You are overwhelmed and underwater.
You used to love your job and at one time you felt you would do it forever, even if no one paid you. You were proud to say, “I am a X and I work for Z”, and if we are being honest, you really liked how impressed people were when you said it.
Somewhere along the line putting “in the work” just didn’t have the same returns. When you were working off fumes, you’d say, “well, at least it pays the bills”.
But now, there is no more gas in the tank. You are totally BURNED OUT.
You’re exhausted but you can’t sleep (even with that nightly glass of wine). You wake up every hour, on the hour, dreading the time when you eventually need to get up. The dreaded Sunday night is the worst because of the impending doom of Monday.
You get up and everything feels like a chore, dressing, showering (that’s if you get to it), eating and that’s all before you leave the house.
You take the conference call on the way to work hoping that no one notices that you aren’t actually in the office.
At work, you’re trying to fake it to make it, but people are starting to say things like, “You look tired, are you okay?”. You shrug it off and blame it on allergies.
You’ve mastered staring at the computer screen but not really doing anything. You look like you are taking notes but you’re really doodling.
If you have an office, you take a nap at your desk. If not, at lunchtime, “you go to run errands” but you’re really taking a nap in your car.
You finally make it through the day and when you get home you use the last bit of energy you have is to order Uber eats and veg out on Netflix.
You have lofty plans for Saturday and Sunday, but you end up putting your phone on silent and sleeping all weekend. You wake up Monday you feel guilty for “not doing anything”.
You’ve never thought you’d be here but now you know something must change.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Every week, I work with people who can relate to this scenario in some way.
YOU CAN GET BETTER.
When collaborating with people to bring them back from the dead, I have noticed some usual suspects that landed them in my office in the first place.
Usual suspect 1: Difficulty saying “no”
We’ve all heard this term, “healthy boundaries” tossed around, but what does it mean? Boundaries are letting people know what is okay with you and what is not okay with you.
Think of boundaries as garlic for energy vampires (your boss, the “shoulds” in your head, the [insert whatever is sucking the life out of you].
Setting boundaries can be so damn scary at first, but it’s a skill and it gets easier when someone teaches you how to do it (insert me here).
You’ll learn the tools to set and maintain them (in a non-jerky way) and embrace healthy boundaries, so you have head space, and time, to prioritize what’s important to you.
Usual Suspect 2: Lack of Rest
Admit it, the word rest is not just a real 4-letter word, it’s one figuratively too. I suspect somewhere you learned that resting, aka slowing down, taking time to recharge, is just plain laziness. Or some thinking that goes like this, “There is so much to do, who has time to rest?” (gasp)
Imagine a world, where slowing down is the path (and I am not talking about a new time management technique, either) and not waking up to exhaustion. Where you believe you have choices and options, you feel good in your skin and energized.
Usual Suspect 3: Fear of Change
Paralyzed by fear to make the move. The move can be anything, a new career, pursuing a different role in the same career, taking a break until you figure out what the next move is.
Sometimes what stops us in making a career transition is the self-worth we’ve tied to position title, career field and other’s expectations.
This takes some good old-fashioned guts, not to be confused with some form of bravado. You’re still scared while you are doing it, the difference is your doing it afraid by getting in touch with what you value and gaining the courage to act on it.
The Kryptonite to Career Burnout and Transition
I am here to help you tame those usual suspects through skill building; yes, these are skills you can learn.
You’ll participate in exercises to learn about the state of your current boundaries and where they need tightening up and how to do it.
You’ll learn about the different types of rest (it’s not just sleeping) and literally practice rest.
Together we will look at your values and how they light your path to courage and authenticity.
Career burnout and transition can be a dark place, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Let me turn it on for you.