Strategies to Avoid Burnout

 Together, let's rebel gently against burnout.

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This podcast was created to help big-hearted, driven professionals break free from overwhelm and experience more clarity, ease, and joy.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Gentle Rebellion, where overwhelm is optional. Five years ago I burnt out and every now and again I dig for more gold in what happened to me, to make more sense of it, to become more at peace with it and also because there's always treasure in crises. Right, and this is what I've come up with. First of all, I've got a list on how to burn out and then I've got the opposite list on how not to burn out, which I thought you might enjoy. How to burn out? Believe you have no choice but to keep going in impossible doing mode.

Speaker 1: 0:44

You know that impossible doing mode where you have way too much on your plate, your spinning plates. On spinning plates, you're juggling everything in the air and just the maintenance, let alone the forward movement in your life, is just completely overloading you. So it's not just overwhelm caused by getting stuck in our heads and going around in circles in our heads, it's not just the normal or overwhelmed that's created by an overwhelming world. It's also the fact that you're trying to do too much and you've completely overloaded yourself. That impossible doing mode. When you sit there saying this is impossible, how can all of this be expected of me? Or how come you're expecting to be able to do all of those things. What's going on there for you and the belief that you have no choice but to keep going in impossible doing mode even though by definition it's impossible, I would argue is one of the fundamental things that leads to burnout. Keep treating your body as an inconvenient way to carry your mind around, ignoring all niggles as inconvenient problems to be solved rather than helpful signals from the miraculous healing machine and wise old friend that your body actually is. Say yes to everything and everyone and guiltily hope that what's left over is enough to maintain relationship with those you love the most. Man, was I guilty of that one apologies? All round, people Undervalue your time, energy and attention.

Speaker 1: 2:18

Believe resilience is pushing on through and that you can rest at some undesignated future time. Believe it won't happen to you because you know better and have your stress under control. Which one of those resonates with you, or resonates the most with you? Maybe they all do. It was definitely where I was eight years ago, 10 years ago and five years ago it all collapsed and imploded on me. I've worked out that I had this struggle going on between having the freedom to be myself, which would mean being able to enjoy my success and take care of myself properly, to be myself and also maintaining everything I've created in a career that I loved. And it was that struggle, that struggle to be myself, that struggle for freedom within the restrictions of a very demanding career, that eventually created not just the burnout physically, but also emotionally, just like well, I'm done. This just makes no sense anymore. It's just not worth it. I lost my passion for my career. So now let's look at the how to avoid burnout list.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Know that you have a choice, that, although impossible doing mode works. There's a much better way. That overwhelm is a course correction, not a weakness, and certainly not compulsory. Start treating your body as the miraculous supportive healing machine. It is. Listen like the wise old friend. It is. Stop taking it for granted.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Know that looking after yourself properly is the foundation of a life well lived. Without health, we have nothing, and we know this, and yet we push ourselves right to the edge time and time again. I'm really curious about why we do that. I can see why I did it. Are you doing it still? Why are you doing it? Find your boundaries. Learn to say no in ways that work for you and the other person. Start by learning to pause before replying. This takes practice and it's worth practicing if you want your life back. Those you love most in the world deserve more than your leftovers. Value your time, energy and attention. Know that resilience is definitely not pushing on through and that rest and taking space for yourself is a necessary and enjoyable part of your success. Believe it won't happen to you, because you know better and you do have your stress under control. For more resources to help you gently rebel, please visit my website, wwwheidymarkcouk.