strengths.
When we do so, we experience:
- A boost in confidence
- Increased happiness
- Reduced stress
- A greater sense of meaning and purpose
- Enhanced performance and goal achievement
And if we apply our highest strengths to something a bit challenging, we’re likely to induce the flow state — a state of complete absorption — which triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter linked to motivation.
Elevated levels of dopamine generally lead to boosted motivation, increased productivity, and an enhanced sense of accomplishment.
It feels good.
It’s especially helpful when trying to get out of a rut.
In fact, low dopamine levels could be partly responsible for feeling stuck in the first place.
It is hard to overstate how much dopamine levels shape our perception of life, our emotions, and how capable we perceive ourselves to be — when dopamine levels are low, we feel unmotivated, derive less pleasure from pursuits and feel physically tired.
Of course, before we can use our strengths, we must discover what they are.
How to Discover Your Natural Strengths
There are several valid methods to help us discover our strengths, but we’ll focus on the VIA Character Strengths assessment, created by Martin Seligman himself.
VIA stands for ‘Values in Action.’ There are 24 character strengths in total, grouped under six broader virtues: wisdom, humanity, justice, courage, temperance, and transcendence. Each person possesses these 24 strengths but in varying degrees.
I encourage you to take the free, online assessment to receive a breakdown of your top character strengths.
Next, we’ll see how you can apply them.
How to Use Your Character Strengths
To get out of a rut and be more engaged with life — to feel enthusiastic, energized, and connected to your true nature —try using your top 5 to 7 character strengths, as often as you can.
For example, my top character strength is ‘love of learning.’ The more time I spend learning about topics that genuinely interest me, the more energized I’m likely to feel.
And the more ways I make use of this character strength, the more interesting and dynamic my life will feel.
For example, I could:
- Join a book club or start one.
- Attend documentary film screenings.
- Go for long walks and listen to podcasts or audiobooks.
- Volunteer at a local Ted X conference.
- Visit museums.
- Create educational content.
- Host an interview-style podcast.
- Attend a seminar or in-person workshop.
These are all various ways to apply the character strength ‘love of learning.’
Here’s a simple plan:
- For each of your top 5 to 7 character strengths, brainstorm 5-10 ways you can use and engage with them in different areas of your life: your relationships, work, hobbies, and passion projects.
- Every Sunday or whenever you plan for the week ahead, block time in your schedule for activities related to cultivating your top strengths.
- If you can find social activities that allow you to connect with like-minded people who share similar interests, that’s even better! Having positive relationships is one of the most powerful happiness amplifiers.
- You can also combine several strengths to make an activity even more interesting and satisfying.
Here’s what I mean by ‘combining strengths’:
- Starting an interview-style podcast combines ‘love of learning’ and ‘curiosity.’
- Organizing a potluck dinner combines ‘leadership’ and ‘social intelligence.’
- Volunteering at a local animal shelter combines ‘kindness’ and ‘love.’
- Starting a DIY home improvement project combines ‘creativity’ and ‘perseverance.’
Need some inspiration?
I’ve created a PDF with 360+ ideas to use the character strengths.
How to Find Even Greater Meaning in Your Life
One last thing. You can make your life feel more meaningful and enjoy a greater sense of purpose by using your strengths in the service of others or something larger than you.
According to Martin Seligman, doing so is the most significant path to happiness.
For example, if one of your strengths is creativity and you enjoy making art, instead of just painting canvases in your living room by yourself, perhaps you could organize an art exhibition, share your creations on Instagram, or make YouTube video tutorials to teach others your favorite art techniques.
As Sonia Choquette, a world-renowned intuitive guide, says:
When you know your gifts and are happy to share them, then that sense of purpose begins to feel satisfying.
How can you create value and make others benefit from your strengths?
Here are some examples:
- Start a YouTube channel to share your expertise with others (combines the strengths of ‘love of learning’ and ‘creativity’).
- Write positive reviews for all the products you purchase that you love (combines the strengths of ‘kindness’ and ‘gratitude’).
- Create and share funny spiritual memes on Instagram to brighten people’s day (combines the strengths of ‘creativity’, ‘humor’, and ‘spirituality’).
The idea is to positively impact the lives of others, even if just one person.
One Last Thing
Of course, there could be several reasons why you feel stuck in a rut, and depending on the root cause, you’ll need a specific solution.
But if you simply feel like your life has become bland and lacks purpose and excitement, knowing and using your gifts will help you reconnect with yourself — with your authentic nature — and regain your spark for life.
Again, here’s the PDF with 360+ ideas to use character strengths: [Click here to download the PDF].
And below is a video about need-based self-care, another method I’ve used to get out of a funk.
Have a beautiful day!
