Burnout, Self-Care
“That was dumb!”
“You can’t do anything right! What’s the matter with you?”
“What an idiot I am.”
Does this sound familiar?
If so, you’re not alone! This is something I, too, used to struggle with. In fact, my critical self-talk contributed in a huge way to my burnout several years ago. But I brought myself back. That’s why I’m so committed to supporting you in overcoming your inner critic and creating the life you want.
And if you have an inner critic that scolds, criticizes, and cuts you down all day long, you’ll want to keep reading.
The Reason Negative Self-Talk Can Burn You Out
Quantum physicists have discovered that your thoughts and words create your reality, meaning that your negative self-talk physically impacts you. Especially if you take heed and believe it!
Words carry energy and vibration, just like anything else. Harsh words and thoughts are the basis for disease and dis-harmony. When you criticize yourself and dwell in negativity, you trigger symptoms of stress such as physical and emotional exhaustion, forgetfulness, lack of focus, anxiety, depression, irritability, and anger… and you may eventually burn out.
This is the bad news. But now let’s take a look at the good news.
This One Practice Can Reprogram Your Self-Talk
Happily, when you choose different words and thoughts, you also choose to create a different reality. This is why affirmations are so powerful for reprogramming negative self-talk.
Affirmations are positive statements you intentionally repeat in order to affect your subconscious and conscious minds, and to support feelings of well-being. They also empower you. When used regularly, affirmations shift your mindset so you can overcome your negative self-talk and actually create the life you desire.
They work because your subconscious mind is 90% of your total mind; therefore, your subconscious has the greatest influence to bring about whatever it is you wish to create. And because your subconscious mind will never question new thoughts that you introduce into it, affirmations are the perfect way to replace limiting beliefs with more empowering ones.
So let’s get your subconscious working for you rather than against you.
3 Essential Elements Of Effective Affirmations
In order for affirmations to be as effective as possible for you, they need three key elements:
- Say them in the present tense
- Say them out loud
- Connect them to the emotion
I’ll explain:
Say Affirmations in the Present Tense
In order for affirmations to work most effectively, they must be worded in the present tense because change only happens in the present. This ensures that your subconscious mind goes to work on them right away, and it is easier to generate the necessary emotions and visualizations that support your affirmations.
Say Affirmations Out Loud
Speak the affirmations out loud because the spoken vibration of the words more directly creates your new experiences.
Connect Affirmations to the Emotion
Connect with the emotion of the words you’re speaking because the Universe responds to what you’re feeling and uses that to create your reality. When you read your affirmations out loud, allow yourself to feel the emotion attached to each, whether it’s excitement, gratitude, or another feeling. This way, it’s not just a mental activity; you truly embody the emotions inherent in each affirmation.
See how these three elements all reinforce each other to create a powerful affirmation?
5 Powerful Affirmations For You
To get you started, here are 5 powerful affirmations you can say to start creating the life you want. They are:
- “I am powerful.”
- “I am a contribution to others by being my authentic self.”
- “I am beautiful and lovable, just as I am.”
- “I love the person who I am.”
- “I am worthy of receiving love and care from myself and others.”
Say them at least once daily, and preferably twice or more. Being consistent will enhance their effect. Read them out loud while tapping into your emotions and having fun with them. Fun is especially important! The more joy and fun you bring into every experience, the more you will attract joyful and fun things into your life.
Notice that these 5 affirmations are powerful because they are in the present tense. They are also most effective when you speak them out loud while connecting with the attached emotion.
And when you sign up for my email list, you’ll receive ongoing support and tips just as valuable as these affirmations.
Affirmations Can Heal
Positive affirmations can support you to heal on all levels: body, mind, emotions, and spirit.
When you choose to be kinder and more loving to yourself by incorporating affirmations into your day, you’re supporting yourself to heal by becoming more mindful of what and how you want to do, be, and feel. You’ll be amazed by the healing that can occur when you take charge of that which is within your sphere of influence.
We say some harsh things to ourselves. Sometimes, we berate ourselves over and over – causing us chronic stress that can lead to full-on burnout.
I encourage you to update your self-talk with more positive and empowering thoughts, in order to transform limiting beliefs into limitless ones.
What’s 1 of your favorite affirmations? Let me know in the blog comment section below.
Post YES below if you’re going to start using these affirmations today.
I look forward to hearing how affirmations support you to avoid burnout and create the life you desire.
Burnout, Self-Care
If you search Google for advice on how to avoid burnout, you’ll find a lot of articles with many tips and strategies.
The problem is, when you’re already stressed out and teetering on the edge of burnout, you don’t really have the energy to learn and apply a myriad of strategies. What if they don’t work for you? Then you’ve got to start over, only then you’re that much closer to burnout.
Here’s the truth:
Avoiding burnout takes one word.
I know what you’re thinking.
It can’t be so simple.
But it really is. Let’s take a look.
This Is The One Word That Can Keep You Out Of Burnout
If you’re like most women, you’re probably used to doing everything you’re asked to do – and do it very well – but each time you add on a new commitment or responsibility, you heap more stress into your life… and chronic stress can lead to burnout.
I bet my experience will resonate with you: in my local community, I served on a couple of boards and chaired several committees. I kept agreeing to more assignments. Before long I had active roles on more than a dozen committees. Many of my waking hours were consumed with committee and board tasks. No matter how early I started or how late I stayed up, I never caught up.
Ironically, I had started my own business to give me flexibility in my life – but because I kept saying Yes, I had no time left for myself.
One morning I was so exhausted that I grabbed a bottle of what I thought were eye drops and dripped the liquid into my eyes. Imagine my shock when it turned out to be the wrong medication. It seared my eyeballs. I almost blinded myself.
Thankfully, after a trip to the doctor’s office, I recovered. But I was forced to acknowledge that I had seriously overcommitted myself. And I was no longer willing to keep saying Yes to everything being asked of me.
By now you can probably guess what the one simple word is that can keep you from burnout:
No
Short and sweet, right? But there’s a catch.
You have to be willing to say it.
When You Say One Thing But Mean Another
Isn’t it astonishing how many of us successful women say Yes when we really mean No?
You want to decline. You practice saying it out loud: “No”.
Simple, right?
But when the time comes to say it, you can’t. There are many possible reasons: you don’t want to be disliked; you feel guilty; or, you believe you should be helping others. Perhaps you don’t value yourself and your time.
Then, once again, you find yourself saying Yes when your entire inner voice is shouting NO!
If you’re challenged to say No to other people, you’re not alone. Many successful women I know have this issue.
When you say Yes when you really mean No, there’s usually more going on beneath the surface. Perhaps you want to please others, or you feel so guilty about saying No that Yes slips out in its place.
Nearly blinding myself because of a mistake made as a result of chronic stress taught me how important it is to say No when I need to, and to only say Yes when I really mean it.
Not only does this keep me in integrity with other people, and myself, I was able to stop feeling depleted and resentful. I made it my mission to learn how to say No… and Yes, when I truly wanted to… and to let go of my people-pleasing behavior.
I don’t want you to reach the point where you’re so exhausted and close to burnout that you nearly blind yourself, like I did.
Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take right away to shift yourself from overcommitted and on the path to burnout to back in balance in your life.
How To Go From Yes To No
Though it sounds counterintuitive, the best way to begin to say No is to actually acknowledge the times when you want to say it but are tempted to say Yes. The act of acknowledging a behavior actually frees you from its grip. Once you acknowledge these Yes/No times, you’ll find it easier to say No when you choose to.
Be sure to celebrate each time you say No. Each celebration will build your confidence. Before you know it, you’ll be saying No easily and gracefully – as well as saying Yes with confidence and certainty because you mean it.
But what about those commitments you already made? How can you gracefully release them?
You can do what I did:
Reach out to have conversations with the people you said Yes to. Tell them you want to re-negotiate your agreements. You don’t need to give a long explanation. “Some changes have come up” is good enough.
Seek a win both for you and the other person, so they know you’re negotiating in good faith.
Have a clear vision of the outcome you desire. Then go for it!
The Importance Of Saying No
I can’t stress enough that when you aren’t able to say No to others, you end up saying No to yourself. In essence, you aren’t valuing your own time. And when you don’t value your time, you end up without the resources to take care of yourself and to create the life you desire.
How can you create what you desire if you’re always saying Yes to other people instead of what’s most important to you?
You end up feeling resentful, annoyed, and frustrated. You also end up depleted, drained, and on the path to burnout.
To help you, here are three tips about saying no:
- When you say no, an explanation is not required… nor necessary. Giving an explanation can also sound like an excuse.
- No apologies are necessary. Be strong and confident when you say no… be empowered.
- If you want to know how to say an empowered no with love, try this: “I would really like to support you; however, right now I’m not able to.”
Learning to say No can change your life…and prevent burnout.
I’m Here For You
I know it can be hard to break a long-time pattern of saying Yes even when you’d rather say No.
You may find it challenging to say No at first, especially if you’ve already agreed to a commitment. However, once you make yourself your first priority, you’ll experience how life-giving it is to say Yes to you. Your first priority has to be to yourself.
As a self-care expert, I support women to help them learn to say No: no to overcommitment, chronic stress, and burnout. My own experience coming back from severe burnout has given me deep empathy for women in your situation.
It’s time to say Yes once more – to yourself.
Post your response to any or all of the following questions in the blog comments section below…
What’s your #1 challenge with saying NO?
Give me a YES if starting today you’re going to look at where you need to say NO!
What’s the 1 place or relationship where you’re going to start saying NO?
For ongoing advice and strategies to keep you in balance and out of burnout, be sure to subscribe to my email list. This is one time you won’t want to say No! 🙂
Burnout, Self-Care
Life in our society moves at a frenetic pace. Change is constant; not only small changes but life-altering, stressful ones such as relocation, layoffs, divorce, and caring for aging parents.
Along with continual change comes endless stress. Although it may ebb and flow, stress becomes your constant companion; your shadow. Over time, stress will wear away at your health and well-being like a torrent of water eroding a rock.
Let’s take a look at the specific dangers posed by chronic stress.
The Dangers Of Chronic Stress
While you’re likely aware of the toll that stress can take, what you may not know is that…
75–90% of all doctor visits are due to stress-related ailments.
If you’re as shocked by that statistic as I was, read on – there’s a reason the percentage is so high.
First, your thoughts or emotions cause your body to mistake any stress as highly threatening to your livelihood, thus striking at your ability to provide food and other basic life necessities for yourself and those you love.
And if you’re familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy, you know that physiological necessities such as food, water, and shelter are considered basic human needs that must be fulfilled before you can attend to your higher needs such as safety, love and belonging, or prestige and feelings of accomplishment.
If your body constantly receives messages that your basic survival is at stake, day after day, it will begin to break down under the stress, causing a plethora of ailments such as high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, and obesity.
Next, how stress impacts you depends on aspects that include:
- Your personality
- Your current life situation
- Your physical health
- The quality of your relationships
- The amount of commitments and responsibilities you bear
- Your views of others and what you perceive that they expect from you
- The number of traumatic events you’ve experienced
When stress continues unabated, it takes an exponential toll on your health. Not only does stress slow down or even pause your body’s own healing process, more health issues are likely to occur – sending you on more emergency room visits.
As well, looking back on my own life, I see now that the formula that pushed me into burnout was my Type-A personality (#1 above) added to my commitments and responsibilities (#5), along with the high expectations I placed on myself because of what I perceived others expected from me (#6). And I’m not alone; many women – perhaps even you – experience these same pressures and are burned out because of this.
So what’s the solution?
How To Minimize Stress and Maximize Calm in 10 Minutes a Day
After I succumbed to full-on burnout several years ago, I realized the practice of mindfulness — and specifically somatic experiencing (the mindfulness of the body) — was a key to healing myself. But I had alienated my body and so too, my soul, by ignoring the messages they were sending me, and was in dire need of an intervention.
When we’re stressed, we usually give up our self-care practices that keep us happy and healthy. Yet it’s these practices we abandon that keep our stress levels from overwhelming us. They support us to be more resilient in the face of chronic stress.
When I accepted that I was in full-blown burnout, I knew I had to realign with my body-spirit and recommit to listening to and loving myself. That’s why I created my own self-care practice based on mindfulness of the body, to help me connect with my body-spirit and tap into peace.
I call it my From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice, and it’s been shown to:
- Increase mindfulness, well-being, self-confidence, and personal power
- Increase your ability to concentrate
- Cultivate a greater resilience to stress, a positive mindset, and a sense of hopefulness and calm
- Decrease stress and stress-related symptoms like frustration, mood swings, feelings of overwhelm or lack of control, anxiety, depression, low energy, headaches, body aches and pains, muscle tension, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, and frequent colds and infections
- Reduce or even stop worrying
When I started this practice, I began to receive messages from my body. Even though I had forgotten that I could talk to my body and get responses! This was very comforting to me. Instead of being just a physical body, I was reminded that there is a Universal Intelligence within.
Doing this practice for 10–20 minutes each day not only helped lessen the numbness that had set it, but also calmed me. As the days went by, my fortitude grew and I began to feel hopeful and inspired again.
The act of giving myself the care I deserved, of being kind to myself, restored my connection with my body and my faith in myself. And by choosing to include my body in my choices, I was able to restore my body’s faith in me. All this has been essential to helping me heal from chronic stress and burnout.
Sounds good right? And I want to gift this to you!
Instead of pushing past all your stress signs, or trying to browbeat your stress symptoms into submission, you can use this practice to begin to create more communion with your body, restore a sense of trust, and ultimately, heal yourself. Sign up here to receive your gift of my From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.
There’s More…
I know from experience how valuable this daily self-care practice is. Just ten minutes a day will help you heal from the effects of chronic stress.
You’ll feel more energetic, optimistic, and cheerful. Even if your life situation hasn’t changed much, you will have taken back your power to create a positive mindset and to choose a sense of hopefulness instead of feeling buffeted by the ever-blowing winds of change.
And if you desire ongoing support and nurturing from me, you’ve got it! Sign up for my email list to receive regular tips and strategies to free you from the toxic effects of chronic stress and burnout. I’m here for you. Let’s get your well-being back.
Burnout, Self-Care
You normally do well at your job, right?
In fact, you may be one of the company superstars.
Accomplished. Talented. Successful.
But lately, you can’t seem to get much done. Projects you’d normally handle with one hand tied behind your back languish behind schedule.
You push yourself harder. Work longer hours. Sleep less.
Yet still, your performance is subpar. Especially by your high standards, leaving you distraught and disheartened.
Usually you dig in and try harder to achieve at your customary level. But now, trying harder only seems to make it worse – like you actually have both hands tied behind your back.
What’s going on?
I’ll explain.
Why You’re Not Performing Up To Your Usual Standards
Your lack of productivity and poor performance could be caused by burnout. But it’s not your fault.
Your workplace culture is almost certainly the culprit.
Here’s why.
Managers often create unrelenting workplace stress that leads to burnout. They pile unreasonably heavy workloads on you. You end up going to too many meetings that accomplish nothing.
Women like you, who are highly capable, are especially vulnerable to workplace burnout because managers tend to pile work on their most competent employees.
You may be even more susceptible to burnout if you’re a woman who expects a lot of herself, even when unreasonable demands are put on you. So it’s possible you successfully handled a monstrous workload until finally burnout caught up with you and tanked your productivity and performance.
Again, I have to stress, this isn’t your fault!
Now, let’s see what will help you get your well-being back.
6 Ways To Overcome Burnout-Related Low Productivity And Poor Performance
Here are 6 specific strategies you can use to bring yourself back from burnout-related poor productivity and performance:
#1 Book time with your manager and ask them for clear expectations for your performance in writing. Sometimes we worry ourselves into a frazzle while going far above and beyond expectations, because we’re unclear on what acceptable performance is. When you get confirmation that you and your manager are in sync with job performance standards, you won’t be incessantly worried you’re not meeting them.
#2 Take regular breaks during the workday for a brisk walk or stretch at your desk. Get outside and away from the office.
#3 Maintain reasonable work hours, including, if necessary, committing to yourself to leave at the end of a regular work day. Getting up and leaving at a set time might feel awkward at first when you’ve been used to staying until all hours. But let your well-being take priority.
#4 Keep your evenings free for personal time. Read, take a walk, soak in a hot bath – whatever nurtures you.
And I can’t stress this one enough:
#5 Eat wholesome, nutritious, unprocessed food. Diet is often one of the first things we neglect when we’re moving into burnout. I know, because it happened to me. A healthy diet will do wonders to support you to break free from burnout as well as help you regain your vitality as you leave burnout behind.
#6 Get my complimentary “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.” This practice has been shown to:
-
- Increase mindfulness, well-being, self-confidence, and personal power
- Increase your ability to concentrate
- Cultivate a greater resilience to stress, a positive mindset, and a sense of hopefulness and calm
- Decrease stress and stress-related symptoms like frustration, mood swings, feelings of overwhelm or lack of control, anxiety, depression, low energy, headaches, body aches and pains, muscle tension, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, and frequent colds and infections
- Reduce or even stop worrying
Click here to receive my complimentary “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.”
Taking these steps will help put you back on a path to wellness, leaving burnout behind.
Let’s Raise Your Productivity And Banish Burnout
When you’re used to performing and delivering at a high level, you can feel devastated when your high standards slide and you can’t regain them no matter how hard you try.
It’s easy to get down on yourself. To believe if you just tried harder, you could once again perform at your customary level of achievement.
Instead, apply the strategies I’ve given you. Be gentle with yourself.
At Its Root, Burnout Is All About This…
Women with Type A perfectionist characteristics are most likely to suffer from burnout. You may be one of them. I get you! I too tend to Type A perfectionism. But I know the key to keep myself healthy and out of burnout – and it may surprise you.
The key is self-love.
Love yourself wholeheartedly and abundantly.
If this is a tall order for you, you can get extra care and support by signing up for my free From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge.
During these 7 days, we’ll look at what’s really going on beneath the signs of burnout like low productivity and performance. I’ll give you simple strategies for how to turn things around so you can get on the path towards balance and enjoy your life again.
If you’re ready to break out of the burnout cycle and desire to be…
- Relaxed and confident, knowing you’re tending to the most important priorities
- Energized, clear and focused
- Calm, easy-going and peaceful
- Sleeping like a baby and waking up rested
- Engaged, inspired and passionate about your life
Join me by clicking here to sign up for my next From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge. It’s Free!
Burnout, Self-Care
Some days it seems like everything is falling apart.
You used to spring into action to hold it all together, but now you do little more than raise an eyebrow at the chaos.
Having things under control used to be your forté. People counted on you. You prided yourself on ensuring your life ran exactly as planned.
But now you wonder what happened to the woman who could effortlessly orchestrate a million details. Somewhere along the way, she vanished. What was important to you no longer matters – you’re so far removed from your life you might as well be on another planet.
Because I’ve been through this, I recognize that feeling detached is one of the signs of burnout.
I’ll explain.
What Is Burnout-Related Detachment, And What Causes It?
When you’re in the throes of deep detachment, you feel utterly disconnected from other people or from your environment. You remove yourself emotionally – and perhaps even physically – from your responsibilities. You may frequently call in sick to work, stop responding to your family, fail to return calls or answer emails, or neglect to show up for commitments.
More than indifference, the detachment that comes with burnout is a consequence of burnout’s mental and physical exhaustion. You wind up in a classic burnout symptom of depersonalization – you don’t care about anyone or anything. And it’s a vicious circle because strong detachment isolates you from the support needed to overcome burnout.
While it’s only natural to go through periods when you enjoy your life less than usual, when the lack of enjoyment persists and you feel as though you’re viewing the world through the wrong end of a telescope, that’s a major red flag that you might be suffering from burnout.
Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms.
Signs You’re Suffering From Burnout-Related Detachment
Though paradoxically it can be tough to muster up enough energy to assess whether you’re in full burnout, there are some straightforward clues. They are:
- You get angered quickly and have less patience with people, even those close to you
- You call in sick to work on a regular basis
- You ditch events you used to look forward to
- You no longer care about making sure your life is organized and flowing smoothly
- Chaos no longer bothers you; you’re indifferent to it
I’ve written about related signs of burnout such as isolating yourself, feeling apathetic, and being depressed – they all intertwine and end up reinforcing each other. Which is why I urge you to take any and all of the symptoms seriously. Burnout is a threat to your physical and mental health; left unaddressed, it will significantly erode your well-being.
So, what will help you overcome detachment? Let’s take a look.
3 Ways To Cope With And Overcome Burnout-Related Detachment
#1 Bring some calming routines into your life
Routines can help protect you from the detachment associated with burnout. Engaging in a repeatable, specific behavior can help anchor your awareness of the present moment and reconnect you to a sense of purpose. For example, take 10 deep breaths before you start a new task. Savor the movement of your breath as it flows in and out. Feel your lungs expand and contract as you breathe.
#2 Check in regularly with yourself
The hardest part of warding off burnout is that we often don’t see it coming until it’s too late. That’s why it’s important to develop your self-awareness through reflection and regular reviews of your life and work. Self-reflection will bolster your belief in your own abilities, something that’s often lost when you’re deep in burnout-related detachment.
Ideally, you’ll check in at least once a day with yourself to assess your physical, emotional, and mental state of being. Perhaps early morning works best for you, as you set yourself up for the rest of your day. Or, in the evening before bed – review your day, note how you’re feeling, and set your intent to have a peaceful night’s sleep.
As well, schedule weekly, monthly, and even annual reviews to reflect on how you’re feeling, and if your life is going in a direction you’re happy with. Put them in your calendar, and treat them as seriously as you do any other meeting or appointment.
Check in to see if you’re moving toward your most important goals. This will help you get re-invested in your life, and bring you out of that dreary sense of indifference.
#3 Start a journal
A journal is a great tool for recording what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling as you’re checking in with your physical, mental, and emotional states of being. You may choose a small pocket journal where you can jot down your feelings and thoughts throughout the day. You might prefer a larger journal that you keep by your bed to write down your dreams in the morning and reflections of your day at night. You can even have more than one journal, like I do.
There is no right way to journal. You can write whole paragraphs on what you discover or short phrases for quick thoughts that come to you. Whatever you choose to put in your journal is your personal preference and no one else will see it… unless you decide to share it. So no worries about whether you’re getting it right. If it works for you, it is right!
#4 Take part in my complimentary ‘From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge’
So often the lack of self-love and self-care is at the root of the emotional and mental exhaustion that leads to detachment. During these 7 days, we’ll look at what’s really going on beneath the signs of burnout. I’ll give you simple strategies for how to turn things around so you can get on the path towards balance and start enjoying your life again.
If you’re ready to break out of the burnout cycle and desire to be…
- Relaxed and confident, knowing you’re tending to the most important priorities
- Energized, clear and focused
- Calm, easy-going and peaceful
- Sleeping like a baby and waking up rested
- Engaged, inspired and passionate about your life
Join me by clicking here to sign up for my next From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge. It’s Free!
It’s Time To Enjoy Your Life Again
I know you might be down on yourself for disengaging and detaching from, well, pretty much everything.
But it’s not your fault. Burnout snuck up on you while you weren’t looking.
Let’s ease you back into enjoying your life. Apply these tips. Re-discover your self-love in the challenge.
Then feel your enthusiasm rekindle itself as you nurture yourself back to wellness.
And if you want more support, you’ve got it! Sign up here for my mailing list to receive regular tips and techniques to overcome burnout.
Burnout, Self-Care
Did you know that not only is isolation a sign of burnout, it can actually lead to burnout?
Here’s how…
When you are stressed and overwhelmed, you simply don’t have the energy to interact with your family, friends, and coworkers. They feel like a burden – one more darn thing to have to deal with.
So you isolate yourself, leaving you feeling lonely, misunderstood, and unappreciated. Which further intensifies your stress and feelings of overwhelm, and can eventually result in full-blown burnout.
In its early stages, you may brush off isolation as a temporary resistance to socializing. You believe it’s just a matter of not wanting to join your friends for lunch, or you close your door occasionally to keep others out.
You may convince yourself you need a little bit of alone time. But that little bit of alone time stretches into weeks when you decline invitations, shut yourself in your room at home for hours, or even resent people who try to connect with you.
In the latter stages of isolation, you may become visibly angry when someone speaks to you, or at work you may come in early or leave late to avoid interactions. By that point it’s possible you’re well on your way to burnout.
Ultimately you might feel ashamed of your situation, and are convinced you have no one to talk to about the conflicts and stresses that you’re facing.
One Of The Most Sinister Aspects Of Burnout
If you’ve ever experienced symptoms of burnout, I know you’re with me on this one:
When you are burned out you’re not happy, you’re exhausted, which makes it difficult to appreciate your life. So you tell yourself you should be grateful for everything you have, and that only makes you feel worse. And your concern that outsiders might feel you have the perfect life increases feelings of shame and contributes to you not asking for support.
Shame thrives in secrecy and isolation. Respected author and researcher Brene Brown is an expert on shame; as she says, “As a shame researcher, I know that the very best thing to do in the midst of a shame attack is totally counterintuitive: Practice courage and reach out!”
Burnout is isolating, and makes you feel weak. You want to power through and just get over it, but that approach doesn’t work. I’ve been there, and I know it’s a journey of taking one step after the other. One important step is to re-engage with others as part of overcoming isolation and burnout.
So let’s take a look at some tips that will help you deal with burnout-related isolation.
4 Tips To Help You Overcome Isolation And Re-Engage With Others
#1 Exercise
Isolation can feel like a heavy weight on your entire body. Whenever this feeling starts to overtake you, move your body. Whether you go for a walk, browse your favorite store, or even walk up a flight of stairs at work, getting yourself moving will offer some relief from feeling weighed down by isolation.
Exercise will also trigger your body to produce the feel-good chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins are a natural anti-depressant that can support you to feel happier, making you less likely to want to isolate yourself.
#2 Find Like-Minded People
Nowadays, whether you’re a knitter, hiker, or ballroom dancer, you have many ways to find out where they get together, so you can meet people who share your interests. Try searching for groups on Meetup, Facebook, or Instagram. If meeting people in person seems like too big a step at first, check out the communities on Pinterest to connect online with people you have something in common with.
#3 Reach Out To People You Trust
Although it can be a huge challenge to talk about things that you are struggling with, sharing them with people you trust can be an effective way to get back to your happy self. You may even be surprised to discover how many others have gone through the same thing as you. You could even end up helping someone you didn’t know was struggling, and who was afraid to reach out.
#4 Sign up for my free From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge
Re-discover your love and appreciation – for yourself. The From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge is a powerful next step that will give you the opportunity to engage with others and get support in a safe environment. During these 7 days, we’ll look at what’s really going on beneath the signs of burnout. I’ll give you simple strategies for how to turn things around so you can get on the path towards balance and start enjoying your life again.
If you’re ready to break out of the burnout cycle and desire to be…
- Relaxed and confident, knowing you’re tending to the most important priorities
- Energized, clear, and focused
- Calm, easy-going, and peaceful
- Sleeping like a baby and waking up rested
- Engaged, inspired and passionate about your life
Click here now to join me for my next From Burnout to Balance 7-Day Self-Love Challenge. It’s Free!
Let’s Break You Free From Isolation
Though isolating yourself may seem like a logical option when you feel stressed and overwhelmed, over time it robs you of your energy and enthusiasm for life – and it can lead you to full-blown burnout, a serious threat to your health and well-being.
I want better for you, and I know you want more for yourself than to slog through every day feeling exhausted and dispirited. Don’t let yourself stay isolated. I know it can be hard to take the first step to break free, so I offer complimentary tips, advice, and support in several ways; one of them is sending them to you by email. Sign up for my list here so you won’t miss out.
I know you can turn this around… and I’m here to help.
