Monday Morning Gold

In sports, sales, or even life you can spiral into a slump. Slumps left unattended can spiral deeper into a full-blown rut. Feeling stuck can play havoc on with your mental mindset. It may lead you to believe there is no hope. You may begin to second-guess your abilities to the point of defeat, quitting, or accepting failure.

One of the best, most consistent players to grace a baseball field, Cal Ripken wrote in his autobiography about a super bad slump back in 1990 when his batting average was a measly .209:

“I was as frustrated as I’ve ever been. I was at rock bottom, thinking I might be through. I mean it wasn’t a matter of being tired. I just wasn’t myself at the plate. I had developed bad habits, trying too much, and the more I fought it physically, the more it became a mental problem.”

At the very core of rising out of your slump is to realign your mental mindset. You need to reframe your thoughts into wins, positives, and good self-talk. To help you accomplish this rise out of a slump, I have listed six ideas that may help you.

1. The Ripper – Find a clean sheet of paper. Pull up a chair alone with your favorite pen. I want you to feel the pain of this slump. Let it really eat at you and decide the pain is over. Write a letter to the slump master that is keeping you stuck.

After you have written your best letter telling off the slump master, rip it into tiny shreds and throw it away. Declare as you do this, “I am in control of my mindset and success outcome” and then throw those pieces away and get on with a better story of your sports life, personal life, or sales life.

2. The Quieter – You will need about 20 minutes for this activity. Set aside those minutes and find a (you guessed it) quiet spot for reflection. Begin by closing your eyes, becoming calm and present, and then take deep slow breathes in and out for the first 5 minutes.

Now, think about a time when you were on fire. Think about a time you broke those sales records or sports records. Think about your best time ever. Play pictures of that event over and over for the next 15 minutes. Every time a thought of the your slump appears, quietly say, “Canel, cancel.”

3. The Affirmed – Reading and visualizing what you want rather than being caught in the trap of an unending slump can be enlightening. Write out exactly what you want in future tense, as if it has already happened.

Affirmations can help the subconscious mind see exactly what you want. Feed your subconscious mind a better mindset and your outcome will change. Your slump will go away.

4. The Conference – Find a close friend, mentor, or coach who can listen to your troubles and offer up new advice that may help you see things in a different light. You friend, mentor, or coach may suggest ideas that you had not considered. Those ideas may be the godsend that helps you rise out of your slump.

One note of caution would be to make sure who ever you select as a confidant about your slump is a trusted person. You may be sharing deep personal and vulnerable information about your condition.

5. The Pressure – Sometimes getting out of a slump or rut can take massive practice. If you are in a hitting slump, why not hit and extra thousand baseballs everyday until you rise out of the slump. If you are in sales, why not contact an extra ten or twenty people per day.

6. The Reader – Use the power of a great book move you out of your slump. Take a break from pressing so hard to get unstuck and just rest, relax, and read some motivation. Maybe you can read a great story about someone who overcame their slump in sports, sales, or just plain life.

Make it a habit of watching the most successful person in your field or game and model their behavior, swing, or follow through. Ask them questions about how they perform. I bet they have been in a slump at sometime in their past as well. Ask them how they were able to rise out of their slump and perform.

When you are in the middle of slump or a rut it can feel really bad. It might even feel like your world is caving in on you. I suggest it is not. You need to put it in perspective. A slump is temporary. Don’t allow it to become consuming and take away your winning mindset.