Burnout: A Two-Legged Solution

When a new client shows up experiencing burnout, we begin exploring how they’ve allowed work to consume their life at the expense their relationships, commitments outside of work, and now at the expense of their well-being and somewhat ironically, at the expense of their work productivity.

Here’s an analogy I’ve found often resonates:

Take a look at your legs and think of one leg as representing work and the other as rest. Focusing on your work at the expense of your rest is like trying to get around on one leg.?And just as two legs are a part of your natural ecology, so is the partnership between work and rest.

Sure, there are days, maybe weeks, months or whole seasons, when we will occasionally need to and can afford to work more and rest less, but when we forget or neglect to shift back, fatigue sets in and inevitably we risk falling over (figuratively and quite literally).

To stretch this further, maintaining balance utilizing both work and rest will help you remain resilient with a stronger center of gravity, remain agile as you maneuver around unforeseen obstacles, and get more done in the end as you can focus your mind and hands on the future when they're not focused on not falling over. Essentially, you can move further, faster, for longer!

It’s those who understand the value of their rest who go further with their accomplishments, who reach their goals faster, and who sustain for longer avoiding burnout.

So, balance isn't about work vs life. It's about work vs rest. You decide how the various roles you play in life fit into those two categories and how to integrate it all for optimal results according to what you find most important as well as sustainable.

So, take a look again at your legs and allow them to be a reminder of your need for balance in life.

If you could benefit from help finding your balance, I’m now gathering a community of Allies who are working on this alongside each other, and alongside me as I continue learning alongside them. I invite you to send me a message or check out Vocation Allies if joining this type of community could be helpful in finding the balance you’re looking for to go further, faster and for longer! Burnout is for those unwilling to face the reality of their human limits and unwilling to consider the effective, quite necessary balance of both work and rest.