Do you get up every morning feeling exhausted?
Are you finding yourself feeling more and more cynical about the work you do or the life you have?
Are you experiencing mysterious bodily aches and pains, and obsessing about any physical discomforts, however insignificant?
Are you more volitile, ready to blow up, a virtual powder keg of emotions and frustrations?
Are you feeling hopeless, directionless, joyless, anything -less?
Does it seem like everything in your life has no real meaning or purpose?
On a physical, spiritual, emotional and mental score card, would you give yourself a big fat ‘ 0’ right across the line?
Then you could be at a crossroads in your life we typically call ‘ burnout’ .
Fried.
Done.
Cooked.
And you don’t have to be in a midlife crisis, or anywhere near the age of 40. More and more young people are experiencing burnout at alarming rates.
My experience with burnout has been all of the above. And I am still recovering from it. Or, as I like to put it, ‘ getting a little bit better, every day ‘ . Because I am convinced that burnout is a huge opportunity for you and I that have had the privelege to regain the power we have in directing our lives back.
If you are looking for a quick and easy turn-around, then this is not the book for you.
But if you are looking for quick and easy steps to take EVERY DAY to renew your outlook, well being and ultimately health, then read on.
Because every day is a new beginning, and the time you spend NOW and what you focus on NOW is of utmost importance in revitalizing yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
WHAT BURNOUT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT
You are not burnout if you are tired and need to get more sleep. There are things you can do right now to remedy that. Don’t be a fool and think you can catch up on the weekends. Before you know it, it’s Monday and you gotta get up at the crack of dawn to get yourself ready for a new week.
Usually procrastination is the culprit with serial insomniacs, with the aid of too much mobile device dependency and not enough physical movement during the day. In other words, after dinner, get away from any kind of screen and get out for a walk or other kind of exercise. Lay off any so-called sleep aids like pills and booze (they don’t work), and enlist other ways to relax. More on that later.
Burnout is way more than not being able to get to sleep or feeling exhausted all the time. In addition to physical tiredness you are also mentally wiped out. No more room to think clearly. Your thoughts are going a million miles an hour all over the place. You’re forgetting where your keys are, your car is parked, your office is, your kids are hanging out. The dread of forgetting something really crucial like turning off the gas stove or picking up your toddler at day care is constantly lurking in the back of your mind. You are convinced you’re slowly going crazy.
But burnout is even more than this: not only are you physically and mentally exhausted, there is even a metaphysical breakdown happening, and this is even more disturbing and potentially harmful. You lose all HOPE. You feel like you’re going NOWHERE. Your wheels are spinning and all you smell is the stench of burnt rubber that has come to characterize your lookout on life. You trust noone, not even yourself. The whole world is going to hell in a handbasket and you’re at the bottom of it.
Have you felt like this? Do you feel like this now? Are you drowning in despair or just so lifeless from not caring anymore, that life as you know it can best be described as a huge, pointless exercise in lethargy and lackluster life that has nothing to do with living anymore?
Well, there is a way out of this.
Wait. I know what you’re thinking.
That I have no idea what you’re feeling or how desparate you feel.
I know you might not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is there.
In fact, you’re not in a tunnel, you have already reached a point that the light is shining so bright on you that you can’t really see anything around you clearly. That this is a pivital point in your life that has more opportunity and life-changing chances than you have ever experienced before.
So, breathe now.
Things will change.
They will get better.
Now on to how that happens, a little bit, every day.
Like a friend of mine told me: ‘ Lee Ann, I don’t want to become my old self again! I want to become my new self!’
So out with the old.
And in with the new.
Embrace burnout.
You will not become your old self.
You will become your new self.
