In developing this resource, one of my greatest priorities was to help people build margin through the refocusing of their time, talent, and resources based on what truly matters to them. Although I love helping people navigate through complicated and challenging aspects of their personal finances, I also know that this resource would touch so many other aspects of life.
It\’s interesting how working on the process of researching, creating, producing, editing, and responding to this puts a mirror continuously in your face to ensure that you are practicing what you preach and that you are constantly refocusing on what really matters to you.
Now, if done properly by all of us, this means that you would be naturally building in margin into your life not only financially but in forming habits and rhythms that would impact and redirect other aspects of life.
This is what I find to be true, as although I have a rhythm of my weekly morning routine, as well as taking a full day off on the weekend, I still need to be sure to build in margin throughout the week to be available to others, to be able to go brainstorm and to unplug otherwise.
Creating the habit and having that power of a habit influencing other habits has helped to have a domino effect.
Much of my journey has been the continual evaluation of where I am and where I want to be, then making changes in my thought process and decisions in order to align with where I want to be. I have found, though, that this can be especially difficult if you feel like you are living in a haze, in the fog, or without the clarity you need.
This can oftentimes be defined as Burnout, which is one of the most difficult aspects to identify and even recognize in yourself. It\’s a slow fade of sorts that most don\’t recognize until they\’ve experienced the impact on health, relationships, or their career that comes as a result.
In an article by Psychology Today called \”The Tell Tale Signs of Burnout … Do You Have Them?\” it was stated that; \”You don\’t wake up one morning and all of a sudden \”have burnout.\” Its nature is much more insidious, creeping up on us over time like a slow leak, which makes it much harder to recognize.\”
I relate this to someone you are spending a lot of time with, who you recognize as not being the best influence but do not immediately take action to remove from your sphere of influence. You become who you surround yourself with and, therefore, gradually take on that individual\’s habits, behaviors, and perspectives.
Taking on more and more responsibility, leading to more and more stress over time, you can recognize as being unhealthy, but you may not limit your involvement, delegate, or even just say no to it if you don\’t have an immediate negative consequence to taking that on.
You may be thinking, how do I know if I am burnt out?
Some of this can be identified based on effects you experience physically, psychologically, and/or personally that may be related to feeling burnt-out.
What I mean by this is the physical effects of Burnout, including chronic fatigue, sleep-related issues like insomnia or sleep deprivation, chest pain, heart palpitations, and an increase in headaches or frequency of illness, to name some.
The psychological effects may look like becoming more forgetful, not being able to focus, and dealing with lower patience levels, including anger, forms of anxiety, and even depression. This can also look like losing enjoyment for things you would normally be excited about or being more pessimistic.
The personal effects of this can then cause isolation from the most important people in your life, feeling detached, losing interest in your job or career choice, deprivation, indulgence or overindulgence in habits, and feeling hopeless and unmotivated, therefore, preventing you from taking action to advance and grow that you would normally take.
Now there are so many different effects of this, and if carried out for a prolonged period of time can lead to greater health effects.
According to Calmer in an article named; \”What are the five stages of burnout?\” there is a definition of this that I thought was helpful, which states; \”Burnout is the loss of meaning in one\’s work, coupled with mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion as the result of long-term, unresolved stress. It continues to show five stages of burnout being;
- Honeymoon Phase
- Onset of Stress
- Chronic Stress
- Burnout
- Habitual Burnout
So where are you? Are you still in the honeymoon stage of your job? Are you feeling the pressure and weight associated with projects or the long-term effects of ongoing high stress?
CTA: My call to action is to take 10 minutes today to do an evaluation of where you\’re at in life. What is causing you the most stress, and how long has it been unidentified or unresolved for?
