Reflections on Burn Out

Each month inside the Age of E membership, we focus on a different topic. Since it’s now the end of the month, I want to share some reflections on our last topic, which was “How to Grow Without Burning Out”. Each topic has a shortlist of audio recordings, talks, and journal prompts for members that I compile at the start of the month, but we also have a live Office Hours on the topic, plus a monthly workshop/women’s circle. These community pieces always broaden and deepen my insights on the topic because I get to be in conversation with women from around the world, so by the end of the month I too end up with new insights and reflections, too. I’d like to share some with you today.

I've been thinking a lot about how a major antidote to burn out is SLOWING DOWN...but this can be hard! Especially over the holidays when there seems to be even more to "fit in". Also, what does slowing down in business even look like???

To me, slowing down is what happens in the little moments, all of the in-between times. It's the pause in the meeting to actually consider something, or wonder aloud instead of having the answers. Or the deep belly exhale when making a morning tea. Perhaps it's finishing 5 minutes earlier than you normally would so you are not rushing. Or deliberately not getting swept up in the stress or drama of a prickly email, "bad news", or difficult relatives, simply by deciding not to. Maybe it's using a red traffic light as a cue to breathe deeply and notice something in nature.

Inside the membership, one woman is creating a new offering for her business, AND, she was going to Hawaii on vacation. Her old way would have been to take calls and do work while away in an effort to force this new offering into existence. Our discussion centered on making one rule while on vacation: only working if she was inspired, and purposely not working out of obligation. If no work happened because inspiration was absent, then so be it.

For another woman who works with an especially difficult man as an advisor, she said something in one of our weekly Ask Me Anything calls that really stuck with me. She said, "I value him less now, so he doesn't bother me as much." PURE GOLD. It is not about devaluing this person, necessarily, who may have valuable things to contribute to her business. Instead, it's about not taking it on when he is difficult. Even though she's saying "I value him less", what she really means is, "I value me more." To me, this is the essence of growing without burning out.

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