Coping With Burnout as a Sports Bettor

As a punter, you will have to deal with a lot of challenging emotions.  Anger, fear, and frustration, pride and stress will all take their toll.  But stress is really just the tip of the iceberg.  When you are stressed, you are still motivated—often highly motivated.  But you push yourself and push yourself, and you may eventually find yourself dealing with burnout.

What is burnout?  Burnout is a psychological state characterized by disconnection from your work.  It happens when you have burned up too much of your energy and willpower, and you find yourself on the other side, floating adrift.  You suddenly feel less interested or even completely disinterested in your work.  It is hard to get motivated to do it, or even sometimes to do anything else.  Burnout can lead to acute or chronic depression.

Why do bettors have to be wary of burnout?

• Sports betting is an incredibly involved activity if it is one you are taking seriously.  There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into it, and a huge time commitment.  You juggle a lot of information and tasks, and mastering it can take years.  It is easy to over-commit yourself, especially if you are also working a day job.

• You may hold yourself to stupendously high standards, and you may feel like you are a failure if you are not constantly climbing higher and higher.  There is really no “ceiling” to what you can achieve.  In that sense, it is very different from a day job where you work for an employer.  In a culture where ambition is prized, you may feel like you are weak if you are not always pushing yourself.

• Sports betting is an occupation where you are always on the lookout for opportunities.  Since you train yourself to pursue opportunity at every turn, you may feel like if you back off from your work for a bit that you are just sitting on your hands, wasting chances that are flying by. 

Burnout is dangerous because when it happens, it drains your willpower.  Even if betting is something you take very seriously, you may end up quitting.  You think, “That will never happen to me,” but so do many other punters who ultimately do give up.

How can you deal with burnout?  The best way is to avoid it.  If you are subjecting yourself to a lot of stress over a long time period and you feel you are pushing up against your limits, back off for a bit.  Take a break.  Take a day off, take a vacation.  Eat, sleep, and take care of your body.  Spend time with your loved ones.  Work on a hobby.  Establish more realistic goals if necessary, and set limits for yourself.  It’ll be hard, because you will feel like you are wasting time, but in reality, you are protecting yourself and your long-term prospects as a punter.