A Simple Solution for When You’re Off Your Game

Do you ever find yourself being off your game?

I believe we all do at times. And being off your game can knock you off your game even more if you let it, right? So, it’s important to take immediate countermeasures to ensure that doesn’t happen. I’ll share one of the most effective in a moment…

Sometimes being off your game just happens. Although typically not. Sorry, we can’t let each other off the hook here.

Being off your game is most likely self-induced.

It’s usually because we…

over plan,
do something “off-plan,”
overcommit,
overbook,
become overly optimistic, or
let ourselves follow some squirrel down a rabbit hole.

I’m sure there are countless other ways, too.

In last week’s post, I talked about how I was thrown off my game for the entire month of January by getting knocked out of commission by RSV. This topic feels like a natural extension because it falls into the category of how unplanned or unintended events can mess things up for us.

I was inspired by an email I read this morning from Ian Brodie, a marketing expert I follow who helps coaches and consultants. His email was about “being off his game” and it absolutely resonated.

There’s always another squirrel.

Ian said he’s having a weird week (his words). To me, it sounds like he saw a squirrel he couldn’t resist (my words) and forfeited all his attention. And that’s pretty much the definition of the metaphorical squirrel we talk about in these circles.

He described a week that he had fully planned, then completely forgot about his entire plan. I’m sure we’ve all done that—I know I have. I’ve even written a new plan before I realized I already had one. Seriously.

So why am I sharing a story about some marketing guy who’s having a weird week?

Well, I’ve been following Ian for years and found him to be one of the most reliably consistent content producers in my little part of the interwebs. And consistency is king.

To hear that a rock of consistency has an off week is oddly refreshing. Again, why? Because we tend to think we’re the only ones who slip up, um, consistently.

Here’s another thing most of us humans tend to do—OVERLOAD ourselves!

Yes. We do. Call it achieving next-level-crazy-busy. And we fool ourselves by saying, “I can handle it, no problemo.”

Thursday? Sure… Thursday’s fine. I can do Thursday.” (Without checking of course.)
—too many of us

What’s the remedy? So, I’m going to steal, um, borrow from Ian one more time.

…if you feel a bit off, or overloaded, or if you start doing something out of character – like forgetting things – press pause.”
—Ian Brodie, marketing consultant

As I said in last week’s post, hitting the pause button is hard for most of us—even when Mother Nature forces us. Even so, learning to practice the power of the pause is a skill worth nurturing. And it takes practice! Lots of it.

What can we do?

When you find yourself out of sync or off your game, give yourself some grace—and give yourself a break. It’s usually a sign that you’ve simply got too many balls in the air—not that you’re losing it.

Remember, you’re not perfect, you’re human. A human who’s trying to do their best in a crazy, mixed-up world that’s moving way too fast for all of us.

So, find your pause button. Get familiar with it. And start using it.

The power of the pause is that it allows you to…

catch your breath,
sort out priorities,
refocus yourself,
put projects on hold that can wait, and
let go of the unnecessary.

Most of the new pause buttons have settings ranging from five minutes to as long as you need. Press it again and now you’re back in the game!

Oh, and be careful with the fast-forward button. You don’t want to hit that one by accident.

Be untucked.

p.s. Thanks for dropping by LifeUntucked®. If you found this post helpful, think about sharing it with a friend…especially if they seem to be off their game a bit.