This lesson right here has taken me a firm 38 years to learn but I think I’ve arrived y’all and I’m really proud to be working with so many people that are also dropping this status. I, like many of you, did have to burn out and rise back from ashes though and by golly there are so many warning signs that I won’t ever ignore them again.
Relentless fatigue, anxiety, loss of passion/excitement, isolation, addiction (shopping, food, social media, substance), chronically overwhelmed, muscle aches, joint pain, increased illness, chronically late, negative thought patterns…. any of these sound familiar?
This idea that current American society is telling us... this ridiculous idea that we are never enough, never doing enough, that we need to produce more, see, read, say and achieve more all while we are expected to accomplish all the things at home, at work, with our families, with our friends, our lovers, our pets and even strangers. For the love of gawd y’all... that is called adrenal suicide and more than 80% of Americans are leading half-lives because of it.
It has literally taken me more than two full years... 29 long months to be exact, of being out of corporate America to shed this belief system and give myself permission to stop running around on fire. I am officially extending that permission to you, too. It is total nonsense that burnout has become commonplace and even worn as a badge of excellence and productivity in the workplace. Burnout does not create happy productive employees…. it runs up sick-days, doctor co-pays and prescription fees and eventually drives people to a career change or chronic illness.
If we are always on fire... we are high on stress and stress is the lighter fluid for all disease, cancer and dysfunction. Let that sink in .... stress is the lighter fluid for all disease, cancer and dysfunction.
It’s not like me to be so dramatic (haha, that depends who you’re asking) however… burnout is a very real disease in our society and I see it all the time with clients, friends and family. We simply can not live our best lives and live in our best bodies, if we are on fire yea?