No matter how much resilience you’ve cultivated, chances are you’ve experienced burnout.
Despite 25+ years of work dedicated to understanding what it means to be resilient, writing a best-selling book on the topic, helping 40,000+ leaders in 50 countries in 6 languages be more resilient, I reached the end of my rope!
This about sums up how I’ve been feeling the past few months.
Covid-19 has undoubtedly accelerated stress and uncertainty for most of us. Personally, it heightened my sense of responsibility to help my clients and community to navigate the chaos and uncertainty. I felt like I had to be a beacon of light – a source of constant inspiration.
Although I had good intentions, I became a victim of my overwhelming to-do list and neglected the signs of burnout in my own life. I forgot how important it is to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others. Ugggh how many times have I heard these &*&@! instructions when flying. You would think by now I would remember this.
We live in a society in which we’re conditioned to find satisfaction in checklist items crossed. But there’s value in doing nothing. – Allison Goldberg
The result? I was irritable, sluggish, and depressed. I was burned out!
I realized I needed to “walk the talk” – to get back to the basic ideas I’ve researched, taught, and helped so many others implement. It was time to recommit to three of my tried and true habits I know are key to staying balanced, healthy and positive. I started fresh and inwardly practiced the steps of my Daily Resilience Planner.
It is one thing to know what you need to do, but putting it into practice consistently isn’t easy.
Habit #1: Prime
I refocused my mornings by priming myself for the day, reconnecting with my purpose and grounding myself. Taking a few minutes every morning to reflect and calm my central nervous system definitely pre-paves my success.
Habit #2: Maintain “Peak State”
Focusing once again on being honest with myself about my health, I re-ignited my drive to maintain PEAK state by eating healthy and exercising. Funny, how I lie to myself and believe I’m taking care of my health, but when I’m really honest, I realize I’m not really.
Habit #3: Take time for recovery and renewal
The final strategy was the most important – take time for recovery and renewal. I desperately needed time to replenish myself and that meant unplugging, digital detoxing, and getting out of the house.
After arguing with myself for weeks, I finally booked a vacation to Santa Fe, NM.
The natural water hot tub where I soaked my stress away.
Two weeks in the New Mexico mountains reminded me of these 3 important ideas:
- Being in a different environment sparks creativity.
- Letting go of to-do lists and the drive to be non-stop productive is liberating. (Note to self: Do it more often!)
- The world will survive without me! It’s okay to take time to rest and rejuvenate.
My favorite spot to just do nothing.
After getting some deep rest and relaxation I was reminded that building and maintaining resilience takes daily practice.
So, it’s back to my Resilience Daily Planner – a simple tool I created to help me stay sane during COVID.
Click here to grab a copy of the planner. Customize it and use it every day as a reminder of the simple habits we need to practice to thrive in challenging times.
Send me an email telling me which habit you’re developing. I’d love to hear from you!