Go All-In; Don't Burn Out: From Stress to Success

I was 27 years old, sitting on a table of thin paper, explaining to my doctor that there must be something wrong with my thyroid because I was tired all the time. For months, I couldn’t make it through the day without a nap between 2:00-3:00. I was pushing through exhaustion. I was looking for answers. I had searched the internet, completely convinced that WebMD had me pegged. My doctor looked at my completely healthy blood pressure, weight, and vitals, and started asking some questions. How much do you work? “Well, I work about 60-70 hours a week.” “Every week?” he asked. “Yes,” I told him. He said, “You don’t have a thyroid problem, you have a work problem.”?

In my high-achieving mind, it never occurred to me that I was working too much. I had goals to achieve and worth to earn through the acceptance of others. When I got to the point where the stress had overtaken my body, I wasn’t able to fully function the way I should have, I looked to something to blame. Turns out it wasn’t an organ in my throat, but an organ in my head.?I didn't know how to achieve success without putting myself through unneeded stress.

Stress is real for anyone in the sales world. We have to produce or we don’t have careers. Mental health for first-time leaders is something else. Since Covid, there seems to be a mass awakening with what we are doing with our lives, and how we operate on a daily basis. Salespeople and sales leaders want to be able to go all in without burning out and have something left in their tank so they can be productive in their personal lives. People are evaluating how happy they are at work, and how much pain they realistically think they should be in. What was important to baby boomers is now completely different for Millennials (born between 1981- 1996) and Gen Z (and will be different for Generation Alpha when they enter the workforce.)

Deloitte conducted their 2023 Global Gen Z and Millennial survey which focused on mental health and found that about half of the people in those two generations feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time. Women are more affected than men, and underrepresented groups also have higher stress levels. “A number of factors contributing to stress levels are directly work-related, such as heavy workload, poor work/life balance, unhealthy team cultures, and inability to be their authentic self at work.”

The Sales Health Alliance just released their latest data from their 2024 State of Mental Health in Sales and found that 70% of salespeople are struggling with their mental health. In an occupation that can be unbalanced at times, how do we solve this??

At Rise Up Consulting, we've been coaching leaders on energy management for years, which is how to manage, increase, and refuel your four main types of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It's one of the most popular and impactful sessions in our Leaderboard to Leadership? program. Being physically healthy can improve mental health, but without having a a sense of purpose (spiritual energy) behind what you do, you are missing out on going all-in. Leaders creating psychological safety at work is great, but if your employees don't understand how their emotions and their reactions to their emotions impact their experience, they won't be able to think straight. And if people simply can't focus (mental energy) on the task at hand, you'll have a hard time getting them to dial in on the big goal and vision.

Physical energy: How much sleep and exercise do you get on a daily basis? How much water do you drink, what is your diet like?

Spiritual energy: Do you know the purpose behind what you do? How do you work with your values and connect your daily work to your greater purpose?

Mental energy: Can you focus on what's important? Do you visualize your success? How do you use your innate talents to do your best work?

Emotional energy: How do you express your emotions? Do you create space for those around you to feel their's? Are you quick to forgive or do you hold a grudge?

For more information on how to go all in without burning out, you can reach out to us about our keynote on this topic, or check out my previous book Beyond the Board: How to Achieve Your Vision Board Goals in a Fulfilling and Sustainable Way. You can also be on the lookout for my next book, Leaderboard to Leadership, which will dive into stress and mental health, which will be released in September, 2024.