What is the first thing you feel, when you start to realize that you are really exhausted?
When the time comes when tasks that were once simple, now become complicated and where dealing with your colleagues and customers was once pleasant, and now makes you feel irritated.
As soon as the signs of burnout start to appear, and with them the thoughts that something has to change, is there something that keeps you from taking the plunge, that makes you feel paralyzed?
Many times, thoughts that 'something has to change' are accompanied by feelings mainly of fear and shame about what is being felt:
"What if I rest and lose my job?", "What will happen to my clients?", "What will my superiors think?", "How will I be feeling like this?", "I can't stop".
Taking the step to solve or change, becomes more and more uphill because it confronts self-esteem and all the "risks" involved seem to outweigh well-being.
Burnout usually comes after several - or many - days of stress, fatigue and the desire and need for the rhythm and way of working to be different, but the path to take action seems to generate more stress than providing a solution.
If this has been your case, where you have felt cornered because you feel exhausted, but you don't know what to do to make this change, it is very important for you to know that not taking action DEFINITELY means more risks for you and your health, than staying where you are.
Failure to do so could end in a job loss because your performance would significantly decrease, leading your superiors to think 'what you don't want them to think', not to mention the unhappiness and hopelessness of living with burnout.
From talking to your superior with openness and genuineness about what you are going through, facing the fear that this may generate, to seeking professional help, dealing with burnout is something that cannot be negotiated .
What to do now, once we recognize the fear? - Next week we will talk about what steps to take to take action so that things start to change.
