Reflective day
Every so often when things combine I step back and just take a break. Part of taking a break is going to the right source for mentoring and coaching. I have my friends in Wealthy Affiliate to whom I am indebted. I also am fortunate enough to have an extended network in other directions.
I got some updated advice from Shelley Hitz a holistic life coach and mentor. I met her at a Book Baby writer's conference in Philadelphia in 2017. Her advice is well set out in logical patterns. It's entitled 5 minute mentoring when you want to quit. As follows:
- Recognition- Realize you're burned out. Know what is happening. If it is an addiction look for a support network and then a cure.
- Write it out. Writing helps solidify thought which can then be deconstructed and constructed again in myriad patterns. Keeping a journal helps. I kept a daily journal from 1989 until a medical disruption in 2012 threw me off balance. Now I keep annotations on saved calendars. Ensure your journals re kept accurate and used regularly, preferably every day!
- What triggered your burnout? This can be a natural result when a person is fixated on a routine that suddenly becomes overloaded or burdensome.
- Use introspection. Deeply examine your feelings. Know what moves and shakes you. Set boundaries and triggers for potential future routine. Let it move you to a set location and a set time for accomplishment of actions.
- Reach out - In my realm I have 3 networks - immediate friends and family. These are usually limited in the expertise in my endeavor. - Extended advisers and mentors ( social media contacts and members of writer's interest groups at large) and the Wealthy Affiliate community.
Life happens. When we happen back at it, we are controllers of our destiny and masters of our trade.
Recent Comments
29
Great advice Mike. It's far better to slow down and take stock then it is to simply give up. Jim
Well written, I think self-reflection helps a lot.
True words and wisdom there :)
It's very easy to get burnout, I've known folks in all of the networks I'm in that get that. It's best to recharge and review. And be say as you put across so well 'controllers of our destiny'.
Spot on.
Many thanks for this wonderful reflection.
Of course, many of our burnouts could be internal rather than external influences.
As for the external factor, the best one can do is to recognise that it is there and find a way round it. But for the internal ones, we have to deal with them.
Never be overconfident about it. Ask for help when you need it. No man is an island.
Segun
Your final words reminded me of 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley, of which I am sure you have either heard of or read. For me, even now, after many years of introspections and internal wrestling bringing about change, emotion still has the power to sway the intellect.
Stepping back and taking a break allows those feelings to subside and to have a clearer view on situations. Saying that, I still tend to have the same opinion just not the desire to act as I would have the day before.
On the railroad, we called it taking slack. Sometimes it's tough to get a train rollin' or you might stall when encountering a long uphill grade. in that case, to stop spinning your wheels, you back up a few car lengths to combine the space between the cars and use that space to get a running shot at the hill. That small step backward frees up latent energy to get you moving again. Works every time.
See more comments
We all need reflection from time to time! I actually have that time every morning before I start. I understand Mike.
Take care,
Bill