Mastering the Mindset
Mastering the Mindset
How To Get Out of a Slump
Sometimes you just end up in a slump. In a rut. We've all been there. Sometimes the spark and motivation we need simply comes from the actions we take. Sometimes small manageable steps can inspire you to overcome those slumps and turn your drive back on. Addressing both your mind and body can set the stage for personal growth and lead to significant accomplishments. I give you 6 tips to help you get out of that slump. Let's talk about it!
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What's up everybody and thank you for listening to Mastering the Mindset. My name is Darius Dodge and I'm an actor, hip-hop artist and fitness and life coach. I'm here to personally help you train and improve your mindset so that you can, one, become the best version of yourself mentally and, two, gain focus and motivation to be able to take action and achieve the success in life that you want and deserve. Before we get started, please like and subscribe to my channel. And at the success in life that you want and deserve. Before we get started, please like and subscribe to my channel. And at the end of this episode, if you liked it, please share it with a friend or a loved one or someone who would benefit from hearing this message. I'm so glad you're here and I'm ready to go on this journey with you, and that journey begins now. Begins now, all right, and welcome back to another episode. Like I always say, thank y'all for being here, and if you are watching me on youtube, please like and subscribe to my channel. If you're listening to me on a podcast platform, leave me a review. Those really help me out greatly and please make a donation. All of these are much appreciated and help me keep this thing going for you. But let's go ahead and jump in.
Speaker 1:Today is going to be straightforward. I'm going to give you six tips on how to get out of a rump, out of a rump, out of a rut. That's slump. But first, what is a rump? I keep saying what is a rut? What is a slump? Well, slump happens when you're not motivated, when you don't feel like taking action, and you probably haven't been taking action for a while. Right, and one thing that I know for a fact that is true is just like action creates more action. Inaction creates more inaction. Inaction creates more inaction Creates more inaction. Inaction creates more inaction. It just does. The more you don't do anything, the easier it is to keep not doing anything. Inaction creates more inaction and action will always create more action. The more you take action, the easier it is to continue to keep taking action.
Speaker 1:A lot of folks think they need to be motivated in order to take action. Like having motivation, is this prerequisite to taking action? And actually it's really not true. Psychologists have found and there are so many studies out there that show you that in order to be motivated, you actually need to take action first. Studies show that you become motivated once you take some kind of action and that action is going to give you a little boost, some inspiration, and then it starts to naturally produce some momentum, and then that momentum is going to inspire you to keep taking action. And if we think about it, if we actually take action, we actually are taking actions all day long. Every day, we take action. Every day. All day, we're taking actions.
Speaker 1:The problem is we just ain't taking the action we want in order to do the things and build the life we want. For example, when you got to go pee, you get up off the couch or out the bed and you go pee. When you get hungry, you get up, you go get food. Somehow. You don't need no inspiration to go to the bathroom. You don't need motivation to get up and go eat something. You're taking action. Even if you just sit on the couch and stare at the wall. That's an action. You made the choice to sit there and stare at the wall.
Speaker 1:We take actions all day long, but the reason we may be in a slump is because the actions we have been taking ain't the actions that's going to move the needle forward in our lives. If a lion walked in your front door right now. You wouldn't need motivation to get up and get moving. You would just do it, you would just go. Sometimes it can simply just boil down to just figuring out how to just do it, nike, how to just get moving and go.
Speaker 1:And one of the main things we got to focus on and sometimes something that I talk about a lot on here and I won't spend too much time on it but sometimes we just need to focus on starting small. Focus on starting small. A lot of times when you don't start, it's because you think about all the things that need to get done. You think about that big goal, your goal for the for the year or for five years, or an overall goal that you want to achieve. In general, you think about that end goal. But if you think about it closer, if you truly think about it, that big goal, that big end goal, it ain't even important right now. It ain't. What's important is today and what you do today, because that goal won't happen if you don't take steps today.
Speaker 1:When you do those small things, the small things will add up to big things and to get the needle moving forward in your life, you got to look at it in two ways you have your mind and you have your body. Your mind right, your thoughts, what you're thinking, and your body, how you feel. And also how and when you move your body. Because, yes, you can listen to a youtube video or podcast, even one like mine, and it can motivate you to be like hell, yeah, I'm gonna get my ass up and take action and you do. That can't happen, but the majority of the time you actually have to move your body when you really just don't feel like moving your body and a lot of times that can basically be what it boils down to. Sometimes you just got to do the thing, when the last thing you feel like doing is working on that thing, and by doing that, your mind will bring your body up to speed and help you create more action. Motivation can come from the body and, of course, it can come from the mind. And today we're going to talk about six different tips to help get out of that slump.
Speaker 1:And before I start, let me just say this ain't rocket science? Small things, small things every day that compound over the days, over the weeks, the years. They compound and can change your life. They can make a difference. So let's dive in.
Speaker 1:That was a long intro to get into this, but I wanted to make sure I was setting it up right. All right, number one get up. Get your butt up. That's number one. Get your body moving. Whether that means you got to get up and get coffee, make tea, do jumping jacks, shake your limbs out, jog around the room, but get your heart moving a little bit, get that blood flowing in your body. What I do every day is, after I make coffee and make my bed and pray, I clean. I get my body moving and clean up, and that helps me be more ready to start taking more action.
Speaker 1:How easy is it to lay in bed and look at your phone? It's easy to just keep doing that and the next thing you know, 45 minutes have passed by and all that inaction is only creating more action. And you got to start somewhere, right. So number one simple get up, get your body going, get your body in the mood of taking action, not just sitting. And this leads me to the second step, which is take small steps. And we talk about it a little bit already, but we get caught up in thinking about all the things we have to do instead of thinking about the next thing we got to do, the next step, the next task, the next small thing. We have to do one at a time, and I'm literally doing this right now as I'm recording this episode.
Speaker 1:I didn't feel like recording right now, but I have to, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get it out and upload it in time. Plus, I'm working on a bunch of other things and if I don't do this today, it's going to just add to the long list of stuff I already got. Then I'll be feeling overwhelmed because I procrastinated. If I do it now, it's going to be way better for me in the long run. So what did I do? I got up, got my body moving and got to recording. And look at me now. Just a few minutes ago I was not taking action. Now I'm recording, right, and it's not like I'm about to stop and just stop recording. No, I'm going to continue to take more action and finish. I'm in it now. I'm literally doing the thing. But it took me one to move my body, to take the first step, turn on the computer and just sit in my desk. That tiny step, just sitting in my desk, and that led to you hearing me right now Small step.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you just got to take small steps and focus on the next 60 seconds. It can literally be that simple. Sometimes you don't even need a plan when you really in that slump. Sometimes even writing out a plan can make you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes you just got to get up and take a small step. If you work from home, you need to get some stuff done. The next 60 seconds just focus on getting up, sitting at your desk and opening your computer. Then go from there. If you were at the gym, focus on the next 60 seconds of that set. Focus on your next 60 seconds of that chapter of that book you want to write. What do the next 60 seconds need to look like for you? Focus on the next minute instead of the whole big goal or the entire task, thinking about everything you got to do in this moment, in your slump, that can be demotivating. 100% paralysis by analysis. That's going to set in. But if you just think about the next small step, the next 60 seconds and just finishing whatever that small step is, it's going to free up some mental bandwidth for you to continue to take more steps, and so on and so on. So that's number two. Take a small step. Again, I'm not giving you rocket science, right, we pretty much already know all these things, but that slump is real and sometimes you just need that reminder. And I got you OK. So, step one get up. Step two take the small step.
Speaker 1:The third thing you need to do is celebrate your small win. Celebrate for the micro wins, and I can't stress enough how important this is, and I talk about this a lot. After you complete a task or you check off something off that list, celebrate. Say hell yeah, let's go Do your little dance that you do. You finish a set at the gym. Celebrate it. Say, boom, got that done. And talk to yourself to yourself, say I'm proud of you. You didn't feel like doing any of this. And look at you taking action and getting stuff done. You're doing the damn thing, like right now, me recording this podcast. You better believe. After I record it as I'm crossing it off my list, I'm gonna say let's go. That's how you put in the work and and towards building the life you want. Keep going, let's go. And I really do this.
Speaker 1:And there's a name for this it's called a dopamine reward system. When you start to celebrate yourself. Your body is going to release dopamine, and dopamine is subjective, right it is. You can literally decide to celebrate damn anything you want to, and when dopamine gets released, it makes you feel good and it's also motivating because you want more of it. You get that dopamine and your body says, ok, I like that. Right, and this is actual science. A guy by the name of BJ Fogg, who's a psychologist at Stanford, he found that celebrating yourself makes you more motivated to do the next action. That got you that dopamine. You got that dopamine. It made you feel good and you want to get it again. And that's a system which, again, if you've been listening to me, you've already heard that before.
Speaker 1:Anyway, set up your dopamine reward system. That's the third step. Celebrate those small steps, those small wins. Number four turn off your phone, those small wins. Number four turn off your phone. Again, not rocket science, but turn off as many electronics as you can.
Speaker 1:I'm not telling you nothing that you don't already know. We know the fact about all the blue light and how it affects you and the overkill of stimulation from social media and what that does to your brain. We know the fact that your phone and social media apps are literally designed to have you addicted, literally designed to get you addicted to them and spend as much time on them as possible. That's intentional and we know it can make you sit and do nothing productive all day if you let it. How many times have you picked up your phone just to check something or just text somebody and the next thing you know you look up and 30 minutes went by. Why you were supposed to be working on something, why I can literally be in the middle of working on something on my laptop and I get an email. And I pick up my phone, see that I got a notification on Facebook. Next thing I know I'm scrolling. Then I look up Ten minutes have gone by sitting at my desk trying to work. I know I ain't the only one. Don't lie to me right now.
Speaker 1:That phone, that Netflix, that Hulu, is designed to keep you occupied. Now, I'm not saying to never watch anything on Netflix or on social media, but if you're trying to get out of a rut, out of a slump, it's only going to hold you back. It's only going to keep you from taking action. So, whatever you can, whatever you can do to turn off as many electronics as possible, it's a good chance that your phone got you in that rut in the first place, right? So try to get away from your phone, from your TV. That's number four. Turn off their phone, turn off them electronics. Number five is important.
Speaker 1:Once you start to feel momentum on your side, ride it. Ride that momentum. A lot of times we get some of the momentum, we get things done, we have some productivity about ourselves, we celebrate the win and then that lazy feeling sets in and we end up right back where we started. And this also is another reason why it's important not to go back to your phone while you're getting stuff done. You might be in the middle of getting things done. Pick up that phone, get sucked in. Now you've been scrolling for 40 minutes and all that momentum you had is gone. Now you got to start from zero again.
Speaker 1:Once you start getting that momentum, feel that momentum and be aware when you're trying to self-sabotage yourself. It's a lot easier to keep that momentum moving forward if you're moving the needle forward, but if you had to stand still and not doing anything, it's harder to get that momentum back. Like the metaphor of pushing a broke down car it's hard to get it moving at first, but once you start to get some momentum, it's easier to keep it going. You just got to keep pushing. Do whatever you can to keep it going, to keep it moving, find it and ride it. Get that feeling of going in the right direction. And you better believe, this happens to me too. I can feel it happening to me.
Speaker 1:While it's happening, I'll be sitting at my desk and I just have the urge to check my phone. And even though I'm conscious of why I'm feeling this urge, even though I recognize that, hey, dodge, you're putting in the work right now, you don't need that phone, I still find it hard as hell to resist it and sometimes I can't and I end up on my phone and my momentum needs to be forced back up again. Right, so keep that momentum on your side. That's number five. And the last one, number six try to get around other people that can help you move towards what you want. Maybe you got to meet up with a friend at a coffee shop, somebody who also has things they have to work on too. Now, I know we've all been there, done that. You get around somebody who has work to do and you just being around them as they work is going to motivate you to start doing something Like for me at the gym.
Speaker 1:I could be in the middle of a set and I could be tired and ready to just say you know what you got enough. How much do you really need to work out? You could just skip this last set and nobody would ever know. You still got muscles, you good. But what gets me motivated is when somebody comes by close, by my area, and now there's this little voice in my head that makes me want to lift a little bit harder in case somebody watching me, especially if it's a woman, especially if it's a woman and if she cute. Please, men, do it. Now I can't speak for women, but I know I can speak for men. If a woman walk by you as you in the middle of a set. Man, that form about to be perfect, you about to find strength. You didn't know you had you about to do extra reps. It's about to be the best set ever.
Speaker 1:Anyway, get around other people. You get this, this instant uptick in motivation to go that much harder Right. Get around folks that can help you move towards what you want and you don't have to go to the coffee shop with a friend. It could literally be just strangers. You ever went to a coffee shop to work. You could be around people that you don't even ever speak to, but I guarantee you will start getting work done by just being around other people.
Speaker 1:And as number six, again, I didn't come to teach you anything new today, but I came to give you some reminders and hopefully help you get out of that slump you might be in. Get up, get your body moving. That's one to take small steps. Three celebrate the small wins for. Turn off your phone and electronics. Five ride your momentum once you get it. And six try to be around other people that help you stay motivated or start working or keep working. And it's simple. But I understand that that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy, because if was easy, we wouldn't ever be in a slump Definitely easier said than done, but it's simple and easy to comprehend and 100% something you can do. So that's what I got for you today, man. Thank you all for being here again. Please, if you were on YouTube, go ahead and like and subscribe to my channel. If you are listening to me on the podcast platform, leave me a review and also make a donation. All of and I really enjoy doing this for y'all, so all of that is greatly appreciated.
Speaker 1:The song I'm going to give you today is an unreleased song that I've played on here before, but I'm going to play it again. The song is called King Kong, and let's ride out. You and I Just got dressed. I got fresh. All you text. Let me check.
Speaker 1:I confess I've been a mess. Do I get stressed? Nigga? Yes, it's. When you chase success, it's side effects Like ba-ba-ba Don't always connect and I talk to myself Like okay, bet, like they forgot who the fuck I am. I should flex. Don't make me beat my chest.
Speaker 1:King Kong in the flesh. I don't get finessed. You only get one life. Live your best. No regrets, no regrets. And I ain't come to play. No recess, don't need rest, only checks. Blood, tears and sweat Determine what you get.
Speaker 1:I'm determined to get success. I'm not what you expect. It's got you King Kong in the flesh, cause. They know I'm a what you expect. It's got you King Kong in the flesh, cause. They know I'm a beast, not a pet, more like a vet. Write my checks Now. Please don't get to bugging me. Please don't be a pest. I'm too focused. I've been hungering Like I'm from Budapest. Corona came and it was so ugly For the whole country. I searched for myself and I made a discovery. I've been living on Skull Island this whole time. I'm blessed King Kong in the flesh, cause they know I'm a beast, not a pet. Don't try to pet. I'm not your mix, I'm not what you expect.
Speaker 1:King Kong in the flesh, don't make me have to flex, beat my chest. Okay, bet, say less. I'm tired, but you ain't spared. I'm not in the nest, I'm too fly. I left. This ain't music. This shit is love to me. It's like a drug to me. If you really feel it, let me know you. Fuck with me, keep it above with me, walk to my cell. But now she was the plug to me. Now people look up to me. First time I heard it it really stuck to me like I'm under a desk and I don't see no test With this pen and this pad, everything I'm writing be correct. They can say whatever they want, but they gotta give me respect. People love to see you down. I don't let it get me upset. I don't care if you talk down, go ahead, get it off of your chest. Hope you hate. I just treat it like the plus one, be my guest. Y'all gon' make me drop my nuts and really start talking. We'll be right back. Peace. We'll see you next time. Love, we play, so you and I.