Why so many business owners BURN OUT (And HOW to avoid it)

#burnout #burnoutprevention 

On the #Built4ProfitPodcast powered by IQ4Profit, the hosts discuss business owner burnout, noting that over 52% of small business owners have experienced it. They distinguish burnout from simple tiredness, describing it as mental fatigue from constant decision-making, reduced excitement, and feeling reactionary. Rather than relying solely on a short-term fix like a two-week vacation, they emphasize building daily and weekly habits to prevent burnout: give yourself grace, celebrate wins by writing down past accomplishments, practice gratitude, take mental breaks that spark creativity, and prioritize physical self-care through sleep, healthy eating, movement, and even music to change your state. 

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Transcript

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Have you ever reached a point in your business where you were just feeling tired? And it wasn't because you weren't necessarily putting in too many hours, but you're just feeling that fatigue. A lot of business owners have that. And that's what we're talking about today. And it's a real thing. It is a real thing. Over 52% of small business owners say that they have experienced burnout at some point in their career, which I believe. No, absolutely. Welcome to the Built for Profit podcast, powered by IQ for profit. Because when you know better, you can do better. And so what is burnout? It shows up different for different people, but I think it's just that kind of exhausted feeling. And it's usually more mental. Like lots of people think burnout is just from working 80 hours a week. Yeah. You're physically working and you're just burnt out. Honestly, I think that's being tired. That's like I'm sore, I'm tired. Burnout is that mental fatigue, tired of making decisions, and also like lack of excitement sometimes for the future, because you can't like muster up the energy to be excited about it, take some action, get a plan. You just need a break. It's like death by a thousand cuts. And that mental fatigue that you talk about from decision making, I get that a lot. I mean, when you get home, what's for dinner? Does anybody ever get that when they come in the house? What we're gonna go over today, it's not that we're saying take a two-week vacation because a lot of people think that that's the solution. They're like, I haven't taken a break. I think I just need a break, which is a very short-term solution, I would say. But if you're really gonna combat and overcome burnout and prevent it, really is what we would like to see. It's actually take that two-week vacation, that's fine. But implementing small things daily, weekly into your everyday, you're building a lifestyle that's supporting you to not burn out. And a lot of people, I think when they're burned out, they think they're not enjoying their job or something is going on that it's unpleasant or you know, it's a bad thing. And I don't know necessarily that's always the case. Because sometimes it's just like you said, it's just mental fatigue, it's a regroup moment. And so if you could avoid it, absolutely that's the best thing. But when you're in it, sometimes you just gotta go, yeah, this is just a moment or a phase. Yeah. And I think that that is so spot on. I think a lot of people can relate to that. And I believe that it makes them question, is this that I'm not enjoying this anymore? Like I used to, and now I'm kind of past that. No, I agree. Because we burnout as part of it is uncomfortableness that we want to move through or get away from. So, what are your options? So if I'm burned out, I'm sitting here and going, Yep, I don't want to go spend another 80 hours this week at the shop. What are my options? Yeah. I mean, like, we cannot not go. Right. Because I need to keep my business going. Do I get to take an extra long lunch, sleep in one day? I mean, what are my go-to moves to deal with this? Yeah, I think that's what we need to bring to the table right now is some solutions. And I also think there's a little bit of a stigma. I would certainly say for myself, if I look back, I can definitely pinpoint periods of probably close to burnout, you know? But I wouldn't have really wanted to admit, gosh, I think I'm like burning out. It feels like I'm doing something wrong. I'm inadequate. None of that is true. These are feelings that we can have and associate with it, but that's how it can feel. So let's talk about some habits that they can put in place to avoid the burnout. Day drinking. First thing came going. Oh, that's not on our list. Edit that part out. It might help in the short term. We're talking about long-term actual things that they can be doing to avoid it. Tactical. Sometimes it's hard to be still when you have so many things going on. But that mental checkout or break are one of the things that you like doing. Yeah. Usually I would say when people are, you know, getting close to burnout, they're not doing really anything extra because they're only working. So finding some of those extra things. Celebrating your wins is so important when it comes to avoiding burnout. Because usually when you're leading to burnout, you're focused on the to-do list, the task, the goal, the metrics, you're tracking all of these sort of things and not just taking time to kind of think about all the things that you've accomplished and a healthy exercise that you can do is first just to sit down. Even if you're not a journaler, don't think about it as journaling, but write out 15, 20 things that you have either overcome or done successfully. Because, okay, you know how if you're tackling a new project, if you're coming into that from a place of not winning, if you want to say, Yeah, you're coming into that like it's the next thing on the list. Here we go. Okay, this sales funnel or whatever it is. And when you're coming off of like, nope, I've done this. Nope, I launched that. Gosh, that came at me, didn't think I'd ever say something like that. And I overcame it. All right, what are we looking at next? This sales funnel. Let's do it. Yeah, and being grateful that changes your state. Because really, burnout is a state, right? It's a mindset, it's a state. And when you see me walking down the hallway, clapping my hands above my head, getting my energy, changing my state to have a conversation or do things we need to do. And we could control that. And especially with so much stuff around stress and mental wellness, it's hard to, as a business owner, just show up and sell someone, yeah, I'm I'm stressed out, I'm burned out, I don't have the energy to get up and go do this grind tomorrow. I mean, who do you tell? Do you go in home and tell your significant other, oh yeah, you know, all that money we put in that business and also I'm not really having fun with it right now. Or do you go to you and tell your employees, guess what? Yeah, I am done with all you people here. Yeah. That's a hard one. Right. So I mean, I think half of it is just giving yourself grace to go, this is a phase, this is a moment. It's just like when you have kids, they go through phases. And it doesn't have to be all or nothing. This doesn't mean you're not in the right place or the right business. You're in a phase. Yeah. Yes. And piggybacking off of that, something that helps you realize if you're doing the right thing or not, because as Shay said, it can lead you to question, like, should I continue doing this? And you can ask yourself, like, if I could wave a magic wand and just get a break, take away the responsibilities for even a week, would I come back and still be excited about this? If that answer is yes, and it can be difficult to put your mind there, I get that. Because it's like you got just enough off your plate and that goal is still there. You just needed to be able to breathe. Like you just needed some breathing room, not to do something completely different. You know, and everybody's different how they handle things. And I'm not sure that one's right or wrong. You gotta know your own self because I feel more anxious going somewhere else and feeling like I'm not paying attention to that. But there's probably healthiness in both of that, taking a mental break. Yep. And how many times have you, like you said, your shower example always like, right? When you're totally away from something, you're doing something different, and then the idea, the solution or the creativity comes to you. Yep. The great ideas, driving, shower, working out. What is the commonality there? You're not sitting in front of a computer trying to grind through it. And another thing that I find for myself, and I guess that you are the same, taking care of myself physically is crucial for me to keep strong attitude, mental clarity, honestly, to just keep my energy going. That means sleep, that means eating healthy and movement. I used to work out basically at the end of the day, at the end of the workday, right? So before we would pick up the kids, we would go work out. And I'm like, the Elizabeth that walks into the gym is, I would love to see myself on those cameras. Me walking in, I have all this stuff in my mind. I'm thinking through this, just been at a computer or working hours straight. And the Elizabeth that walks out has been like listening to a podcast, some music. I am inspired. I just had some great creative ideas. I am like joyously on fire leaving that gym and then going to pick up the kids and start basically a whole new section of the day with that energy. So I know for me that's so important, but I think that just as humans, we're wired that way to really thrive off just some movement, get those endorphins going. Like Shay said, change your physical state. Take advantage of that because there's controllables and uncontrollables in these things that lead to burnout. And so lots of times the things that are leading to it are uncontrollable situations happening to us, or you know, we've got some level, but they're things happening. So we can control the food we're putting in our body, the amount of sleep, you know, getting in movement and some of those things. And even just feeling like you're a little bit more in control helps decrease the burnout because I think that's what leads to a lot too, is this like, I'm just reactionary to what's happening. And this sounds really simple, but music, yeah. I mean, like, who cannot listen to the Rocky song and be like, all right, let's go. Juice up. I love music, just throwing things out there because it does change my state. So the big takeaway for this is really first of all, it's okay. Everyone has it, different stages, career, the beginning, the end, doing things. It's not good or bad. It's just a place, it's just a mindset. And you have the ability to change that mindset. So that's the empowering thoughts on this. And it's okay probably to share that with someone. I'm going through a phase right now, right? I need to regroup. Probably the sad thing is, Elizabeth, I'm gonna bet that most people know that you're having a burnout moment. Yeah, I don't know anybody's that good at hiding it. Do you? Definitely not me. I would completely agree with that. And the last thing I would share as a habit or tip is anchoring back to either a bigger purpose, if you're a faith-filled person, anchoring back to that, we can get so consumed as entrepreneurs. One of the things that makes us successful usually is that we can become all consumed with our work, the success, the vision, the mission. And that can also be very draining. And so when you get back to your bigger picture about either why you started it, the impact you're making, go back and read some testimonials from some of your customers and how you've helped them. Think about your bigger purpose, you know, if faith is important to you and how that's just not to diminish what we're doing, but sometimes that's humbling to just remember and help you work through things. That's a really good point. The why, right? Why did you open that door, the community, the family, whatever that particular passion is, it's getting back to it. Because then it all makes sense again, right? Yeah. And you can hear our passion when we talk about this topic. I'm not saying we've experienced it firsthand, but I think every entrepreneur has teetered on it. And so we know what that feels like. And we've also seen what it can do to other entrepreneurs. And what we got a special place in our heart, I think that's fair to say for anyone who has taken that venture and started their own business. Shea calls them the can-do kids. And it's part of why we created IQ for profit and the profit hub in general. We said, how can we help alleviate some of the pressure and giving them resources and templates and trainings and all these different things inside the profit hub? So if you haven't checked that out, click on the link in the show notes and take a look at that. But we like to joke that since you are asked what's for dinner every night, if someone just said, hey, here's a shopping list, here's a dinner menu for the week, and here's a shopping list. Put it in your cart, you should be good to go. We would be like, Thank you. That's what I needed. And that's what we did create with the Profit Hub, a training, you understand it. So it's not an overwhelming list, but they're also all benefits that we do want them to be taking advantage of. Absolutely. Because there's a lot of opportunities for business owners, and we want to minimize the risk and taxes and all the things that make it unpleasant. No one went into business to learn and be an expert on all those things. It's not even fun. But the things that you don't know can cost you time and money. So we got your back. That's right. Yep. So check it out if you haven't before, because when you know better, you can do better. We'll see you in the next episode. One of the heaviest loads business owners carry are taxes and expenses. They can make or break your bottom line. Yes, we see it every day. And that is why we have partnered with Lightening the Load, expert tax strategists, and CPAs. And they help you get a deep dive on those numbers, uncover different strategies, and keep more of what you've actually earned. They don't just file returns, they lighten the load for you with confidence. And that way you can grow and scale your business. So check out, it's in the show notes below. We got a 30 minute free consultation for you with lightening the load, and you're talking to a CPA. Unbelievable. So click on the link below and take advantage of it. We'll see you in the next episode.