By Kai Simmonds
#corporatewellbeing #corporatewellness #corporatewellbeingcoach #wellbeingcoach #burnout #stressandanxiety #burnoutcoach
"Burnout," a word that you may have heard, and as a recovering workaholic and perfectionist this word is no stranger to me. In fact, being burned out was the norm for me.
These days, I can say it's been almost 2 years since I was last "burned out" and no I did not quit my corporate day job. In fact, I got promoted at work, and have accomplished way more in the personal and professional life than ever!
And I want the same for you!
THE BURN OUT cure
Now while I have to be honest- there is no overnight fix, no magic pill, no healing crystal ( although yes crystals help me LOL), but in fact it is actually a series of small changes over a small period of time that can have lasting effects. If you'd like to dive deeper into that, check out Atomic Habits which is one of the books that has also helped me.
Here's the truth, your burn out did not happen in a day, a week, or even a month- it happened over a long period of time so of course the "cure" or the "fix" will take some time and adjustment- and no you do not have to quit your job!
1: love yourself
Repeat after me " My accomplishments are not connected to my worth."
Stop measuring your worth to your accomplishments to your job. You are not your job, you are not your projects, your emails - you are a SOUL being and your job/career is a part of who you, your job/career is not who you are.
This flip switched for me when I was in a therapy session and my therapist told me I was seeking my worth from my accomplishments because I didn't love and accept myself and used my accomplishments and even people to define my worth.
Your worth is not attached to your accomplishments and achievements, you are enough just as you are, and when you realize this - that my friend is the beginning of a beautiful relationship with yourself, a little something we call "self love."
Self love is all about acceptance, worthiness and being okay with not being okay and giving yourself the care and while this is not an overnight accomplishment, it's a life long practice. But hey- you've got your whole life to live with yourself, so although the journey will be long, it will be the best think you ever do!
And if you're not sure where or how to start loving yourself- that's where I can help ;)
Start here: Write down 5 ways you can show yourself love this week, and put it into your schedule now.
2: FOLLOW the JOY
Joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
When we we move into a state of Joy we are full of absolute pleasure, happiness and love. I don't know about you but when I'm doing something I enjoy I completely lose track of time and feel like I have unlimited energy.
What the heck does this have to do with burnout?
You see burnout does not only happen when we do too much, but more often more times than not-
Burnout is a result of NOT DOING ENOUGH of the things that make us happy, that bring us JOY. Burnout happens when we forget we are a human and we have a SOUL.
In fact when we do things that fill us with joy we actually create more energy - good energy and if you're a generator/manifesting generator ( human design) the energy you create will fill the room and fill others.
If you think I'm crazy, that's fine I didn't believe it myself - but go and try it and see what happens when you start following your joy. If you want to know more about how to do this I'd love to get into your Human Design ( that's also for another day).
By doing more of the things that bring us happiness and joy we create more energy and enter a state of "FLOW." The Flow state is not just some spiritual wooo wooo word its an actual state that psychologists use ( check out this article) When we are in flow state we are able to concentrate and really focus and get in the zone.
So Follow your JOY to find your FLOW and there is where the productivity, the creativity and the magic happens ;)
FOR NOW : What brings you JOY? Commit to doing 3-5 of those things this week!
3: REST !!!!
I know what you're thinking - "No sh*t sherlock!" While this may seem like something so simple and common sense- us humans looveee making things complicated for no reason ( at least I did lol).
Now here's what I struggled with when it came to rest. I can easily cancel all my plans, put on some sweatpants and cuddle up on the couch with my fluffy potatoes ( cats). Then the anxiety would creep in, the thoughts of worry and stress:
"If I take the whole day to rest, I have so much I needed to catch up tomorrow"
"I'm falling behind,"
"My to-do list won't get done on it's own"
"I should be posting something or working on my business"
"I should have gone to a yoga or workout class instead of resting."
...and so much more!
So even though I looked like I was resting, I wasn't - I was feeling guilty, worried, anxious so I never really let myself rest. While yes, resting on the couch is letting your body physically rest, my mind and soul were completely not relaxed and those were the two the needed it the most!
So while Physical rest is great, it's our MIND and SOUL that need it the most, and to do that you need to do some work to get to the root of your limiting beliefs (which is what I help my clients with).
I'm writing this after a 3 day Netflix binge with my fluffy potatoes where I gave no F*cks and absolutely disconnected- and im feeling 150000%%%%
Here's the thing when you do give yourself time to fully rest- you come back RECHARGED AF!!!
Take some time now and Write out your Worry List ( sometimes just the act of writing something out makes you feel better) and put that list to the side and promise yourself you will get to it when you're done resting.
4: Refill your cup - your way!
