Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Sometimes You Just Have to Take a Time Out


I burned out in 2014 and a lot of that had to do with the Hustle & Grind that’s so popular today. I’ve now learned to leave the chasing after Unicorns to others, that’s not my journey.


In November 2014 I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety issues. I ended up taking 2 months off work and then going back much too early thinking I could cope. However, although my then working environment played a part in the run up to that, it wasn’t the only factor. It was a culmination of years of just simply doing too much and pushing myself too hard and beating myself to bits because I wasn’t getting the results I expected.

For years I had a full-time job plus a Network Marketing Business plus a Reiki & Coaching practice plus a few other things as well. I Hustled and Grinded all my spare time – long hours creating posts, blog content, emails, dealing with leads (most of which were useless), attending several Business Networking events a week, weekend conferences, numerous webinars and workshops and training and… and… and…! My hunch is there are many of you out there who can identify with that.

I guess If I had been getting the results I wanted then the story would have been different – I’d be writing about my success and how I got them and so on. Truth is, I failed every time. No matter what I tried it ended up as a dead-end street. That just increased the frustration because I knew I was doing all the right things, making all the right noises and yet - Nada! (My Spidey Sense is saying that there’s one or two out there who have, or still are, experiencing exactly that.) So, in 2015 I basically took a step back, but not through choice.

I burned out - not massively, but enough. After returning to my former work I had another attack a couple of months later. You know those messages the Universe sends you from time to time, sometimes very subtle, other times like someone’s smacked you with a plank of wood? This was one of the latter and I didn’t go back to that environment. I found other work, not the best of jobs but it paid bills. Gave me time to get myself together.

I was still involved with my Network Marketing and Coaching, but my heart was no longer in it. The passion had gone, I was just going through the motions. In fact, I was only going to the B2B meetings for the social aspect! In time that went too as my membership ran out and I could no longer afford to renew it. So, I retreated further and by the end of 2016 I had come to pretty much a standstill – apart from some ‘Stick Poking’ and ‘Face Showing’ activities.

Bringing things up to the present, I feel I have fully recovered, truly recharged my batteries and can now see a much brighter future ahead. That has a lot to do with the way I now view things. I can now see that, back then, I was pushing myself too hard – out of desperation and need rather than providing a value driven service. Now I have a much more relaxed approach and I believe that has a lot to do with the recent Law of Attraction training I’ve been exposed to and how it’s become an integral part of how I live today.

I have a renewed passion, however it’s way less ego based than before, my perspective has changed – less Self, more Others. “How can I best be of service today?” is what I now ask rather than “Who can I sponsor into my team?” or “How many clients am I aiming for this week?” and leave all the ‘Workings Out’ to the Universe.

That’s not to say I no longer have goals, because I do, however the pressure to achieve them is no longer there. I no longer chase after them and beat myself up because I didn’t reach them. Some goals I haven’t even put a date on! I give them the Attention they deserve and Allow them to happen and guess what? I am getting results and they are the results which are ideal for me.

So, Hustle & Grind all you want if that’s your thing. If it’s working, then Cool Beans! If not, them maybe a different approach would be more ideal.

Until next time,
Jez  

No comments:

Post a Comment