It doesn’t matter if the slump is in on the playing field or in the office–the obvious way out is “no left cortex thinking.” Don’t know what that means? Find out in the audio segment of this therapeutic Wall Street Journal piece, which talks with sports psychotherapists about how we fall into– and more importanty, how we can pull ourselves out of –a slump. Here, from the paper that keeps Wall Street performing as it does, are some tips on recognizing and improving the mental side of workplace performance.
Causes of Slumps in Sports and Work
• Fear of repeating past failures
• Dwelling on past mistakes
• Loss of confidence
• Overthinking the next move or play and choking or freezing
• Overtraining in sports, burnout on the job
• Forgetting your original purpose or attraction to your sport or job
• Constant destructive criticism by a coach, fans or a boss
• Resurfacing of past fears arising from psychological trauma or injury
Techniques to Change Negative Thinking
• After a mistake or failure, refocus immediately on a past success.
• Visualize yourself succeeding on the next sale, meeting, play or game.
• Record and refer to your past peak performances, on video or in writing.
• List your strengths and assets and refer to the list in stressful moments.
• Turn off your mind and focus on step-by-step processes.
• Use rest or relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
• Surround yourself with encouraging people.
• Develop rituals to focus your mind in the present moment.
• Recall the original purpose or attraction that drew you to your sport or job.
• Work with a psychologist or therapist to identify causes of performance blocks.
If your in a finacial slump, ask Washington for a billion dollars…..but, only if you work on Wall Street.
Psychological injuries are more lasting as they can impact in a very worst manner. These can be insults, racial comments etc. but most of all they can really destroy the worker’s mental health very badly and satisfaction factor.