How To Combat Burnout
Manuel Astruc is an experienced psychiatrist.
His own struggles with burnout, addiction and depression inspired him to start Your Next Act, his coaching program for high performing entrepreneurs.
Manuel takes what he’s learned working in the field, his work as an entrepreneur and his own life experiences and brings it to entrepreneurs to help them with “the other side of success.” The outside world sees one side of a successful entrepreneur, but there is another side to success. From stressed out to burnt out to numbed out, high-achievers pay a price for their success that they keep to themselves.
Dr. Astruc helps others recognize how focusing on their mental fitness translates into greater success, both in life and in business.
https://manuelastruc.com/free/
There are 3 components to burnout. One is the sense of emotional exhaustion. Second is the cynicism that starts to seep into your life…and third is a feeling like you’re no longer effective at what you do.
The factors that contribute are…not feeling like you have much autonomy of efficacy, demands that exceed your abilities to produce, and life becomes a bit of a treadmill. One day looks just like the next….
The mental exhaustion is certainly is a fatigue component.
Burnout is not…a medical condition that needs to be treated with medication, but left unchecked, you can certainly move into depression.
Whenever we studied the disease, we all had the disease because everything is a continuum. With burnout, the leading edge indicators are smaller components…no longer feeling satisfied with work, starting to get tired and no longer looking forward to going into work…
Not doing work where we have a sense of purpose (is a big component of it) or that are aligned with our interests.
One of the things I talk about in Your Next Act is life by design. Most of us follow life by default.
We get on this treadmill of expectation that when we get to wherever we are supposed to get, now we are there and there’s something good that’s supposed to happen.
….on the weekends that same person is the captain of the company’s baseball team and that person really loves baseball. That little bit of satisfaction that really is purposeful for them and meaningful to them can mitigate the 4 hours a week that are a bit of a grind.
By intentionally being able to look for and add parts of our life that we find rewarding…and it can be just 10% of your day…you can do a lot to move the needle with burnout.
I was burnt out for a long time…It was right after my twin sister passed away from a brain tumor… I said something’s gotta change. I immediately started to make change with things I could control. I focused on one meal a day that I could eat better…I exercised 5 minutes a day…I turned off the news…I put on podcasts…I involved myself in thinking about a bigger future for myself.
The idea of how to be happy…is not something that we’re taught. I’ve come up with a way…and teach folks how to do that.
The first part of happiness is starting to ramp up your energy. Move more. Eat better. Focus on your sleep. Gratitude practice.
4 Pillars:
We are never finished products. Learning and growing is part of what keeps us alive and engaged.
Connect. Our human relationships, our community, our tribe is so important.
Blazing your own trail. …we want to make sure we are intentionally…following our curiosity, figuring out what we’re good at, our purpose. It can be daunting but it can also be really simple….give yourself the grace of time to figure it out.
The commitment to enjoying the ride no matter what. …from Victor Frankel Man’s Search for Meaning, we always have the ability to choose our attitude no matter what the circumstances.
What I have found is the more focused I become on ‘it’s up to me to create the environment that sustains me and that let’s me enjoy the ride, the less tolerance I have for toxicity.
Finding connection, finding the community and the tribe that sustain us and that are like minded is really important.
I’ve got a group of people that say they’ve been in training for the shutdown their entire lives…
I’ve got some people who are really suffering…
The language shapes so much of the meaning and the story in our head.
There was a really big discussion around that term social distancing and that we are really talking about it wrong. We should be saying physical distancing.
The language that we use is going to shape the experience.
If we don’t address burnout…you get sick. At the very best, you’re miserable…in the long run people get depressed, people suffer, people are lonely and…ultimately the impact on our physical health and mental health is huge.
We look for that 10% often that’s something that comes in with a neon sign….but there are so many things that are awe inspiring…that can just bring delight to us.
Driving into work, the sun, the clouds, things turning green…these are things that are everyday sources of joy and inspiration that when I’m looking for them, is much easier to find.
3 things in the morning that you’re grateful for. Write them out. Hold yourself accountable in some shape or form.
Don’t break the chain.
When you’re writing down…you’re going to look for things every day that you’re grateful for.
It’s not always this big neon sign of enjoyment we get. It’s in the little things every day that are around for us.
It’s part of the distinction between a case of burn out and a case of something that’s more of an illness like depression…it’s the proper prescription for the proper condition that we’re looking at.
It can be helpful to have somebody to talk to about those things.
Sometimes it’s someone holding on to something that they really need to let go of. Sometimes it’s one little piece of information, one little nuance in terms of a mindset that can be helpful.
A trick that I’ll use is…going from being ‘trapped’…just imagine that you’re not trapped….allowing yourself to really play with that and see how that’s true for you can really be helpful while you’re trying to figure things out.
When was the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. 30 years ago. The second best time is today.
Regrets can be clues…
To avoid it, focus on that energy on ramp…those are the big pieces. You’re taking your power back and designing your life around those pieces.
Change is possible…you don’t have to figure this out by yourself.
Stress is so common…remember what stress is…it’s a physiological reaction that all animals have when they’re put into dangerous situations. The body’s reaction is preprogrammed…to deal with life threatening situations. Today we get stressed out…my boss calls,…taxes are due..one of the things that can just be tremendously helpful is to get a little bit more granular with what the feeling actually is….I’m scared, I’m angry, I’m worried…then don’t make yourself “I am” stressed. Identify “I feel” stressed….a little emotional distance is super helpful.
David Evans and Bill Barnett Be curious, talk to people try stuff, tell your story.
I want to see things that are really old…and be inspired by that.
A book and my iPhone where I listen to my podcasts.
www.manuelastruc.com/free
Audio : Ariza Music Productions