Cynicism is the 2nd Red Flag of Burnout
If you’re feeling cynical - you’ve gone too far!
Hear me out - if you’re cynical about your boss or your workplace, if you’re not engaged, you’re doing the bare minimum and it’s not your regular caliber of work, if you feel ready to bail and find a new place to work and it wouldn’t matter what your boss or workplace did at this point because you no longer trust them to make anything better…you’ve let yourself down.
I’m not doubting they’ve disappointed you time and again. I’m sure they have! I’m not questioning the facts that got you here. Those are your lived experiences! However, you skipped over some key opportunities to look after yourself and now you’re showing signs of burnout. Dipping on this place and getting a new gig elsewhere isn’t likely to fix your burnout, you’re going to repeat this pattern. Why? How? Because you haven’t created a habit of looking after you! And if this is where you’re at - you need to start now! Who deserves your attention more than you? No one! Trust me when I say this - You Are Worth It!
So what did you miss doing? What does it mean to look after yourself! Self-compassion! Acknowledging to yourself situations were hard, you deserved better even when you didn’t get it. Setting boundaries and honouring them (truly the biggest risk to our boundaries is ourselves - we fail to honour them and then blame others!) You need to debrief with yourself, check in with yourself on the regular! It helps to move through the hard, unsavory, muck. What are 3 things you can start doing today to increase your self-compassion?
Embrace your imperfections. Take an area you are usually critical of self and write down all the positives this imperfection brings to your life. example - if your critical of yourself for being too empathetic to others, recognize how this also makes you a more compassionate leader, partner, parent, friend. Change the way you view yourself.
Practice self forgiveness. Reflect on a recent mistake. Note the situation either by writing it on paper, speaking it into your voice recorder, draw pictures - whatever works for you. Then follow this with a note/recording/picture of self-forgiveness. Remind yourself that mistakes are normal and just as muscles grow when pushed to failure, so you grow from failure. How does this change how you feel about yourself and your ability to move forward positively today and into the future.
Acknowledge yourself. Take a few minutes today, right now, to acknowledge the effort you’ve put into work and life today. Jot down or voice record 2-3 things you’ve done well recently - no matter how small. How does recognizing your efforts vs focusing only on your results affect your motivation and self-esteem?
Repeat and repeat and repeat. After that, repeat some more. Keep at it. Make it a habit. Pay attention to the difference it makes in how you show up for you - and for others.
Mindset and self-compassion is a common topic with my clients. It is such a relief to see how we can impact our own mindset and limit the impact situations have on us!
If you want to dig into this and investigate ways to make your current situation better and create your best life I’d love to connect. Book your free discovery call now and see if working together feels like a fit.
