How I Learned from My Struggles to Break the Cycle of Burnout.
It is amazing how we all grow and change year to year. This past year was a time of introspection as I interrogated my relationship to burnout and work. I originally embarked on this journey of intentionally stopping the cycle of burnout in late 2023. As some of you may know, I received a grant to go on a sabbatical for a month. This experience of pausing forced me to see how overworking and exhaustion were normalized in my life for nearly 15 years. Since I was 16 years old, I have always had multiple competing obligations. From working a part-time and later a full-time job while I was in school, to being active in volunteering and service in my community, to showing up for everyone in my relationships, to having two businesses as an adult. Doing more, self-sabotaging my free time, and neglecting my own self-care was the fabric of my cycle of burnout.
After realizing this pattern and the detrimental habits that kept me in the cycle of burnout, my focus over the past year has been undoing and relearning how to exist in a healthier, aligned way. Some of the top lessons I learned from this year of undoing and relearning include:
✅ Being clear on what I wanted my life to look like long-term.
✅ Letting go of obligations and work that kept me in a cycle of burnout.
✅Trusting others in work and my personal life to take care of matters without my involvement
✅ Practicing restorative and healthy practices until they became a part of my lifestyle.
✅Creating a well-rounded, full life where work was not the center.
Embracing what I've learned has put me on a path to live life in a way that I did not see just a year ago. I still have seasons where life can be more demanding and stressful, but it is no longer my everyday norm. I know some of you reading this blog post may feel like you are in your own cycle of burnout, trying to put together the pieces to break it and live life differently. I am here to remind you that it is possible.