From burnout to balance

Welcome friends! Just a reminder that The Resilience Brief focuses on strategies to improve resilience to succeed personally and professionally. These are preventative ideas and practical tools, so that we can all thrive when obstacles come our way. To put these ideas into practice, find more info here.

Protect the asset.

There’s a good reason that airlines tell us to put our own oxygen mask on before assisting others.

They know that if we’re not safe and secure, then we can’t possibly make any positive contribution to others. It’s an important concept to remember outside of airplane trips too. We need to protect the asset (that’s us!). When we underinvest in our own well-being, we don’t give ourselves the best chance to make the contribution we’d like to make, both personally and professionally.

However, in this current world, it seems to be getting harder to manage our well-being. Unfortunately, the stats prove that burnout is increasing. Just this past June, Canadian research revealed that the number of people experiencing burnout in their professional lives is 42%, and that is up from 36% same time last year. Millennials (ages 27 to 42) reported burnout at work more than any other generation, at 55%! Isn’t it wild to think that 1 in 2 people are experiencing burnout?!

When we look at what causes burnout, the main offenders aren’t surprising. Top of the list are heavy workloads, understaffing, frustrations with communication (think about all that wasted time and energy going back and forth with clients or management!), and not having access to the right tools. On top of these, there are all of the external factors that also contribute to our stress levels - politics, weather events, inflation, the rise of AI.

All of these add stress to our lives. And that stress can lead to burnout.

So, when we think about tools, what tools will help? Right now, I’m not talking about productivity tools or tech that makes us all more efficient. Thinking that the latest productivity app will solve all of our burnout challenges is like putting a new coat of paint on a cracked wall. We have to look for real change.

And the best opportunity for real change can be found within ourselves.

There’s an old saying that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond. I believe this to be true, and I also believe that this is the key to resilience. Yes, there are so many things in our lives that can impact us, but the only opportunity we have to handle those challenges is to focus on what we can actually do.

It’s in our thoughts and our actions that we can actually make positive strides towards a place of more balance.

Here are three ideas to get started:

1. Avoid resistance. Suffering = pain x resistance. That means that the more we try to resist the pain, the more we suffer. Let me repeat that - we suffer. However, this is not about giving in and simply accepting something that isn’t right. This is about choosing to focus our energy on something productive. A simple example is that we can switch off the TV when that politician is saying something that irritates us. Or, in a professional setting, we might receive feedback that we don’t necessarily agree with. We can either resist that feedback and nothing changes, or we can seek to understand more. We can ask questions and get to the root of the issue so that it can be corrected.

2. Breath. When things are getting overwhelming, we have a tendency to react rather than respond. The act of breathing is an ancient balancing technique and a proven method for reducing stress levels in our body. Just by taking a few big slow breaths, we give ourselves the best chance to shift from a reactive space to a responsive space. When a colleague submits an urgent task for the 12th time this month, we can take a few big breaths before responding. I guarantee that it sets us up for a much better outcome for everyone, with a lot less stress and frustration!

3. Focus on what’s good. When it comes to stress and burnout, it’s so easy for us to get lost in a downward spiral of negativity and frustration. The quickest way to reset is to focus on the things in life that are good (yes, it’s me talking about gratitude again, but it works!). The budget for the campaign is now slashed, but at least it means that we didn’t need to do layoffs. The weather ruined our vacation….but at least we got to spend time away from the daily grind of life. Whatever the scenario, there is always an opportunity for a better perspective. We just need to find it.

Buddha said it best: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.”

These are just a few tools to try, but they require practice and consistency. If you’d like to discuss some of these for your team, let’s chat.

Until next time friends, stay resilient.

Carre @ Resilient Marketing Minds