How To Get Back To Great When You’re In A Slump
I came down with the flu two weeks ago. I’ve been indoors and living on my couch and just discovered that Spring has arrived, which means now all my allergies are kicking in. I feel slow and am unproductive. It’s frustrating. But I’ve had this feeling before, even when I’m not sick. I bet we’ve all had those moments of slow, unproductive, not-quite-ourselves… when our confidence takes a hit and we lose our footing… can’t quite seem to get back to normal. Some of us make it to 30 without experiencing this but none of us get to 40 without a few days or weeks of it.
I call this losing your mojo.
Just for the heck of it, I googled the definition of mojo and found some other definitions… so when I say mojo, to be clear - I don’t mean libido or synthetic marijuana. I mean good luck, charm or skill that seems to come from something magical or supernatural. When we’re doing great at work and in life, it feels like luck and magic are on our side and we can do anything. It’s a wonderful feeling and it can last for a long time if you’ve got a healthy work ethic. It’s disorienting as hell when it mysteriously disappears.
There’s no mathematical formula to getting your mojo back, but there are things you can do to help restore it:
- Pin-point when and where you lost it. What threw you off your game? What got under your skin? By identifying and naming it, it loses its power. Some possible scenarios:
- a new boss who didn’t appreciate your experience
- a mentor who left the company
- a failure of a major project
- getting passed over for a promotion
- falling behind schedule and then getting overwhelmed at the thought of catching up
- a new co-worker who’s difficult to get along with
- a new high-profile project and you’re worried you won’t come through
- any number of personal-life curve balls
- Come up with at least five ways you could have handled things differently. Chances are you’ll have another similar circumstance down the road. Being prepared for next time will boost your confidence. (These five ways of handling it differently should also be ways that will keep you enthused, confident and productive.)
- Let go of the negativity. There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them or it. Forgive yourself and others. This may be really difficult, but it’s really important. Forgive but don’t forget. Own up to your part in it and take the life-lesson from this experience that is yours to take forward.
- Talk to your trusted friends, mentors and coaches. Listen to their advice. Also listen to yourself. Listen to their advice. Also listen to yourself. Yes, I repeated those last two sentences. Make sure you do too. You’ll likely need to quiet your racing mind enough to hear what your conscience is telling you. Then, after slowing yourself down enough to listen to yourself and others, do what feels right and move forward.
- Fake it ‘til you make it. Sometimes this is the only thing to do because if you wallow in feeling sorry for yourself, you’ll have a harder time bouncing back. Sometimes it’s a simple case of Shit Happens and you need to press yourself back out there because how you deal with a setback has everything to do with the success you could have in 3 or 6 or 12 months.
- Do things that boost your confidence: Learn something new, help someone, work out. Set do-able goals for yourself then crush them.
- Do things that you enjoy. Go to the movies, go out with friends, travel, stay in and read a book, go to a carnival… the specifics of what you do doesn’t really matter – just make sure you do something you enjoy. Actually, do a lot of things you enjoy. The more you enjoy, the better and more confident you’ll feel… and the more you can click back into being awesome.
