Let’s talk about BURNOUT.

In honor of 4/20 let’s talk about BURNOUT 

I’ll be the first to tell you that I use to be the queen of burnout. We’ve all fallen into the burnout cycle at some point in our adult life. Whether it is work or school it’s a circle that most of us don’t want to repeat. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re over worked, you aren’t sleeping, not eating, not drinking enough water, you’re stressed, anxious, unhappy, unmotivated, your relationships and family time are suffering; your immune system starts crashing. I’ll never forget running around with one phone to my ear while the other was in my hand, working for 24 hours straight on a project or an event, and even having to sleep in my office because it just made no sense to drive home when I had to be back at work early in the morning. I did this for THREE YEARS, and guess that happened? I was sick all the time, developed crippling anxiety, irritable, I gained weight, and was just flat out unhappy. It did not get my anywhere. 

When I got laid off from my position due to the corona pandemic, I called my parents crying, panicking not know what I was going to do because I poured my whole life into my work and I was scared I lost my identity because I never built a life for myself. But guess what? They were so happy. All of my friends and family were so stoked that they were going to get to see me on a regular basis again. No more missing birthdays, holidays, weddings. I WAS FREE. Time & time again, I used to tell my team – if you’re no good to yourself, than you’re no good to anyone else. 

Now read that again: 

If you are no good to yourself, then you’re no good to anyone else. 

I’ll admit, it took me a very long time, lots of sleepless nights, broken relationships, and even chronic illness to learn that lesson. WHICH IS WHY I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU DO THE SAME.  Here are the 5 stage of burnout to look out for: 

1. The Honeymoon Phase – You just started your new job and you start taking on every little project you can.  You’re creative, productive, you feel optimistic. 
2. Onset Stress – Then it starts… some day’s start being harder than others. You can’t focus, you can’t sleep, you’re anxious, stop eating correctly and you start becoming unproductive and stop socializing. 
3. Chronic Stress – Now it’s kicking up a notch. You’ve dropped all of your hobbies, your irritable, sex drive drops, you stop seeing your family, your immune system weakens and you start guzzling caffeine like it’s the fountain of youth. 
4. Burnout – congratulations. You made it to stage 4. You are officially BURNOUT. Work is all you think and stress about. You doubt yourself, you start isolating yourself, develop chronic headaches, you’re neglecting yourself and appearance, and you’re just flat out unhappy. But you think this is the way it’s supposed to be when you are “successful”
5. Habitual Burnout- Its makes or break at this stage. Depression kicks in, mental fatigue, and chronic illness. You have two choices here: You can keep living life unhappy and miserable OR you can do something about it and live the life you WANT. 

I will tell you right now. This is not how you are supposed to live. This lifestyle does not measure your success. I know this from experience. I made a promise to myself that I will never allow myself to fall into the burnout loop ever again. I will never allow a corporation to have my livelihood in their hands EVER AGAIN and neither should you. Which is why I have incorporated mindset coaching into my business development program. I want my clients to have a prosperous and abundant life doing something that THEY love. If you work with me I can promise you, you will never go through this again. SCOUTS HONNOR. 

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