The slippery slope to burnout and how to avoid it
Avoiding burnout
I have a secret to share with you – you don’t have to try so hard to get what you want in life.
The Universe is conspiring with you every day to bring you what you want if you would just let it.
Do you identify with trying? Do you feel tired, maybe even exhausted, and frustrated that things aren’t happening fast enough, big enough, or
somehow well enough for you?
The feeling of ‘not enough’ is the plague of modern society and directly leads to burnout. Just think – not quick enough, smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough, rich enough, funny enough, amazing mum enough, entrepreneurial enough… ENOUGH. Enough. You. ARE. Enough.
This is my manifesto after burning out at uni, and then again at 30. Over the last 15 years, I’ve discovered that the Universe has my back – the clearer I am about what I want and the more able I am to step back from controlling how the result comes, the more my dreams get delivered to me on a plate, wrapped up with a bow.
How do I know the Universe had my back?
I was in the shower one new year, wondering what I’d really enjoyed the year before and would like to do more of, and I found myself saying out loud – I’d like to do more radio. Three days later I received a phone call from a radio station that I had recently been a guest on, saying their wellbeing show host had left and would I like to take over… Well, you can guess what my answer was! For the next 2.5 years I had my own radio show.
On another occasion, very early in my business when I was talking to my first ever business coach about what I wanted to offer, I found myself saying I wanted to teach the Bach Flower remedies but I had no idea how, as I had only just graduated from the course. The same month, my teacher rang me to say she wanted to retire and would I be open to taking over from her if she taught me how… again, you can guess what my answer was! A decade later, I am writing my first book on flower remedies, and have been teaching at the College of Naturopathic Medicine for that long too.
If you really think about it, I’m sure you have your own examples of speaking your dreams into existence.
How can I avoid burnout and get what I want in life?
Trying too hard narrows the flow of your energy and limits what you can achieve. The more tension the less energy can flow through you; and the less creative the Universe can be in finding ways to give you your desires.
- Relax
Relaxing allows your flow to be as abundant as possible and directly expands your achievement because a relaxed mind is so much more creative and resourceful. Think of any yoga class you may have been to – you relax and let go into the pose. TRYING is the enemy of achievement! - Live Lightly
Living your life lightly gives other people the freedom to do the same. We invite others to get off the treadmill by getting off it ourselves. Just imagine the ripple of relief that would spread. - Let Go
Letting go of control allows the most room for new ideas and opportunities to come and for you to be surprised into greater delight and opportunity than you thought possible. - Choose to Love Yourself
Berating yourself to success simply won’t work, but LOVING yourself to success will and CO-CREATING your reality will.
I’ll expand on this last point as it is really key.
LOVING YOURSELF TO SUCCESS means deliberately curating your energy and your resources. We are many layered beings – PHYSICAL, ENERGETIC, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL. Each layer is nourished by different things and the key is to know what nourishes YOU. Your body, your mind, and your spirit.
CO-CREATING your reality means accepting total responsibility for your current situation, identifying what you want, and going to work for it –WHILE LEAVING THE UNIVERSE THE ROOM TO DO ITS BIT!
It is only from a place of love that co-creation can take place, or else you continue to berate yourself every time life’s difficult bits take place, leading you closer to burnout and further away from a life you want.
How can I start loving myself?
A great way to cultivate self-love is through reparenting yourself. This includes acknowledging your wounds, and getting the help and support you may need to heal them so that they stop preventing progress. By taking responsibility for your own life, you can act with confidence in the direction of your dreams.
Lastly, understand that you deserve help, and be open to receiving it in a whole myriad of ways. Notice, accept, and thank the Universe for that help, and then take more action yourself, so that you create a virtuous circle of ask, act and receive.
So you see, avoiding burnout is really about learning to love, accept, trust and understand yourself to follow the direction of your dreams and allow them to unfold.
Do you struggle with feeling not enough or not loving yourself? Perhaps you feel you are already burning out? Then book a coaching session with me here and we will get it figured out.
