Success Advice

5 Ways To Prevent Burnout and Still Be Successful

Published

4 years ago

Aug 21, 2019

Image Credit: Pixabay

How often have you felt like time is going by so fast, and you wish it could just slow down a little so you could be more accomplished? With technology expanding faster than ever (and only increasing with speed), it can feel like a race toward success. The good news is, that is only a thought running amok in your head that’s not true. In fact, last year the United States alone added 250,000 new millionaires.

You may feel like you have to pick up the pace to accomplish your goals—that you don’t have time to slow down. But the truth is, you’ll get there much faster by taking care of yourself, and it doesn’t require a lot of time for you to put some of these success promoting exercises into your day.

Here are five simple ways for you to reach your goals and prevent burnout along the way:

1. Streamline & Prioritize Your Work

Have you ever gone through your day wondering what to do next, spending way longer than you’d like to admit trying to choose the next thing to do? Usually when this happens, you’re dealing with lost transition time and you’re going back and forth between a few projects, which can make you feel like you’re in constant reactionary mode, putting out fires. This is what a lack of systems will do. Luckily, the fix is simple and fast to implement.

The first thing to do is understand what a system is. It’s not the fancy new SaaS trending on your Instagram ads (although those are cool too!). A system is just a process you use to get things done efficiently, on repeat. Here’s a good example using a system for getting the mail, which might look like this:

Put on your shoes
Walk to the mailbox
Grab the mail
Walk back to your house
Come inside
Sort the mail
Give the mail to the right recipient in your household

Simple, straightforward, efficient, and repeatable. That’s a system. This is what you can do with your work (and life) to make things run smoother and with more efficiency so you’re kicking your productivity into overdrive, while actually giving yourself more time off. Systems kill the dead space in between activities. That time where you’re staring at the screen, stressing over how much to do, and what to do first— you get that time back.

You can create certain days of the week that are dedicated to specific activities, or have a specific progression throughout the day that lets you accomplish each thing on your list. The key here is to be conscious about the process so you can create and tweak something that works for you.

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done” – Bruce Lee

2. Take Reset Breaks

Staring at the screen and working hard, that’s great and all, but if that’s all you’re doing, you’re actually killing your productivity. Reset breaks are pivotal for high performance.

According to Kansas State University, the average attention span for adults is about 50 minutes. If you’re like most business owners, executives, team leaders, or employees, your life is LARGELY sedentary. Reset breaks help you take advantage of your natural attention span limits, while mixing in activities to move your lymphatic system, resetting your mind and body.

Set your alarm for every 45-50 minutes. When your alarm goes off, push away from work and spend 5-15 minutes doing the following:

Deep breathing. Bring air in through your nose and let your belly expand. This helps reduce tension and move your lymphatic system.
Take a walk or short run.
Meditate or use binaural beats
Exercise. Do some squats, push ups, and or sit ups.
Stretch.

You don’t have to do the same thing every time your alarm goes off. Mix and match these methods or come up with your own. The most important thing is that you move and/or relax. This will help keep your mind and body invigorated so you can increase your productivity.

3. Inspiration Refills

Once a day, take time to consciously get inspired. Most people think they have to wait for inspiration to strike. But the truth is, inspiration is always at your fingertips if you know where to look.

You can watch a video or listen to music that pumps you up. You can also go out into nature or make some art to unleash your inner muse. Getting inspired helps open your mind to new ideas. By keeping yourself open and inspired, it’s easier to solve problems, increase your productivity, and feel more connected to your work.

4. Pay Attention To Your Cycles

Everything and everyone has cycles. Seasons. Bodies. Sleep. Everything progresses in cycles that wax and wane. If you start following your individual cycles, you’ll be able to pinpoint when you’re at your best, and when you need more rest. This is mostly due to hormone shifts in your body, and it’s important to work with your body instead of against it. This will give you the inside scoop on when to buckle down and when to marathon Stranger Things.

“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” – Billie Jean King

5. Get Into Your Body

You know those days where you sit in front of your computer and you’re willing yourself with all your might to do something…anything? Yet no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to happen? You can’t get any work done, which only makes you feel bad about yourself. This is what happens when you’re in your head and not in your body.

This is what being ungrounded feels like. What’s happening is your mind is not connecting to your body. Luckily, there are exercises to fix that! Here are a few to try whenever you’re feeling this way:

Get your bare feet on the grass and breathe deeply into your belly
Lay down and progressively relax every part of your body, breathing deeply
Place your hands on your belly and speak into your hands, using your lower register

The goal here is to get connected with your body. Your senses should be heightened, and you should feel more of your body than normal. This helps calm the mind and direct your focus.

Play with these activities to find the special mix that works for you. The most important thing is for you to have a daily burnout prevention routine that keeps you consistently growing toward your goals, so you can have the success you desire and deserve.

How do you avoid burning out? Share your ideas with us below!

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Jennifer Longmore

Jennifer Longmore is a writer, speaker, coach, and consultant. She helps entrepreneurs and organizations understand leadership, emotional intelligence, and how to scale businesses. You can find her and great content at JenniferLongmore.com.

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

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In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.