Joy: The Ultimate Countermeasure to Burnout
Heather Epstein
Communications Strategist | Enterprise Social Media at American Honda | Content Strategy and Social Audio Thought Leader | Storyteller | Young Professional | Lifelong Learner | Friendly Human ??
Here’s what you can expect from this issue:
Looking Back on 2023
Welcome back to Golden Nuggets in Content Strategy. If it feels like it’s been a while since you’ve seen a new edition from me, it’s because this is the first edition since March 2023. I typically aim to publish my LinkedIn newsletter at the close of each month, so I can highlight a piece of content I published from that month to analyze its performance and content strategy.?
While I took some intentional time off from publishing this newsletter and other content in April/May while my husband and I were participating in International March of the Living , by the time I was due to write my May newsletter I was beginning to suffer from burnout, my third experience in three years.?
This time, it took six months for me to feel like myself again. As workplace wellness expert and Founder/CEO of Jeddy Wellness Sumana Jeddy, MPH has shared with me, the more cycles of burnout you experience, the longer it takes to recover each time. I have experienced this first-hand.?
Last year, I set an intention to break the cycle of burnout. I wasn’t successful, but I am optimistic that I can set myself up for success this year with a solid support system in place. Sumana has been a huge part of this experience since I worked with her last year, and there are others I am leaning on for support as well.
When I am in a state of burnout, my professional and personal life suffer. I start doing the bare minimum at work (sorry team) and refrain from sharing any new ideas due to fear of having to execute the ideas I pitch. I also stop reaching out to friends/family, and stop posting on social media.?
However, I still have wins to highlight from the year, so here are a few things I am proud of from 2023:
January - Hosted a Vision Board party for friends, and celebrated my grandfather’s 90th birthday with family in Forth Worth, Texas.?
February - Attending an in-person networking event for 美国波士顿大学 alumni in Los Angeles.
March - Produced a town hall with Honda’s Global CEO for leaders at American Honda Motor Company, Inc.
April - Embarked on March of the Living in Poland and visited Berlin.?
May - Pushed past my fear and rode some intense rollercoasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain.?
June - Celebrated my grandma’s 85th birthday in Atlanta.
July - Celebrated my birthday by seeing my favorite band, Paramore.?
August - Attended a friend’s wedding and saw The Killers.?
September - Spent time at Disneyland with our corporate communications team on a business retreat.?
October - Staffed Honda’s public opening of the American Honda Collection Hall and the first Cars, Bikes & Coffee event held on our campus. Public events are every other month on the third Saturday.
November - Made an apple pie for the first time. Spent time with family over Thanksgiving. Participated in a roundtable with top leaders from Honda .
December - Attended a professional football game for the first time.?
In reflecting on the past year, in some ways, I feel like I failed myself and others. However, I continue to learn and in doing so, move forward. As Walt Disney once said, “We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Looking Forward: My 2024 Word of the Year
One of the burnout prevention tools Sumana suggested I implement is a Joy Board. The board can be made up of joyful moments in my life and stories from people that bring me joy. While I tried to do a lot of different things in the first half of 2023, I neglected to create this Joy Board.?
I want to be more intentional about sustaining joy in my life, so for my Word of the Year for 2024, I am choosing…?
Writing this newsletter brings me joy. Helping others on LinkedIn brings me joy. Coloring, practicing Hot Yoga and eating delicious meals with my husband brings me joy. This year, I am committed to continuing what brings me joy, and showing up consistently online and IRL, even if I don’t always feel like it. Community is important to me, and I want to continue to show up for mine.?
So far, 2024 is off to a great start! I was able to represent Honda in the 135th annual Rose Parade Presented by Honda, riding one of our Motocompacto e-scooters past hundreds of thousands of attendees in Pasadena, California. I also received some work-related news, which I will be sharing more about in the coming months.?
Do you have a Word of the Year? Let me know in the comments.
Content Spotlight
After re-engaging in @LinkedIn Collaborative Articles earlier this month, I earned two Top Voice Community badges in Content Strategy and Corporate Communications. I wrote about the honor in my top-performing post of January. Check out the full post here.
领英推荐
The Strategy
Celebrate your wins.?
Why it Works
Celebrating wins is always great content for LinkedIn, especially when you frame your post in a way to inspire others. It also helps to break down your journey and share with others how you got there. In this case, I was transparent about how I earned my Top Community Voice badges, and broke down the steps into what I believe factored into me earning two badges.?
Additional Considerations
Just like posting a new job or course completion, your network wants to celebrate your wins with you, so you are likely to get more engagement on posts where you are celebrating wins. Comments also drive engagement and impressions on your content, and it helps to reply to comments on your content to further increase engagement.
What the Numbers Say
This post from Jan. 12 had 27 comments and 2,260 impressions as of the writing of this newsletter, with no reposts and 70 reactions (50 likes, 16 celebrations and four hearts).
Editor's note: I'm working with Daniel H. to enhance the analytics I share about my posts in this newsletter. Stay tuned for more in the next edition!
Gold Standard Content Creators
In each newsletter, I feature three people in my network (or 2nd-3rd degree connections) who from my perspective are putting out the gold standard for content on LinkedIn.
Sierra is slaying the content game on LinkedIn right now. Her now infamous case study about the Stanley Cup has not only gone viral in its own right, but gained so much traction that other creators on LinkedIn, and even off LinkedIn, started reposting her content as their own. I think her post did well because it had a great hook, was well-researched, and was easy to read.
While some consider imitation the sincerest form of flattery, I couldn’t believe the number of creators who tried to pass off Sierra’s original content as their own without even attempting to credit her.
Pro tip: If you like what someone else has posted on LinkedIn, either use the “repost” button to share with your network, tag the original poster if you prefer to copy/paste it into a new post with clear credit given, or stick with your own content ideas. Straight plagiarism is never okay.?
If I see a post that even inspires me to write something, I always credit the LinkedIn user for sparking the idea. This is a great way to build community on LinkedIn in an authentic way.?
Many of the creators I come across on LinkedIn are thanks to those in my direct network reacting to posts. I found Myles in this same way and followed him immediately. I am always looking for ways to improve as a writer and communicator, and a post he shared recently about using the term “Underestimated Audiences” instead of “minority” or “marginalized” in the context of marketing/advertising got me thinking. It can be a bold step to coin new terms and takes a certain level of influence for the term or phrase to spread to a larger audience. encourage you to read his article for Adweek in full.?
3. Maya Watson?
Maya’s content is extremely relatable and vulnerable. She made an impactful announcement on LinkedIn earlier this month that stopped me from scrolling through my feed to read the link to her essay in full. The title? “Breaking Up With Work.” Not only was it an honest and relatable essay about her experience in the traditional workplace, but it also doubled as content marketing to launch her new company, Manual. Her approach certainly piqued my interest. I’ve started to build a Manual of my own, which Maya calls “better than a resume.” Reinventing the resume may seem like something nobody asked for, but the more I spend time on Manual the more I see it’s beyond what a traditional resume can offer. As Maya says in her essay, “Change is hard, but it can also be so good.”
A common theme among each Gold Standard content creator I'm spotlighting this month is that they all have the confidence to be original and bring a different perspective to LinkedIn . Original, authentic content will always stand out. You just have to get out of your own way and share your ideas.
How Heather Helps
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Stay Golden
Reflecting and setting a visionary word is key ??. As Plato once hinted, the beginning is the most important part, nurturing the shadows into reality. Here's to crafting gold-standard content in 2024! ? #Inspiration #GrowthMindset
Designing Science-Backed Wellness Solutions for Workplaces | Globe & Mail Featured | Speaker| Scientist | Influencing Change for Better Work-Life, Health and Quality of Life ??
1 年Gooo Heather Epstein! ?? JOY BOARD!!! ?? It’s so cool to see you implement what you learned. I’m proud of you and I’m really happy to see you shine ?. Keep doing the work! Jeddy Wellness is teaching many such strategies to staff at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Since you took my training, what’s one advice you will give to the staff who are struggling with burnout, workload and more? Ty McKinney, PhD I’m sure you’ll appreciate Heathers hard work
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1 年I love the idea of creating a joy board. This is the first time I've ever heard of that.
leader and architect of ideas.
1 年What Myles Worthington said… very much appreciate the love ??
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1 年Joy Is a very uplifting word. Just reading about it and your content of this Golden Nuggets issue, brings me Joy! Your knowledge and comparisons are amazing and very thoughtful. Wishing you much positivity and growth in 2024??!!!