Since the dawn of time, people have been asking, “how to get out of a slump” and a wide variety of related questions about slumps. Oh boy the slump, it comes at the weirdest times, when we’re just finished with our all-time best performance in sports, sales, or other meaningful accomplishments. As crazy as it is, you need to know that it is completely natural to experience a slump. But with that being said, it may seem like everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. Throughout this article, we’ll dive deeper into what is a slump, how it happens, and how to prevent it with a much higher probability moving forward.
What is a slump?
A slump is simply described as a period f time in which a person or organization experiences a downturn in production, performance, mood or some other metric.
Other forms of a slump can be emotional or even financial. They come in waves and most often happen when we are not expecting them.
For example a significant slump I experienced was when I had just finished one of the best football games of my life and I was riding on an all-time high.
The week after one of my best games, I was having an extremely hard time kicking the football. Not only was it shocking to me, it was dumbfounding.
How could I be performing at such a high level the week before and then all of a sudden I couldn’t hit the backside of a barn? Unfortunately that struggle led into the game that week. After the game I sat down in the locker room alone with my thoughts for at least 30 minutes. By the time everyone had gotten ready to go on the bus, I hadn’t even moved from my seat. I was really down on myself, I had fallen into a slump.
Eventually when I got back on the bus I was able to start reviewing what happened to see what happened. Truthfully, it took me a few days to bounce back mentally. But it wasn’t until a few months later that I was able to fully move on from that game. I will describe my methods for overcoming the slump later in this article.
What causes a slump?
How often has this scenario happened in your head; you’re about to play in a big game in front of a lot of people, or you’re about to do a huge presentation in front of everybody that you love, and then as soon as you get out to perform, you freeze. The words won’t come out (S/O Eminem) and you’re sitting there curious about why the heck you can’t remember anything that you were supposed to do.
Or you forget how to do your task or assignment in your sports? While this form of A slump varies from person to person, it’s inevitable for everyone. And it’s not a bad thing that you shouldn’t be afraid of. Quite frankly, it’s just life’s way of working itself out. But the main thing to keep in mind is when a slump happens, try to be aware of what your focus point is because some of us focus on the wrong things.
A slump could easily show up because we expect to perform at a certain level on the field. For example, if my standard was to only allow 2 missed kicks all season, sure enough, I’m in for a bad time if I miss more than that during the season.
Likewise, if I expect to sell a certain amount of products to prospects within a certain time frame, and I don’t come close to it, that can be pretty hard on the mentality. As a result, slumps can ensue shortly after that.
Why do slumps happen?
Slumps, while inconsistent, tend to happen due to strict standards we set on ourselves and when they don’t get accomplished, we are upset and therefore down on ourselves. Other forms of slumps can be a result after an injury or illness. These seemingly out-of-the-blue occurrences can wipe the momentum out of our performances.
They are frustrating and upsetting, but knowing that they are completely normal is helpful to everybody. I’ve experienced plenty of slumps in my athletic and professional career. They most often happen to me after my ego gets the best of me.
Either I have an amazing performance in sports, and my expectations have risen, or I accomplished a difficult task at work or am on a hot streak and start feeling full of myself. These are bad places to be mentally because our ego can definitely get the best of us.
Rather we need to stay under control and confident in our abilities to perform and take it one day at a time because just as easily as you are on a hot streak, it can all come crashing down if you think you’re better than you are. Instead, stay humble, do your task, and thank God for the opportunity you have because it can be gone in a moment.
From all the moments that I look back and think about slumps I went through, it almost always leads back to tiny changes mentally or technique-wise that led me down a rabbit hole of constant tweaking and adjusting in order to make myself a little bit better but in reality it was making me a little bit worse.
I really do think if you want to prevent a slump from happening, find one or two things that you really want to improve on or work on, and spend the next two weeks focusing solely on that. The more we focus on everything, nothing gets done.
How often do slumps occur?
There’s no set number on how many slumps people go through in a year but by being prepared for when they DO happen will help you tremendously so you won’t get completely blindsided in the slump. it might not be fun to hear but you can have slumps daily, weekly, monthly or just a few times a year.
While it may be tough to hear, they are going to happen, you just need to be aware that it’s all part of the process.
Changing your perspective will be helpful in turning the focus point of how you view slumps.
Rather than viewing a slump as something that is hurting you, view it as something that is going to help you. every failure, mistake, hardship, or other difficult time in your life should be viewed as a chance to prove to yourself how tough you are.
Don’t ever let your outside circumstances control your inner thoughts. Everyone has their own method on how to get out of a slump, what’s important is to know that it is not permanent.
Rather control what you can control and know that while it may be tough now, the slump will not last forever.
How to get out of a slump
What’s important to notice is that slumps are normal and you shouldn’t get too down on yourself because you’re having one. In the grand scheme of things, you have to remember that this too shall pass, keep a smile on your face and keep on moving.
We will cover how to get out a slump in detail shortly, but it’s important to know your morning routine plays a huge part in how you perceive daily activities. If your morning is haywire, the day will follow as such. I have written an article on a powerful morning routine you can try in your own life which can be seen at the link above or you can type in “morning routine” in the search bar on the blog.
On top of a routine, you might want to check your eating habits since they also play such a huge part in our energy levels throughout the day. I realized when I made the switch from 30-50% junk food in my diet to virtually nothing harmful on a daily basis, I saw a dramatic increase in my day to day productivity. you can check the link to that article about healthy eating habits above as well.
From time to time if you really want to get a perspective and how small the slump you’re going through matters, look up at the sky and remember that we are a speck of dust in the universe and nothing that’s happening for you (not to you) will matter in 10 years.
It definitely doesn’t matter right now because tough times are the moments for you to grow mentally. Use it as an opportunity to flex your toughness muscle.
While there’s no way to fully prevent a slump from happening, there are some guiding principles to adopt in order to minimize the effect of one.
If you find yourself going through a tough time in the future and need a mental reset, use the acronym BE HERE:
Be aware that this too shall pass
Exercise to get your mind off of what you’re going through
Have a moment to meditate
Enter thoughts in your Journal
Read often to open up your mind and creativity
Enjoy the moment here & now
Finding meaning in slumps
As the cliche saying goes; everything happens for a reason. I bet you’re a bit like me where you make a big deal out of something small and insignificant. Oftentimes we hold on to those missed kicks, the hot streak of no sales, the consistent losses, and other forms of slumps longer than we should. Rather than viewing it as something that’s happening to you, realize that it’s happening for you.
Life is such a beautiful teacher, if we allow it to be. We can choose to be upset and sad about every little thing that happens in our life, or we can be optimistic and I understand that all of these little things need to happen in order to make us stronger for today, tomorrow, and next year. Think about the future you and how strong he or she will be if you continue to grow in your mentality and mindset.
Granted it may not be extremely easy to find the positive light in all that we are going through, but that’s exactly the point. Life NEVER gets any easier, we just get better. If you allow yourself to see the opportunity in the moment you are given, great things are bound to happen.
“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for fewer challenges, wish for more wisdom”
Jim Rohn
I love the quote that says, “it’s what you’re going through, it’s not where you’re staying.” Again, we can choose to dwell in all the things that are wrong in our life, or we can choose to understand that things will get better, and you’re going to come out on the other side a better stronger, happier, and healthier human being.
Life is a choice and we have the option every single day of our lives to choose to do the right thing. Some take that opportunity and some don’t but that’s their life. You have to know you control what you can control, no one else is going to hold your hand through this stuff your entire life. The earlier you can understand that these moments are only temporary and things will get better, you’ll be better off because of it.
Let It Go To Move Forward
In the belief system of Taoism, one of their core beliefs is in the power of letting go. Oftentimes when we really want something that’s all we focus on and it seems as if the desired result is just out of reach. Almost magically, the second we let go of that thought or desired result, it tends to find a way back into our life faster than we could ever do if all we did was focus on that one thing.
That goes with anything in life; health (a certain body fat or body weight) financial status (a certain amount of money to be reached) or relationship-wise (actively looking for a girlfriend) it was almost humorous how this exact belief worked in my own life.
The second I was able to separate myself from the desire to want a girlfriend, I met my life partner Polina almost two weeks after that. She mentioned the same thing in a conversation we had, the moment she stopped looking for the thing that she wanted, it came into her life gracefully and without resistance.
Because what you’ll come to find out is when you let go, you allow yourself the freedom to move forward in the direction you want to go.
So try this now, think about the thing that you really want that is stressing you out, take a deep breath and realize that it will happen if it is meant to be, I simply have to stay disciplined and faithful. Focusing on the wrong things makes us lose focus on the bigger picture and more important things around us.
If you’re looking for an additional resource to relax better, whether you play sports or not, this is a good video to watch:
Conclusion
Slumps come in the weirdest form sometimes. They come when you least expect them. Don’t get discouraged, stay mentally strong, and realize that you will become bigger after each one as long as you understand that it is not happening to you but for you. Life is a gift and you must not waste a second of it since we only get one of it. So moving forward, reference this blog post anytime you go through a hardship or slump. Bookmark this or save it in your phone or computer and come back to this anytime you feel like you need it.
And it doesn’t have to be just when you’re feeling bad but even when you’re feeling good just to make sure you’re on top of your stuff. Hopefully, this post has served as a guide for how to get out of a slump. If you or anyone you know has been battling with a slump, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’ll be happy to help!
If you are not already, subscribe to the YouTube channel, I’ve posted videos on there about football related content, workouts, mindset, and a wide variety of other material pertaining to football and fitness.
As a kicker, I take my leg workouts seriously, (I haven’t skipped a leg day in 24 year) All sarcasm aside, It’s extremely beneficial for you not only to workout more, but to make meditation a centerpiece of your well being. There are plenty of methods out there but I truly believe the method in this article will help you understand how to get out of a slump. I have been practicing this method for years not only with the breathing methods but the cold therapy and it has become an absolute essential part of my day.
I’ll have an e book coming out soon that will have all sorts of information about how to be the best teacher you can be. If you are looking to get early access to that, check out this link
The TikTok channel has some pretty interesting information for you as well, check it out!
The Discord chat has a lot of people just like yourself in their we’re trying to better themselves in every way, feel free to stop by and say hello.
Instagram has videos and pictures that might be helpful to you from various sources just to put everything together.
Lastly, the Twitter page has some thoughts or ideas which I found interesting and might be useful to one of you guys out there.
Now that we have covered my methods for how to get out of a slump, reach out if there’s something else you would like to see a post about!
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