I had an enlightening conversation last night around how most type A / competitive people experience burnout at some point in their lives.

The common theme seemed to be that the person started to realize that they were wearing themselves down, yet instead of prescribing themselves some much needed R & R, they added more to their plate.

Example:

Work is taking up a lot of your time, and is stressing you out, so you seek out recovery practices like yoga, or retreats, or other wellness activities.

You then love the new passions / activities you are doing, so you sign up to spend even more of your energy in those arenas.

Now, not only are you super swamped at work, but you are swamped with your passions and desires to "achieve" some level of "better" feeling.

Until you crash.

The first step to curbing burnout is to realize why burnout is caused in the first place.

To keep it simple, it is caused because you are saying YES to too many things that don't align with your mission in life.

Which means you need to PUSH BACK and start saying NO to those things.

But CJ, my job pays my bills...

I am not saying you quit your job ASAP if that is what is causing your burnout.

What I am saying is that you sit down with your manager, your team, your company and set boundaries for yourself.

If they cannot respect your boundaries, FIND A NEW JOB.

.

.

.

A job is just one cause.

It could be your relationships.

It could be the community events you sign up for.

It could be that you are overwhelmed by all the options that this life has to offer you.

Burnout is not a one size fits all mechanism.

Only you know when you are teetering on the line that you should not cross.

As for me, I avoid burning myself to the ground by spending time in nature doing things like laying in a 50 degree creek. :)

Nature reminds me of how small I am, and how trivial most of my "problems" are. It also brings a great sense of gratitude and purpose to my life, which in itself helps me defeat any signs of burnout when they start to arise.

So if you are feeling like you need to take a break, and reset yourself, GO DO IT!

Here is your motivation to go do so!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful for my body which has allowed me to explore Mountains, valleys, and unique bodies of water these last few days.