Burnout.

No one likes to admit that it happens when they are running full tilt towards a goal. However, it’s a fact of life that happens to all of us. It doesn’t matter what your socio-economic standing is, nor your level of anonymity in the world. If you’re human, you’re going to feel burnout. Here is my way no-nonsense, logical way of dealing with it.

Know thyself

Burnout doesn’t just happen. You don’t wake up in the morning and just feel it, there is a lead up, and your body warns you to slow down. It’s your job to listen. To understand if burnout is encroaching around the corner, check your symptoms. Go on, I’ll wait.

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What symptoms do you have, and when? Knowing yourself, your reactions to stress, and time frame on the stress is key to burnout management. Seriously analyse yourself and your own patterns so you can see it coming and react accordingly. For example, a couple of weeks ago I was starting to feel annoyed that I wasn’t able to work on Insanitek as much as I thought I should. I whined that I had to work at Rosie’s Gardens, a job I enjoy doing (even when my feet hurt), I whined that I had to go tutor (even though I love helping the kids succeed), and I whined that I had to clean the house/shower/anything — even though it needed to be done. This exasperation and whining is my first sign that burnout is just around the corner. If, like normal, I rationalise it somehow by saying, “I need the money so I can pay for things for Insanitek/bills/Sallie Mae/Chinese takeaway,” Then I run the chance of feeling sick as hell a few weeks later when stress triggers my body to react like I have the flu.

I’m not kidding when I say that. I will get a migraine from hell, cold chills, my body aches, and I start expelling everything I ate in a way that makes The Exorcist look like a family friendly picnic. It’s not pleasant, so I try to reroute my brain as quickly as possible and…

Suss out the true reasons behind the attitude

Burnout is rarely caused by the things you whine about. It’s caused by something, or many some things, but you’ll complain about everything because you’re burnt out on it all. I found that by taking a few paces back and objectively looking at my life I can find a cause or two that need some confronting in order to straighten it all out.

The cause that I’m dealing with now just happens to be financial. Money is the root of all evil — or at least everyone wanting a piece of my bank account now is. I’ve got:

• Sallie Mae’s minions, Student Loan Corp calling my place of work to harass me,
• Daily emails and calls from other student loan companies wanting me,
• My co-owner, Ali, telling me that money is an issue RIGHT NOW (as if I didn’t know that) so that he can hire someone out of the blue to redo the Ink pages — which frankly could use a much-needed make-over
• The IRS telling me that I owe them nearly $2K due to a house settlement (which I received no money from, nor did I even get a 1099 from) — oh, and due in full on 11.June,
• A couple thousand to come up with for our marketing software that will speed up our processes and save us trouble in the long run,
• My fiancé hounding me about getting a “real job” so I can support him while he finishes up his degree (which I’d love to do),
• Saving up money so I can get a car to get to that “real job” and back…

And this is all on top of personal bills and Insanitek’s bills.

It is more of a wonder why I’ve not verbally ripped someone’s head off, really. Clearly my stress isn’t from stemming on not working on Insanitek enough, teaching, or even working at Rosie’s, but rather my inability to shuffle the bill collectors in a nice, neat little line before they rip out a piece of my bank account leaving me for dead. All that’s left is to…

Find solutions that work

There are two solutions you’re looking for here. One is a solution to help you decompress, relax, and find your happy place. Whether that’s taking long walks and communing with nature, playing video games, drinking with your mates, or anything else, you need to find a way to reconnect with yourself. Mine is taking a day off and working on what I love: Insanitek… even if I have to run to the bathroom every couple of hours.

The other solution you’re looking for is a way to tame that which is causing the problem in the first place. For most people this is getting caught up working a crappy job they hate, just to pay the bills and put food on the table. I can relate as I’m doing that now — and it’s a struggle. For other people it’s being trapped in a fulfilling relationship that needs a shake-up (or break-up) to make things right again. Whatever it is that is causing the problem needs to be confronted and dealt with rationally. Change doesn’t happen over night, and the bigger the problem, the longer it takes.

That’s where I come in.

We can help each other. I can help you confront your issues so you can move on to better things, and you can help me by Paying What You Want for my consulting (minimum of $15). Here’s what I’m offering, and you can choose to pay what you want:

1. An hour consultation to get to know you, then get to the root of your woes. (Worth $50)
2. A coaching session designed to create a personalised system that will help you tackle your problems head on, while still working toward your long-term goals. (Worth $300)
3. A coaching session to break down your long-term goals into short, focused, and achievable goals, and system to help you stay on track and focused on your goals on a weekly and daily basis. (Worth $300)

As a bonus to the top spenders, the ones that give in the top 10% will receive:

1. 3 more coaching sessions with me to help you achieve your dreams. (Worth $300)
2. Access to the Insanitek team so you can use their services at 25% off the cost for a full year from the time you start working with me. (Worth varies on services)

That is a total worth of at least $650 and you get to pay whatever you want — all because you’re helping me out too.

I’m going to offer this set up for the first 5 people who commit to working with me within the next 48 hours. However, because I believe in people and the power of helping one another, I’m going to the first 5 people who commit to working with me for the first 24 hours on the first day of every month for the rest of this year.

Are you ready to make your life change? I’m ready to help you, just set up your appointment with the form below, and we’ll meet for 10 – 15 minutes by phone, Skype, or Google Hangouts in order to plan how you’re going to succeed.