Speed up your recovery by using your burnout pattern
5 days ago • 4 min readNot all burnout is built equally. The more I work with my clients, dive into the research and explore my own burnout tendencies, the more I learn about how it occurs and breaking out of burnout. How burnout occurs is complex, insidious, and a mixed bag of context, internal and external risk factors. I've had habitual burnout over the years - and no individual burnout episode was exactly the same. There are common aspects - cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sadness, physical issues, overwhelm...
READ POSTYou have to find your stress sweet spot as the pressure mounts
19 days ago • 4 min readNot all stress is bad for you. Some of it is good. We get caught up in the 'stress is bad, get rid of it' message, and lose sight of how the stress response keeps us alive. Our stress response exists to help us adapt and react to challenges we face. It's normal. Heart rate rises, glucose is released into the bloodstream, muscles tense, our vision narrows - this is great in short-term stress situations and mobilises us for action. What isn't helpful is chronic stress. This response over a long...
READ POSTDon't let FOPO stop you from getting things done
about 1 month ago • 5 min readI learnt a new term recently - FOPO. Fear of Other People's Opinions. Somehow, this 4 letter acronym summed up how I've felt for most of my life! If you've been stressed or burnt out, this is familiar to you too. Doubt creeps in when you do things you never worried about before, or at least did without wanting to take cover afterwards. The inner critic gets loud and starts nagging away at all your vulnerabilities. Mine is called Maeve. She's a cow and pretty harsh. My FOPO and Maeve's...
READ POSTHow do you want to be remembered?
about 2 months ago • 3 min readGetting burnt out makes you forget how to live your life. You're so caught up fire-fighting, doing tasks, and reacting that you lose perspective about what life should be. It's only when you stop and reflect, or talk to someone about it that the penny drops. This is why many of us let months and years go by before we realise time has disappeared in a stressed out haze. We don't even remember actively making the choices that got us here. That's why it's valuable to step back and think about...
READ POSTYou're not mean or selfish if you say no
about 2 months ago • 3 min readAs a business owner, managing boundaries well is a constant challenge. There are so many pulls on your attention and time - a client needs x, a child needs y, a friend needs z etc. How do you deliver well, build new leads, create content and complete your accounting submissions? It feels like you have to be all things to everyone. You know you need to prioritise better but those early childhood unhelpful core beliefs become front and centre, keeping you stuck or resentful. This theme came up...
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