I started my own business and it was going so well. But these days my kids irate me, my husband seem just too much, my clients are annoying, and man, do I want to sleep ALL THE TIME.” This I heard from my friend time and time again, until she ended up in hospital with an anxiety attack.
Psychologists will define Burnout as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
Our lives operate around never-ending tasks, appointments, expectations, priorities and to do lists, no wonder that 1 out 5 working adults can suffer from burnout. And mostly the ones that burn out are the most effective, loyal and productive of the group. How do we prevent burnout if the future only seems busier and faster with no end in sight?
Train Your Brain to avoid physical and emotional burnout
One of the most interesting seminars I have ever attended was led by Dr. Caroline Leaf. She is a cognitive neuroscientist and specializes in cognitive neuropsychology. Through years of studying neuroscience, she has found that everyday stress (tasks, appointments, expectations, priorities and to do`s) is healthy and good, only if you know how to train your brain to stay in a “positive sphere”. As soon as your thought life/process (you’re thinking every second) is not emotionally balanced, you can go into toxic stress, and this can lead to burnout. Always remember that self-care is not to isolate you from life and its demands, but rather to learn how to handle it.
Following Dr. Leaf`s mythology, you can train your brain to handle stress by:
1. Observing how many times in a 24hour cycle you have toxic/negative thoughts, and write them down.
2. Now try to de-clutter your brain of these negative thoughts.
3. When doing 1 and 2, be aware of the “poor me mentality”, rather replace it by “I am unique because I can………” mentality.
4. Read your toxic thoughts out loud, and try to give yourself sound advice as you would to a dear friend.
5. Now use this advice and try to cross out those negative thoughts. Do this for 21days, and you have officially broken the habit of toxic thought!
The 21-Day Detox Brain
All of this sounds so easy; I have decided I want to try it. If this means that I control my brain and not let my brain control me, I am sure I can kick toxic thoughts in the bum. Going on the 21-Day Brain detox challenge to make sure that my new business is alive and kicking in 1,2,3 years sounds like a no-brainer. In this 21-day detox the following topics will be covered:
• Exactly how to break down toxic thoughts and build healthy replacement thoughts.
• How to control negative stress.
• How to get those negative habits under control.
• How to control your thoughts.
• How to bring all thoughts into captivity.
• That you are not a victim of your biology.
• Get a handle on that worry.
• Beat that anxiety.
• Overcome that depression.
• Freedom from chaotic thinking.
• Increase your health.
• Learn that you control your brain; your brain does not control you.
*When thinking of the future I am sure things will only get more hectic, but I am sure that if I follow Dr. Leaf`s advice http://www.drleaf.com I can make a success of an ever-growing business. This makes me feel positive and excited about what’s to come. And never to be afraid, because I’ve got this!*
