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Ironically, many wellness business leaders struggle with
work/life balance. And sadly, we've seen quite a few who found
themselves burned out on the very work that they were most passionate about.
Burnout can affect anyone: individual health and wellness professionals,
managers, executives and owners.
Are you experiencing any of these five early warning
signs?
1) I'm running a bit...well, a lot...late.
The issue: look at your personal
time commitments for a pattern of frequently late
arrivals, last-minute cancellations or simply not showing up.
Pull out your calendar and ask your friends and family to
check your answers to these questions:
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Are you always the last
person to show up at a family event?
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Do you arrive so late that
lots of other attendees have already come and gone?
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Do you call to say you'll
be 30 minutes late...then you call again in an hour and half to let them
know it'll be another 45 minutes?
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Do you often cancel at the
last minute, even if the event's been rescheduled before due to your
lack of availability?
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Have people stopped
including you in activities because you're rarely available?
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Do you repeatedly not show
up for something where people are expecting you?
2) I'm stuck and I can't get out.
The issue: you feel swamped by
the demands of your current role, yet
unable to make a change.
Do any of these scenarios describe you?
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You feel stuck
because you're so swamped by work that you don't have time to make a
change
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You feel stuck
because you believe that you couldn't match your current income
elsewhere
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You feel stuck
because you love the people you work with - but not the job
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You feel stuck
because you don't know how to make a change to something significantly
different or new-
You feel stuck because you no longer enjoy the work
you're trained or experienced in doing, but you don't know what you
could do instead
3) I can't believe they did that!
The issue: you spend most
of your waking hours on work.
And you spend most of the time with
friends and family
venting about work frustrations.
If the conversation heads in a different direction, you usually bring it
back to your work dissatisfaction.
You may also feel that you don't respect most of the
people you work with, or that they don't share your values.
If you're in this situation, statements like these will
sound familiar:
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I can't believe
they still haven't fired him...
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You won't believe
what they want me to do now...
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If it were up to
me, I'd get rid of that whole...
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I do everything for
everyone in that department, but I never get...
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I'm so sick of....
Our board just doesn't
understand the issues...
These idiot customers just don't get it.
All they need to do is...
4) Long time no see. Did I tell you about my new
work project?
The issue: you've become
one-dimensional. You have few
personal interests or activities outside the workplace. If
you lost your job tomorrow, you'd have a huge void with nothing to occupy
your mental and creative energies.
What to watch for:
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Your only topic of
conversation with friends and family is what you're doing at work
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You're out of touch
with what's going on in the lives of non-work acquaintances
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You've dropped old
hobbies or other activities that you really enjoyed
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You only read
material (print or Internet) related to your business
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All your vacations
are tacked onto the end of business meetings, trade shows, or other work
commitments
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Virtually all of
your social interactions are with people you know from work
You know more about your clients' and customers' personal lives than you
know about what's going on with your friends and family
5) Why don't they love me?
The issue: you're pouring all
your energies into your job. You feel that you're highly
effective - more so than other people. Yet you feel
underpaid, overlooked or otherwise underappreciated.
Typical examples:
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You didn't get a
promotion you felt should have been yours
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You got the same
raise that everyone else got, despite superior results
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You're never
singled out for special recognition, even though you believe others are
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You feel that your
exceptional performance is never recognized or rewarded
Clients never seem to appreciate your efforts
Tips for acting on these
early warning signs... |
