In working with people who are either on the edge of burnout, or right smack in the throws of it, I have learned several things. One is that recovery isn’t fast. The FAST track to wellness is anything but…fast. This frustrates many of us. Especially the Type As in the group who just want to ACTION their way out of burnout. I was one of them. I wanted to use my Bias for Action and get Results. Insert eye roll here. Oh I had so much to learn.
Full blown recovery and gaining feelings of peace (less stress), more balance, and experiencing greater joy and presence in your everyday life is a long road; but you CAN feel some immediate relief by acknowledging the problem and starting to work on it. It’s like by calling out the elephant in the room, you shrink it down to a manageable size. Isn’t that true about any problem?
For burnout specifically, I’ve developed a strategy for holistic wellness using what I call the “FAST track” method. With a focus on four key pillars—Focus, Awareness, Self-care, and Transformation—it helps you engage in your physical, mental, and emotional needs through moderate practice that fits into your busy schedule. No prior knowledge is required, just a commitment to rediscover your well-being and embrace a more fulfilled life.
FOCUS
Here is a little more about the FAST track method. We first work together to define your focus. What you focus on is what expands. Or in other words, where you put your attention, you put your energy.
We do this by concentrating your attention and efforts on specific and meaningful goals and tasks. For example, someone experiencing burnout may have a disconnect with their current lifestyle and their values. This leads to feelings of frustration and overwhelm that contribute further to burnout.
This is a common occurrence with mid to senior level employees. Let me explain. Early in many people’s career, the main value is to make money and progress in their career. Promotion is a big value. They work hard, putting in extra time and energy and become known for their work ethic and their ability to deliver. They progress in their career and sure enough, get promoted. Usually several times.
However, once they are 5-10 years into their career, they may also have started families, purchased a home, moved to the suburbs, and increased their commute up to 10X or more. Often, their values shift, without them knowing it and they continue to work hard, put in the extra time and energy, continuing to deliver on values that are no longer exactly aligned. Now, though, they deplete themselves and go into energetic debt. They expend more energy than they get out of what they are doing. They continue to chase the promotion, despite having “made it.” Perhaps there are a few more promotions in the pipeline, but they won’t get them by continuing to do what they’ve always done. It’s like that famous leadership development book by Marshall Goldsmith, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There!” If you continue to work like an entry level employee with lots to prove, you will surely burn out. You have to learn to work LESS, using your new level of experience, wisdom, and resources.
With directed Focus, we work on identifying and prioritizing what truly matters to you in your life at THIS point in time. By re-evaluating your personal and professional goals, we create a sense of direction and purpose. We can then eliminate distraction and set clear and achievable milestones to maintain your newly defined focus. This helps to reduce feelings of overwhelm and actually enhances productivity. Instead of spinning your wheels, hating life and dreaming of an escape, you can CHOOSE to spend your energy in more efficient ways. You can spend time on rest and recovery, rather than more work. Al the while accomplishing more.
Side bar: sometimes the values haven’t changed, but we feel guilty because we “think” we should be doing or feeling something different than what we are. Sometimes, I help people remove the guilt. Full permission to value whatever you want in your life.
AWARENESS
Once we have identified your focus (based on your renewed values), we work on your awareness. We do this by practicing being in the moment and creating a practice of gratitude. So many of us are rushing from one meeting to the next, or from one thing we have to do to another, that we roam around like mindless robots.
Have you ever arrived at work and realized you don’t remember a single part of the drive? It’s scary if you really think about it. If you’re like me, you were probably busy thinking about all the things that you have to do when you get home, that a purple elephant could have crossed the freeway and you wouldn’t have even noticed it. It’s like that famous selective attention test where you are asked to focus on how many times the basketball was passed by the people wearing white shirts. You think you have the right answer, only to learn that you were oblivious to something walking right through the scene. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it, so go ahead and check it out. It’s worth a look!
Becoming more mindful also means you pay more attention to your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and triggers. By identifying them, you are able to gain control over them, versus them controlling you. If you have a lot of trauma, this may need more in depth work with a psychologist, and I highly recommend therapy to most of my clients. I have a personal belief that everyone should be assigned a therapist and a coach at birth. We all have things to overcome, and we all need support. But the work we do together can be helpful and complement therapy, if that is what is needed.
SELF-CARE
Next, we work on Self-care by identifying and creating routines that refill you specifically. I personally love to go in nature. While it is not restful AT ALL, a tough hike on a mountain refills my bucket more than an evening sitting at home. A nap is nice too, as is a quiet session with a book, but we first have to learn when to use which tools. If you need a wrench, a hammer isn’t useful. And if you have a flat tire, no amount of engine oil will fix that. I think you know what I mean. At least I hope so, because I’m out of car metaphors. We find what self-care routines and tools work best for you.
TRANSFORMATION
Lastly, we work to identify and sustain your transformation. We work on a mindset of embracing change, seeing the opportunities in it, and reflecting on what aspects of your life need adjustment. It could be your work environment, relationships, or personal habits. You don’t want to tackle them all at once, but you can use the tools we’ve developed, to work on them one after another. We also set goals for personal growth and plan actionable steps to achieve them. Transformation involves being open to new perspectives, learning new skills, and adopting healthier ways of living.
Unfortunately the Fast Track to wellness isn’t fast… and it’s never-ending. It’s like that saying, “it’s about the journey, not the destination.” You never ARRIVE at total wellness. Well, you do, but you have to keep working at it to maintain it. It’s like going to the gym. You can’t expect to do one killer workout, and have toned biceps and six pack abs without ever stepping into the gym again.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could? Nah, what fun would that be? The win without the struggle isn’t nearly as satisfying. Sigh… such is life.
Resource: If you think you might be experiencing burnout, but aren’t sure how bad it is, here is a quick 10 question quiz to help you!
Burnout and Stress Self-Assessment Quiz
As always, I hope this topic brings you value. You can let me know what other wellness topics you’d like to read about by commenting or DM me. I always love suggestions and feedback!