Change hangover.

Circuit breakers.

When we experience change, we expand.?

After change, we need a minute to reset. If we don’t, we hold on to the ‘past’ and get stuck in a holding pattern.?

To get out of a holding pattern, we can create our own circuit breaker.

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For years, I had been paid to give talks on burnout.

And, as the years went on, I was getting pretty good at avoiding burnout.?

As I put burnout behind me, I got more requests to talk about burnout.?

I started to feel frustrated.

Why?

I’d worked hard on not being burned out anymore. It was getting harder for me to connect to the story.

I needed to make mental head space for the next thing I’d talk about. But for some reason, I couldn’t.?

I didn’t have the energy to mentally move on because I was in resist mode.?

I was so busy holding onto the burnout-talk-days (what I knew), that I couldn’t see the opportunity right in front of me (the possibility ahead of me).

But then… I got asked to do a TEDx talk …?about my burnout story.

I told the organisers I needed to ‘break up’ with burnout to figure out what was next.?

‘That’s interesting’, they said.?‘Can you talk about that?’

So, I spent 12 minutes on the?TEDx stage?talking all about it.

And I needed it: by taking action, I was really closing the page on it.

While I didn’t know what was next, there was no resistance anymore.?

I felt finally free to figure out what I wanted to do next.

Why we resist change.

Resistance happens when we haven’t mentally broken up with the way things were.

It’s a bit like dating immediately after a break up. It’s too many steps.?

We don’t need to ‘just get over it’. We need to work through it.?

And to do that, we need to do something different, before we can jump on board to a new way of doing things.

We need a circuit breaker.

How a circuit breaker works.?

A circuit breaker is any?action?that gives you a mental reset moment.?

A circuit breaker is any action that helps you create space between where you are now, and where you want to go.?

A circuit breaker can be as small as taking a few breaths between meetings or as big as sharing your life story on a stage.

What all circuit breakers share is they offer us a mental ‘fresh start’.

Why it works.

Studies?have shown?that analysing a scenario creates distance and thereby minimises perceived difficulty. Research also shows ‘information retrieval’, such as teaching and reflection, minimises the ‘forgetting curve’ (what we all experience after going through something new).

Separating our behaviour from our identity enables us to see our actions as separate from ourselves, and thereby more easily to edit.

From this place, we can help to choose what to think. We’re no longer in ‘default mode’.?

This is why I felt free afterwards.

The reason I felt ‘burnt out’ by my ‘burnout story’ (the irony!), is I hadn’t stopped to reflect on what I’d learned and what I’d gained. I’d been on autopilot, wondering why it didn’t work for me anymore.

The TEDx talk gave me that opportunity. I was able to reappraise it as an amazing achievement (I’m no longer interested in being tired all the time!), celebrate the accomplishments (I built an awesome business) and from there I felt free: to break up with my ‘old’ self.

Why it works at work.

We teach this tool in our?workplace training?when we talk about managing change and capacity, because no matter what the change is (organisational restructure, promotion, hybrid working, new employer value proposition), this tool helps people create space between the change they experienced and their?identity.

Mega powerful.

Circuit breakers are the secret weapon in change.

If you have people in your workplace who are resisting change (or you feel a bit like this), they’re stuck in the past. They won't move forward. You’ll wonder what is going on.?

They need a circuit breaker.

Circuit breakers give you space to acknowledge the past, and take a minute before mentally firing up for the change ahead.?

Circuit breakers can be as big as taking time off, or as small as taking a few breaths in a performance review.?

People can design their own circuit breakers according to how their brain and preferences work.

A circuit breaker is powerful because it reminds us we have choice, we have agency and we have authority over our lives.

Applying a circuit breaker at work, without doing a TEDx talk.

You don’t need to get on a stage and tell your life story to mentally move on.

Here are some real-world applications:

• Walking off the adrenaline of a tough conversation?by walking around the block and doing something completely unrelated. Instead of taking that adrenaline rush with you to the next meeting, you’re deflating it, by essentially taking it for a walk. I personally take Joey-the-dog out for a walk around the block just to breathe it out. (Remembering to pick up his poop always puts things into perspective).
• Booking ‘breakfast dates’ with myself.?For me, a change of scene helps me remember there are things?outside of work?(a revelation!). When I’m feeling flat, I decide what suburb I’m going to go to to have a coffee or breakfast if the budget allows. I get dressed up, ready for The Occasion. By the time I get back home, I feel like I’ve been to an important meeting for MYSELF.
• Hitting the gym when it’s in the diary, regardless of what happened that day.?I love to talk myself out of this one. What I’ve noticed though, from putting into play my ‘no longer willing to be tired’ mantra, when I return to the desk, all the things that felt hard, now seem simple.
• Validating my thinking with someone I trust.?I often Slack my General Manager to soundboard an email, or validate a presentation I’m doing. Her feedback always puts things into perspective and reminds me to solely focus on delivering what was promised (not the kitchen sink, as is my tendency).
• Stepping away from my desk between meetings?to get a glass of water or a cup of tea. The actual substance is irrelevant, I’m physically moving away from my desk to remind myself - this is not life or death. This is a meeting.
• Blocking out my calendar on Mondays and playing my heavy metal playlist.?This simple hack helps me remember who I am?without work,?ironically. It gives me a chance to track-pants-work if I want to, and remind myself, I’m a 40 year old who is saving for her dream house. I don’t need to be ‘the Happiness Concierge’ every single day.??
• Not taking my phone to the loo.?Forced ‘being present’ time, ha!

If you’re a leader and your team is despondent.

A circuit breaker could be a game-changer.

Like all things that are good for us, your people won't instinctively create this ‘gap’ when they feel flat. You’ll need to spark the change.

If you’re a leader, you need to pave the way and tell them why it’s important and create ways for them to do it.

Here are examples of circuit breakers leaders have made happen for their team:

• If you have someone on the verge of quitting, or is doing the least?(hello, quiet quitting!), consider whether your team can afford for them to have a decent amount of time off. One leader in my network calculated that their team member had a decent chunk of annual leave they hadn’t taken, and suggested they take a few weeks off, then come back 4 days a week. The person who wanted to quit? Complete turnaround story. Turns out they just needed a circuit breaker.
• Reframe compassionate leave.?Consider whether the compassionate thing to do is to give your team member a week to remember who they are. You might feel frustrated and irritated by their underperformance, but try if you can to remember the person you hired: how can you help them remember who they are?
• Share the observation. It’s the idea that when you know about something, we pay more attention to it. The people I train are often completely unaware of how their actions are being interpreted by others and sharing an observation, ‘you don’t seem like your usual self’, or ‘I’m noticing you’re not fully present’, can be a great way for them to think about what that might mean for them.
• Share your own stories. There’s nothing more credible than real-life experience. Reflect on what you’ve personally done to mentally switch lanes between change. For example,?taking a few days off between resigning and taking up a new gig. Creating a list of your accomplishments to reflect on how you grew during a tricky time. Hiring a hotel room and ordering room service after a massive deadline (honestly, the bathrobe does it for me!).

Unique, that’s what you are.

The neat thing about circuit breakers is that they are just as unique as you are.?

I’ve heard people blasting heavy metal as their circuit breakers. Some do yoga in the middle of the day to create space between meetings. Some people phone a friend to break up the day.

There is no wrong way to create space for yourself. The most important thing is that it is yours to own. What might your circuit breakers look like?

Change isn’t happening to you. It’s happening?around?you.

A circuit breaker is the tool to help you and those you care about manage change effectively.

If you, or people on your team are not present, consider whether creating a circuit breaker will help them come back to themselves again.

Teach your team how to create their own.

Imagine what life could be like if your team were mentally present.?

You’d be astonished at how people respond in our training to designing their own circuit breakers. It works because it teaches people not how to be more ‘resilient’ but how to mentally break up with something that is no longer relevant.

Being ‘ready’ for the work is about staying relevant. A circuit breaker is the non-negotiable to be able to manage this effectively.

Get in touch to learn more?about our circuit breaker training for workplaces today.

Go well,?

Rachel and the team at Happiness Concierge.