Team Alpha 375

"Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting."

Yogi Berra

How to Get Out of That Damned Rut
By Michael Masterson

"How do you get out of a rut? Regain passion for your work? Get yourself up for each day? Have you thought about this?" asked Leonard, my good friend and business partner. "It happens to me often," he said. "And it makes me miserable. I feel guilty and useless, because I tend to waste away the day. The only way I can get back into it is to get on a good roll with a new project. But sometimes that takes a long time."

What can you say about this experience that Leonard describes? That it stinks?

You wake up tired and unmotivated. You dread work. Everything seems more interesting than what you have to do.

The feeling can pass in a few hours, or it can last for days -- even weeks. It is entirely unproductive, and completely unnecessary.

I'll tell you how to banish this feeling from your life in a moment. But before I do, let's talk about why you occasionally fall into a rut.

The Following 4 Paragraphs May Be Unsuitable for Children and True Believers

The reason you occasionally feel that your work has no meaning is because it has none.

The same goes for your life. The universe is -- sorry to say -- a void, not a magical kingdom created for your personal amusement.

Meaning -- and the passion that goes with it -- is not something that exists outside of you. It comes from within. You can't capture it. You can only create it. The moment you stop creating it, it is gone.

The feeling of malaise you get when you fall into a rut is a letdown of energy -- energy that you have been creating all along.

Okay... maybe you don't buy that. A meaningless universe might contradict your beliefs. But it doesn't matter. Because what I'm about to tell you will work regardless of whether you understand the cause and effect of it all.

Let me start by saying that if you are feeling bad, it's probably because you are doing something/someone/somewhere wrong.

You Should Be Doing What You Want to Do... With Whom You Want to Do It... Where You Want to Do It

If you have a job you really don't like, it might pay to change careers. The same holds true for the key people in your life. If you have surrounded yourself with energy-sucking losers, give them the heave-ho. Same holds true for your neighborhood. Does it depress you every time you think about it? Do you dream of warm weather and sunny skies? (Come to Florida!)

On the other hand, if you basically like your work/colleagues/location, don't waste any time thinking about changing them.

Three Steps to Getting Yourself Out of a Rut

As I said, there is no reason to ever be in a funk. And here's better news: Getting yourself out of a funk is relatively easy to do.

Step 1. Recognize that you are very low in energy... and energy is what you need. Imagine that there is a motivation panel inside your brain. The panel contains dozens of fuses, each one a conductor of energy. When you hit a slump, many of these fuses have blown.

Blown fuses -- any sort of negative, self-deprecating, or self-limiting thoughts -- must be removed before they can be replaced with good ones.

To take out your blown fuses:

• Recognize that your slump will pass. (It passed before, didn't it?)

• Try not to be mad at yourself. (After all, this is basically a biochemical problem.)

• Remind yourself how lucky you are. (Think Christopher Reeve.)

• If you are worried about a particular problem, imagine the worst outcome and then figure out how you will survive it. This will neutralize the anxiety.

Step 2. Do something -- anything -- that gives you a little lift. The idea is to think/say/do a number of things that you've found through experience charge you up a bit. Some things that work for me might work for you. Try these:

• Put on some music. Loud. This morning's selection for me was "Help Me Rhonda" by the Beach Boys. Very therapeutic.

• Dance. (Make sure no one is looking.)

• If you can't force yourself to dance, do some kind of wild exercises. Frantic jumping jacks. Leapfrogging across the carpet. (Do this in private too.)

• Stand in front of a mirror and smile. Smile one hundred times. Did you know that the physical act of smiling releases endorphins? You won't believe how good this makes you feel until you try it. Go ahead.

If you do enough of this kind of stuff... and you've really rid yourself of your blown fuses... you are ready for the third step (which is really the key to the entire process).

Step 3. Complete a worthwhile task -- something useful that has value to you.

The trick is to have a ready inventory of meaningful tasks that need doing. If you are a busy person, this won't be a problem. The tasks you have set aside in inventory should be relatively small in scope, though. You should be able to complete them in a few hours at most.

I can't even begin to guess what your inventory would look like. Mine usually includes writing something (like a short story, a scene for a screenplay, or an essay for Early to Rise). It might also include something more mundane (like replacing that light bulb that has been out for six months).

Remember that the job must be important -- to you -- and you must do it well. If it is and you do, you will be out of your slump by the time you are finished with it.

This three-step process works every time. Getting out of a slump is all about forgetting the problems that are draining your energy and getting involved in good, energizing work.

One more thing: When you feel a slump coming on, don't ignore it. Act immediately.