Burnout to Breakthrough: How to Find Yourself When You Lose Yourself
Burnout creeps up on you, slowly changing the way that you function, leaving you feeling depleted and defeated. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives.
Burnout has become a universal condition. If you haven’t experienced it yet, be prepared for people looking at you as though you are superhuman. Compared with roughly 20 years ago, people are twice as likely to report that they are exhausted most of the time. Today, close to 50% of people say they are ‘often’ or ‘always’ exhausted, due to work.
Burnout starts with stress and gradually erupts into full-blown body exhaustion. You wake up one day feeling like you got hit with a sledgehammer but you have no idea where it came from.
Are you ready to learn how you can go from burnout to breakthrough?
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Back in the day, I could have won an Oscar for “how to do a burnout” the right way.
I’ve been a classic overachiever since the dawn of time. I took pride in this so-called “strength” of mine for most of my life… until I got burnout and then my entire world caved in on me. Take it from me when I say that one of the fastest ways to burn out is by getting stuck doing everything perfectly. I didn’t understand. I thought this was the road to success, but I was sorely mistaken.
In today’s world, being an overachiever is praised. The line of thinking is that if you work yourself senseless, then you must be successful. Take it from me, It’s not possible to do it all! However, as women, this is still what is expected of us. As a result of this unrealistic expectation, many women end up losing themselves, in the process of climbing to the top.
Paulette Janus, behavioral health specialist and founder of Janus Behavioral Health Services, points out that, “The culture of ‘you can do it all’—particularly for women—can lead to having a blind spot for burnout, denying the feeling, or viewing it as a weakness.”
What does it mean to be burned out?
A good burnout definition comes from The American Psychological Association’s David Ballard, who describes burnout as “an extended period of time where someone experiences exhaustion and a lack of interest in things, resulting in a decline in their job performance.”
Burnout is a state of overwhelming exhaustion, on both a mental, emotional and physical level. There are many reasons why burnout occurs, but more often than not, it’s the result of unrelenting stress on the mind and body, over a long period of time.
Fatigue from the many rigors of everyday engagements is common and expected, especially if you are immersed in a project with deadlines or any other stressful activities that take your attention in a million and one different directions.
Extreme fatigue and lack of enthusiasm for the things you do common symptoms of burnout and can generally be summarized as a combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. That’s a brutal combo and one that nobody wants to be sucked into.
Burnout symptoms may show up differently for everyone. However, you are likely burned out if you have a combination of these problems:
- If you are suddenly suffering from a lack of belief and confidence in your abilities, coupled with a decrease in productivity and achievement.
- If you are disengaged from people around you in what has been referred to as depersonalization, which ends up alienating you.
- And of course, you are experiencing overwhelming fatigue which affects your concentration, leading to sleep problems or even sickness.
In the words of Michael Gungor, “Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.” Through my personal experience with burnout, I’ve learned that success isn’t about burning the candle at both ends. Rather, it’s about becoming a master at taking care of your mind, body, and soul. It’s about knowing when to say no and making yourself a priority.
The burning question remains, “How do you go from burnout to breakthrough?”
It’s important to remember that burnout doesn’t magically disappear overnight. It requires that you commit to healthy habits over a long period of time because nobody is going to heal yourself but you. If we resist burnout, it bites us even harder.
Here are 5 strategies that you can implement today in order to avoid falling into the black hole that is burnout.
1. Create A Morning Ritual
When we are in a state of burnout, it’s difficult to feel positive emotions. I’m a big believer that the mindset that you wake up with sets the tone for your entire day. If you roll out of bed, throw on a pot of coffee, troll on social media and eat a donut, guess how you are going to feel? Over time, these bad habits catch up with people.
Find a ritual that works for you, whether that’s meditation, reading a book, practicing yoga, reciting positive affirmations, or exercising. In today’s busy world, self-care isn’t a luxury. Rather, it’s a priority. When you place energy towards things that nurture your highest self, you will find yourself feeling more balanced and in control of your life.
2. Learn To Say “No”
If we want to learn how to say “no” then we need to start deconstructing why we keep saying “yes.” For myself, it’s because I tend to fall into people pleasing mode. I don’t want to let people down so I go above and beyond, oftentimes at the expense of my own health and well-being. As you can imagine, this mindset played a huge role in my burnout.
We all have days when we are overwhelmed by work. However, try not to take on more than you can handle. This comes down to listening to your gut, even if it means letting someone down. Your sanity matters just as much as everyone else’s.
3. Engage In Meaningful Activities
If you are starting to feel the effects of burnout creep into your daily life, make an effort to focus on things that bring joy to your life, whether that’s taking a yoga class, spending time with friends, dancing or reading a book.
Studies show that increasing your diet of positive emotion builds your resilience, creativity, and ability to be solution-focused, things that are in short supply if you feel like you’re burning out.
When you have purpose and meaning in life, it enhances your overall well-being. When it comes to being a high achiever, there is a heavy price to pay. If your work is consuming your entire life and no longer fulfills you, it’s time to rethink your career.
Life is too short to engage in work that you don’t love. Achievement is important but not to the point where life loses its meaning.
3. Hit The Pause Button
If you are sitting there rolling your eyes and thinking, “Ha! Pause button. What is that?” I hear you. Slowing down doesn’t feel like a possibility for many of us. However, if you want to be full power, you need to take the time to chill out, restore and reset your mind.
Whatever a break looks like for you, do it – even if it’s only for 15 minutes. Your brain can’t function on autopilot. Just like a muscle, it needs a break from time to time.
4. Drop The Excuses
When you are burnt out, it’s easy to fall into ‘victim mode’ because everything feels like a burden. In this space, it’s easy to blame the world for your problems. However, this is not an empowering state to be in. When it comes to burnout, we need to take responsibility for our role in it and drop the excuses.
Instead of stewing over our problems, we need to rise up and find solutions. If this means that you need to give yourself some tough love, do it. Start working on how you can make things better.
5. Seek help
When you are in the throes of burnout, it can feel as if you are alone, but you aren’t. When I was at my version of “burnout rock bottom” all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball, hide from the world and avoid people because I didn’t want to appear weak. I had a “do it on your own” mentality.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. This is not a sign of weakness. Reach out to family, friends or colleagues and let them know about the challenges that you are facing. Having a strong support network will help you transition from ‘burnout to breakthrough’ a lot faster.
You don’t need to be a player in the burnout game.
Learning how to effectively manage our stress is critical. If you feel like you are on the road to exhaustion, take a step back and remember that you deserve to feel good. Sometimes we need to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again. In the words of Joyce Meyer, “When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner.”
Make a commitment to yourself that you will not allow burnout to take over your life. The best way to recover from burnout is to be kind to yourself. Are you ready to show yourself the love that you so freely give to everyone else?
Are you ready to learn how you can get back up when life knocks you on your ass? CLICK HERE for instant access to my free resilience mastery guidebook!
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