Tips for getting out of a slump

Or ... how to stop trying to get out of it and start supporting yourself through it instead. 🙃

You know those seasons of life, when you’re just not doing so great for a prolonged period of time? Recurring stuckness, exhaustion, overwhelm – they all have been visiting and none of them seem to be planning to leave anytime soon.

Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with those, too.

And in moments like these - as you do as a true millennial - I might, once or twice, have asked Google for tips on how to get out of that slump. 🙈 And the things that came up … Let’s just say IF I KNEW HOW TO STOP BEING IN THIS SLUMP I WOULD HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT. Thank you very much. 😭

So today, let’s look at some things that can actually help you support yourself through a slump (of any kind).

Let’s start with an exercise

Imagine this situation as a path you’re walking, a room you’re in, or a scene taking place in front of you. Who’s there? Who isn’t? What is happening and how do you feel?

Then, in this visualization and in the real world, deliberately put both your feet firmly on the ground. The moment you do that, see if any words come up to reinforce your intention. Repeat those words until you can feel that you’ve surrendered yourself (more) to what is.

A personal example

I was standing in front of a very big, poorly lit room full of floating heads with giant, piercing eyes 👀 (okay, they might have had bodies too, I just didn’t see them). And I could barely move or talk, because of the pit in my stomach that wasn’t a pit, but a huge metal bar throughout my whole torso.

The moment I stepped into this room, the words ‘‘I am not afraid’’ came up (which was funny, because I felt incredibly afraid 😬), which I repeated until I felt a bit more grounded again.

It might feel stupid or unnecessary, but it is visualizations like these that help your mind really surrender to your intention to, in this case, accept your slump. Reconnecting with yourself and the present moment starts here.

3 practical questions you can ask yourself to make hard days suck just a little less

(while upping the self-connection, self-support, and self-care game even more):

#1 What do I need to take with me into this day?

And I don’t mean something to help yourself feel better, I mean the thing that’s already there although you really don’t want it to be.

It helps to consciously decide to take the sadness, heaviness, or self-doubt with you – perhaps in an imaginary backpack or on your imaginary backseat; it makes you feel less helpless in the face of it, it helps you take back some power.

#2 What’s going to be the highlight of my day?

And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy (please don’t pick anything fancy – yesterday my highlight was using fresh garlic instead of powder in my dish). Choosing a highlight helps you focus and spend time on the things that really matter to you.

#3 What would I do now, if I were at my best?

Note, you are not at your best right now. And that’s totally fine. But in times like these, when everything feels like too much, this question does give you a direction in which you can start to take a small(!) step - leading you back to your favorite self.

If you know that you would take a walk if you were at your best, maybe in this moment, you open a window or go look at some plants in your garden.

👉🏻 Getting out of a slump starts with reconnecting with yourself. This is what leads you back to you, even in the hardest of times. It’s like putting a hand on your own shoulder and telling yourself:
‘‘Hey, it will be all right, and therefore, right now, it does NOT have to be all right.’’