Michael Levitt's Blog, page 133

Burnout Series: N is For Neglect

Photo by @InspirationFeed

Next up in the burnout acronym is the letter N for neglect.  You're neglecting your self-care. When we are entering that burnout arena, oh a reminder:  burnout doesn't happen overnight, it takes time.  When we enter that burnout arena, one of the first things that happens is we start neglecting our self-care. 

What do I mean by self-care? You hear that phrase a lot. Many people may not understand what it completely means.  Self-care means making sure that you're taking care of yourself, both physically, mentally, spiritually and any other descriptor that you can come up with. You need to take care of yourself. You need to eat well, that doesn't mean that you're skipping the brown bag lunches every day, but you should eat better than maybe you are. When I had my burn out, my nutrition plan was ordering something through a speaker, driving around the corner, paying for it and get getting handed a brown paper bag. And that was my three meals a day because I was working crazy hours and not sitting down and eating. I was basically consuming fast food as my breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Obviously, that takes a toll and gets you on cholesterol medications and potentially stents in your left anterior descending artery. Not that I'd know anything about that. 

When you neglect yourself from a food standpoint that impacts your energy level, because again, your body needs to break down what you're consuming. So when you're eating foods that aren't really beneficial for you, your body is fighting that and trying to figure out where do I sort this? It's kind of like taking a bag of garbage and recycling and all of that stuff and throwing it all into one container, and you throw it down the chute.

If somebody has to sort it, they have to go through and say, OK, this is recyclable. This is compost. This is actually garbage. Your body has to do that with everything that we consume, not only from food standpoint, but also from an information standpoint. So if you are parked on the couch watching the nightly news or reading posts on all the doom and gloom of the world, guess what? That's going to impact your approach on life. That's going to impact what you're consuming and it's going to impact you how you live your life. 

If you focus on bad negative things, you're inviting that to be a normal part of your life. It's like what you consume makes you. Now, I'm not saying to ignore what's going on in the world, but I am saying take it in with the mindset of this is something that's happening in the world, but not happening directly to me.

When there’s “doom and gloom” in the world, ask yourself if you as an individual can do something about it? If you can't. Don't worry about it. Is it impacting you directly? No? Don't worry about it. Don't focus your time and energy on that. Focus your time and energy of being able to do the things you can do to make your world better. Change comes within. And if you want to change the world, change yourself. Because if you change yourself and you're a better person, then your impact on the world is going to be better, which means it's going to impact the world. And that's something you need to repeat every day. Wash, rinse, and repeat constantly. Do that. 

You're neglecting yourself, with what you're eating, what you're consuming and what you’re not doing: the things that bring you joy and happiness and fulfillment.  Neglecting yourself is going to increase your likelihood of either a burning out or be staying in a burned out state for much longer than you want to. It's crucial for you to take care of yourself. You have to be the best version of yourself in order to impact others. 

After you stop neglecting yourself and focus on your self-care, you can't let guilt and worrying about what other people think because you're taking care of yourself. They're going to project onto you what they think, or what they're going to say. “You're being selfish or you don't care anymore”. Or “why are you taking this position that's being rude” to whatever. That's them projecting onto you their beliefs, their thoughts and feelings.  Be like Captain America, use that shield and block that because don't take their projections on to you.

What you need to do is make sure that you're focusing on yourself first, because if you were your best self, when you do serve and choose to serve people or offer help or guidance, what's going to happen? You're going to be giving them a version that they have never seen before and it's going to be better and you're going to have a huge ripple effect on them and everything else you do. You have to take care of yourself first. 

 Don't neglect yourself because when you do. It's going to create some long-term problems for you.

There is a book called Disease to Please. I highly recommend you read this and I highly recommend you read that book on an annual basis. I read it last Christmas. I have it on my calendar that I'm going to read it again this Christmas. It's a gift to myself to be able to look at what I am doing, to see if I am doing things to please people instead of serving people. It's a big difference. You can serve people. You don't need to please them. Serve them. It's a big difference. 

 Next up on the BURNOUT acronym is O.

 Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

Sponsored Post From My Friends At CloutHQ

Imagine being able to connect to the key influencers in your field.  What would that do for your business and personal growth?

I want to talk to you about a platform that will have a huge impact on your business.

CloutHQ is a global database of over 20,000 influencers that users can access by direct contact for sponsorship opportunities with their brand. 

Using this platform will Easily take your brand to the next level by working with the thought leaders your customers know and trust.

Influencer marketing is the most powerful and tailored marketing channel used today. By tapping into highly curated influencer target audiences, brands can access more aligned consumers with less effort and cost. 

CloutHQ helps you connect to these powerful influencers by providing not only a searchable database with over 20,000 influencers and growing, but also provides direct contact to the influencers most desirable for your brands image and message. Using this platform will easily take your brand to the next level by working with the thought leader that your customers know, like and trust. 

I have an exclusive offer for breakfast leadership subscribers that is going to blow you away. This product this enterprise solution normally goes for over a thousand dollars for a one year subscription but. Loyal listeners of this show can get the enterprise subscription plan for $499. That's 12 months of service. All you need to do is enter the code breakfast at the link below:

Click here

Again use the code breakfast and you can get over a thousand dollars worth of access for $499. Influencer Marketing creates a natural zeroed and tailored target audience for your brand access. It's crucial. It's something that I highly believe in and I believe it will be a benefit for you and your organization to take advantage of this today. So click the link below:

Click Here

and enter the code breakfast and get on it today.

Burnout Series: R is For Rhythm

Photo by Michael Hall

I’ve been sharing posts lately about the word burnout. We're up to the letter R, which stands for rhythm.

 Our lives are about harmony and rhythm and actions and things that we do. When you're burned out, you're out of rhythm. We're not in sync with how you operate through our lives. We learn traits; we build up habits, routines, and a variety of different things. What happens when you're out of rhythm, those things become more problematic or in many cases you skip them. One of the things that I see often in people that are burned out is they skip the things that they enjoy doing because they don't have time.

 

Yes, you do.

 

You've got 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year plus. If it’s a leap year. You get a bonus day. Don't work that day. Pro-tip take that is a vacation day. Use that day as a day of reflection. Enjoy yourself. Do whatever you want.

 Don't work on February 29th. Put in their vacation time. Now if you haven't already. 

 When you're not in rhythm, everything becomes harder, even to the point of getting out of bed or going to the gym or meeting up with people that you normally meet or being prepared for meetings.

Being prepared for dinner, being prepared to help your kids with homework, being prepared for anything when you're out of rhythm, it’s as if you're not quite on the same road that you should be on your own. You're driving on the shoulder and everything's coming up. You're running over things. You're hearing clunks in your car. Everything is a mess. And it's because you're not taking care of yourself. 

If you're not in alignment, again, your body is going to be trying to compensate for the problems that you're dealing with. When that happens, you’ll have a situation where the energy that you need to repair the damage that we do to our bodies on a daily basis won't be there, because it's too busy addressing your out of rhythm situation. 

 The key is to get back into rhythm. The key is to get back to your true self or your true north. And to do that, you need to get to come to grips with the fact that there's something wrong. You're out of alignment. There's something going on that has led you to this burned out state. It doesn't cure itself.   Even taking a couple weeks vacation to get away from everything, you should want a life that you don't have to take a vacation to get away from your life. 

 When you get back from vacation, guess what? You have two weeks of work that you didn't get to do, on top of your normal workload. That's why you hear people grumbling all the time about going back to work. It's because their workloads are not manageable. And that's a systemic problem across businesses all over the globe. We're being asked to do too much and oftentimes we don't have enough resources to do it. That's the reality of things. The key is to find alignment with what you can do and specialize in the things that only you can do. And that's a hard conversation with your employers. That's a hard conversation with your family, your friends, your partners, your kids, everybody. 

 The key is you can only do so much. You're not going to be able to get everything done. That's a spoiler alert. We won't. There's no shortage of work, which is a good thing, which means there's things for us to do. The key is to be able to get in alignment and get into a rhythm of being able to do the things that we need to do. 

 Next in the BURNOUT acronym is the letter N.

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

Burnout Series: U is For Unhappy

In the Burnout acronym, the next letter is the letter U. And that is for unhappy.   When you're burned out, you're not happy with yourself. You're not happy with life. You're not happy about anything. You may be upset. You may be mad. When I had my burnout, I was distant from life. Things that you used to enjoy, things that brought you fulfillment. No longer does.  You’re numb. You don't sleep well. You're not eating well. You're not doing anything well. Life is just overwhelming to you, to the point where even little inconveniences seem like major catastrophes in your life. 

 

If that's going on with you, it should be a warning sign that you need to address something about this because it’s not normal. Little things shouldn't bug you. When I created this post it was summertime in North America, and one of the observations I've had is that it seems a lot of people are on edge right now. And it's alarming to me in many ways because number one, summertime is supposed to be a time of relaxation, sitting outside on patios, enjoying the nice weather. If you're in a climate that doesn't have warm weather year round, it's a good time to reconnect experiencing things, go to a baseball game, go to eat, find food, find restaurants, go to plays, concerts, outdoor venues. All of these things are all over the place. 

 

If you're not partaking in those things because you're too tired or don't have the energy or you have no time, that's a warning sign. You need to take a look at that, because if you're unhappy with your life and you're not doing the things that bring you joy and happiness, your burnout is going to get worse and your body's going to be combating this stress and you’ll start experiencing other health and mental issues. 

 

Eventually the energy that your body needs to take care of other damage than we do to our bodies on a daily basis, won't be there to repair yourself. That's why your sleep is garbage. That's why your energy levels are low. That's why the high-octane coffee is not doing what it used to do. It's because you're burned out and you're not enjoying life and you're unhappy. And you can address this, but you have to be willing and able to do it.

 Next up on the BURNOUT acronym is the letter R.

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

 

BURNOUT Series: B Is For Boundaries

Burnout is an epidemic.   We're seeing it all throughout our country and across the planet.   We're running into situations where people are leaving their jobs or they're going out on leave for a long time because they just simply can't take it anymore. Recently I posted an image that said burnout but each letter in burnout meant something.  The letter B for burnout starts off with boundaries. I think a key component in dealing with your burnout is boundaries or in many cases a lack of boundaries. You're going to burnout; it's inevitable if your self-worth and your self-care get impacted when you don't have boundaries in your life.

 When you hear the word boundaries a lot of people think border walls or boundaries around of sports field or something along those lines.  Personal boundaries are important. You have to take care of yourself first. We've all heard the analogy of putting on the oxygen mask first if you're an airplane. Hopefully you never experience that because it's quite traumatic for people that have seen that situation happen before. 

You're on an airplane, masks drop, everyone starts freaking out, but again in that panic state you have to take care of yourself in a self-care state. 

 In all aspects of your life, you have to take care of yourself so boundaries are important. 

 How do you implement boundaries in your life if you don't have them?  Just like anything you have to implement them slowly and you have to see what works and what doesn't. 

 Saying no is a boundary. 

 Don't overcommit yourself.

 Don't spend so much time giving of others or giving to others without making sure you take care of yourself first, because you can't serve if you're empty if you're empty you're not going to be able to help anybody. And unfortunately many of us find ourselves under those situations where we are constantly giving and giving and we're not giving to ourselves. 

 I understand that. I get it. I am a reformed people pleaser, and those people have a goal to help others. And sometimes when someone is not in agreement with you on your ability to give to him or her when they expect it (pre-having boundaries) then what happens is they get angry.  If you're anti-confrontational you take that personally.  Remember they're projecting out you. They're projecting their wants and their desires what they want and what they desire and what's an emergency to them may not be an emergency to you. 

 You have to look at things from a perspective of what is best for me to be able to help people when I can. But ultimately it boils down to you have to help yourself first. And if you don't do that you're not going to help anybody at least not in the way that you'd want to. 

 The next post will feature the first letter “U” in BURNOUT.

 Be well!

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

How To Recession Proof Your Burnout

Photo by NeONBrand

Even though I advise people to limit the amount of news they consume, I do not advise that you live in a cave and ignore all the news of the world.

Over the past few weeks, the “R” word has been bandied about in the media.

As Kimberly Amadeo wrote in a recent article:

A recession is when the economy declines significantly for at least six months. There's a drop in the following five economic indicators: real gross domestic product, income, employment, manufacturing, and retail sales.

With recent trade and tariff disputes between the United States and China, the uncertainty with Brexit, and an overall angst that seems to be permeating society these days, there is potential for a recession within the next year, according to analysts.

The “R” word brings out worry and concern to many, because of the fear of loss or missing out. Loss of jobs, potential financial hardships, depleted savings, etc, will impact many.

Many of us vividly recall the last economic recession of 2008/09. That one was fun #NotReally.

Auto sector in US almost died, housing/mortgage/banking crisis all came to a head. It was a perfect (sh*t)storm of disaster for many, including yours truly.

One of the biggest problems with recessions is that we worry about things that are ultimately out of our control. Going back to 2008/09, the auto sector collapse was caused by poor management decisions at each of the automakers. The banking and mortgage crisis was caused by banks and lenders giving out mortgages to people that truly didn’t qualify to get those mortgages. Several other factors led to that “perfect storm.”

If you stress about something that has not yet happened (and may not for a while), then you are basically asking for those situations to happen. Your mindset is set to “worry mode”, which your brain will attempt to address through the signals and energy repair. work that it has to do when we abuse our minds and bodies with worry and fret.

When you worry about money, I bet more bills show up at your front door. Funny how that happens.

When you worry about getting sick, I bet you’ll end up getting sick.

See a pattern here?

You’re basically asking for (or praying for/begging for) what you DON'T WANT!

Your mindset plays a huge factor on whether or not you will burn out. Burnout is a choice. You’ve chosen to be burned out, through your thoughts, your beliefs, your expectations.

Burnout is an imbalance of what you expect things to be like/want, and reality.

Here’s a good example: You work in social services. You want make a change in the world. You want people that are suffering to no longer be in that situation. You want to help everyone from the challenges they’re facing.

Problem is, you can’t help everyone. Not possible. That’s the reality.

Your perception and desires are to want something that is not possible. When you’re constantly fighting against reality, burnout will show up.

With the “R” word, I’m guessing you don’t want a recession to happen ever again. the reality is with our economic systems, markets go up and down. Supply and demand go up and down. So do economies.

While I hope and think the next recession won’t be like the one in 2008/09, there are steps you can take to minimize the personal impact on your life, and keep recession burnout at bay. (Via CNBC)

Focus, don't panic: Worrying about something only invites that energy of what you don’t want in your life. Focus on what you do have (food/clothing/shelter covered? Good!)

Personal life inventory: Get a physical and mental check-up. Make sure you are addressing any mental or physical health challenges you have. Just because it’s not Jan 1 doesn’t mean you can’t start implementing some improvements in your life.

Financial life inventory: Get real on your current financial situation. DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP IF YOU ARE NOT WHERE YOU WANT/HOPED TO BE, FINANCIALLY SPEAKING! We’ve all made choices that didn’t end up well for us. No need to dwell on that. Look and move forward.

Save more: Cash is king. Look at ways to be efficient with your spending. Look for more affordable options for your food/clothing/shelter expenses. If you’re thinking of getting a new car, compare the costs of higher insurance and car payment to what you’re paying now.

Pay down credit cards: If you’re living on credit cards, go back to the previous step and start saving more. Your lifestyle isn’t in alignment with your financial reality. If you make 80,000 a year, and you live like you make 100k a year, there’s a disconnect. Financial burnout is real!

Don’t worry, this too shall pass: The last economic recession was horrible for many, including myself. When I hear talk about another recession potentially coming, going to the steps listed above has helped me tremendously to prepare for the worst, without worrying and hoping it happens.

Be well!

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

How To Enjoy The End Of Summer Without Burning Out

Photo by Paul Gilmore

The end of summer is approaching. Various retailers have their back to school sections set up, and you’ll see the look of agony on the faces of students, because they know the classroom routine is around the corner (if it hasn’t already begun.).

For those fortunate to start school after Labor Day, you have a few more days of sleeping in, lounging around, and whatever trouble, errrr, fun you can find.

The end of August often brings a bit of anxiety for people, especially if they haven’t had the opportunity to do everything they wanted to do over the summer months. Those trips to the amusement park, concerts, patio lunches with friends, trips to the cottage… we have to jam all of those in before Labor Day!

Or do you?

Summer is a time for outdoor activities (especially for those of us in northern climates, where that W word seems to last for years.)

When summer passes you by, you feel the urge to jam everything into the last few weeks, to address that fear of missing out (FOMO). When you do this, you’re actually setting yourself up for unnecessary stress and leading you to burnout.

Historically, my autumn tends to be busy with projects, travel, etc. The last 3 years have been very demanding during September-Mid December, so this year I decided to scale back on a lot of initiatives during those months.

Interesting side effect for me doing that: It loaded up my summer months instead. Tons of podcast interviews, travel, and other project work has made this summer zoom by, and I along with the rest of you are wondering where the time has gone.

After mid September, I have 3 trips scheduled between October and December. Podcast recording season is done until February (unless a guest wants to sponsor their appearance, then Mike will step up to the Mic!), and projects are in motion for things.

Fall is often a favorite time of year for people. Pumpkin Spice Lattes and cinnamon donuts are returning, friends!

Pumpkin Spice Latte, by Jayda Novak

So as you approach the end of your summer, here’s some action items for you.

Of all the things you’ve wanted to do but haven’t done yet, pick one thing to do. The rest schedule for next summer

Build in off days (if you have vacation days, take one or two if you can) and do NOTHING. Maybe read a book, but turn off your Netflix, shut down your iBinky, be outside and take in the summer breeze. It will make you feel fine.

Sleep in or take a few naps. Preferably outside or with a window open. Get some non-HVAC generated air

Take a deep look at your fall schedule. Anything you can delete/defer/delegate? Do it.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

How Personal Boundaries Can Prevent Trouble Down The Road

I talk about boundaries and burnout on my blog, other media sites and my podcast.

Personal boundaries are important to protect yourself from harm. Both harm that others can do to you because of their own issues/agendas/etc, and the harm you do to yourself, especially if you’re a people pleaser.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time” is often associated with times of regret, pain, suffering. A decision to move to a more expensive area, when your finances are still a mess from the last layoff/move, getting a car loan when a used car that you can pay cash for is the better financial choice, or taking that job simply because it paid more, but was a toxic environment are just a few of the examples I hear (and have experienced myself) over time.

At work, not having boundaries about your hours of availability is a direct violation of your personal time and space. Would you go into the office at 11pm to work? Then why are you answering a work email at 11pm? Organization’s definition of “emergency” is way off. There are very few legitimate reasons to be contacted by your employer after hours. Employers need to hire night staff if the work is truly required after hours.

There’s a reason workplace cultures are suffering. People are tired and burned out, because there’s a significant lack of boundaries around the work itself, and when it’s expected to be performed.

When you lack personal boundaries, you are giving away control of your life. Do you want your boss, lover, friend, etc to control your life? Or do you want to be the pilot of the company called YOU?

It’s your choice. Choose wisely.

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

How Discontent Can Lead To Burnout

Not enough of us are spending time enjoying our summer!

Discontent.

In walking around town and seeing people online and their social media posts, this summer seems to be the summer of discontent.

Why?

The weather from my vantage point has been decent. I haven't heard a ton about any troublesome weather events (maybe I’ve missed them, and if you have experienced some rough weather outcomes, I trust you’ll get through them!)

I’ve noticed my own schedule this summer has looked more like my typical autumnal schedule. Crazy busy with activities and tasks.

Wasn’t summer supposed to be slower? A couple notches down? Not for me, and from deeper reflection, maybe not for others.

Our society seems to have latched on to the “never off” mode, not just with our smart phone addictions, but with our work hours, overloading our days with “to-dos”, etc.

What happened to doing nothing on a warm summer day?

When was the last time you did nothing?

Sitting on your patio or balcony, or sitting at a campsite or park. Just sitting. Observing. Listening. Feeling. Any of these sound familiar to you?

If you’re not taking some down time opportunities during the summer, you’re increasing your risk of burning out. Constantly doing things is not how we are designed. Quit treating your life that way!

Last night in a nearby community, the #WaterLanternFestival was in town, where attendees would write on rice paper, and write quotes, passages, thoughts, etc. then this paper would fit over a wooden floating piece of wood in the form of a lantern. Attendees would then put them into a sectioned off part of a lake or river, releasing their lantern of wishes and quotes into the water.

Source: Instagram.com/waterlanternfestival

Prior to the lantern launch, people sat in the lawn, some with chairs, some had blankets. It felt like. a classic festival. The event had an acoustic guitarist play some music, people were just in the moment, having fun and talking with their friends and family. It was relaxing, and the cool summer breeze made for a wonderful experience. I recommend attending the Water Lantern Festival if it’s near you.

Summer is meant to experience things like outdoor concerts, meals on patios, festivals, vacations, and simply getting away from the day-to-day grind. We need to slow down and experience all that summer has to offer us.

There’s still time. Find time on your calendar and schedule some “do nothing” time. Put on some good music to unwind.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Follow me on Twitter @bfastleadership, Facebook Breakfast Leadership, and on Instagram @bfastleadership. 

I help people recover from or prevent burnout in their lives.  Schedule a 20 minute chat to discuss your stress and/or burnout with me.

Why We Are Failing To Address Workplace Burnout

As stated in a recent Sleep Clinic article, Work burnout doesn’t just describe being tired of working. Rather, it’s a term defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.” Burnout also has numerous symptoms from being cynical at work to unexplained headaches, stomach problems, and other physical ailments. In fact, 93% of respondents experienced slight burnout at work.

While the full-time workweek typically consists of 40 hours, a significant portion of employees works more than eight hours a day, on average. Part-time workers were the only employees to clock in less than eight hours daily in 2017. As we learned, for those working more than 40 hours, the likelihood of work burnout increases. Respondents working 40 hours each week experienced burnout to a slight or moderate degree, while people working 41 hours a week felt significant burnout. Respondents who reported being extremely burned out worked an average of 42 hours per week.

Organizations are expecting more and more of employees, violating the personal time of their teams with constant connectivity (smartphones are awesome, and bad at the same time.)

I had breakfast the other day with a colleague, and their company is working a holiday weekend for a rollout of a new initiative. After that, there will be future rollouts and long hours, with no end in sight. Their employees are angry, stressed, possibly burning out, with no end in sight.

Kind of reminds me of the times in workplaces before unions came into existence. Long hours, lousy pay, demanding bosses, unrealistic goals, constant pressure, toxic work environments.

What is old is new again.

I anticipate backlash from employees en masse at some point across the various sectors, because what we are asking employees to do is unrealistic and wrong.

Source: https://www.thesleepjudge.com/wp-cont...

These percentages are staggering, and it’s getting worse.

It’s high time that organizations address this before the employee revolution happens again.