The Wall Street Journal today had a good story on breaking out of slumps, both at work and in sports. Its too long to post in its entirety but here are the highlights.
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.
I got some more good practice in last night, ran a round of singles, shot a 23 from 27 yards and then 25 yards. And left after shooting a 24 from 25 yards. My confidence is back, comfortable in new gun, shooting decent scores beyond my current handicap. Having fun again.