How doubting ourselves can make burnout harder to detect.
Burnout can be a common experience during the holiday season. And one reason that it can be harder to detect is doubting what we feel is legitimate. When we push through the pain, add more to our to-do list, and over-caffeinate – we’re likely sending ourselves on a one-way ticket to burnout-town.
Here are some symptoms to look for:
Irritability, fatigue, restlessness, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, shortened temper, headaches, pressure in the chest, or nausea.
So often what can react to what we’re feeling without giving much thought.
- Feeling irritable can easily turn into judging or criticizing others. When I’m feeling burnout, I lose all patience with holiday shoppers and parking lots.
- Fatigue and restlessness are managed with extra coffee in the morning and more coffee breaks during the day.
- Trouble sleeping or staying asleep becomes a time to run through our mental to-do list a thousand times.
- Physical symptoms like headaches, chest pain, or nausea are managed with over the counter medication.
If you suspect that you might be experiencing burnout, try answering the following questions:
I want ________________________________.
I feel _________________________________.
I need ________________________________.
For example:
I want “everyone to stop being so annoying.”
I feel “pissed off.”
I need “a break.”
Look over your answers, and ask yourself ->
- Does this sound like me? (Nope)
- Does this reflect how I want to feel? (Not at all)
- What are these responses telling me? (That I really need a break)
Then, after looking over your answers, see if you can make one small commitment to inch yourself closer to how you want to feel. Maybe that means cancelling a meeting, scheduling a date with a loved one, or drawing a long hot bubble bath.
What makes it so powerful is that the truth of your experience is revealed to you in your own words. When we take our experiences out of our mind, by either writing them down or speaking them aloud, we have the opportunity to see them in a new light. This process can be transformative and dramatically reduce self-doubt.
New on the podcast from 2 sisters and a cult ep. 72 with Alesia Galati
Professional podcast manager and co-host of Two Sisters and a Cult, Alesia Galati and I explore questions like:
- How do I know what are my original thoughts vs my training?
- What do I really want my life to look like?
- What does it mean when the people our lives don’t agree?
We relate on a shared sentiment of being in our mid 20’s, looking around at our lives and asking, “Who’s life am I really living?”
We also explore the impact of someone you admire confirming the worst fear you have about yourself and how this affects behavior, “This must be true. It’s the thing I’ve been afraid to admit to myself and they see it too.”
We also talk about the differences between being led to follow our own instincts vs following someone else’s. Similarities between how cult leaders lead and current coaching and marketing strategies.
The core lesson we come back to over and over again – at the end of the day the person who’s trust you must keep is your own.
If this content got your wheels turning and you’re ready to take self-exploration to the next level and click HERE to pick up a copy of my guided journal Treasured: a journal for unearthing you.
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