Do you believe the more work you can cram into a day the more worthwhile of a person you are? Do you pride yourself in stamina and will power? Does being busy give you a sense of control? Is your worth attached to “doing?” Are you able to give 1000 reasons why you can’t take care of yourself?
I can’t even begin to count how many times in my professional career and personal life that I have recommended to someone to slow down. To take a break. To give yourself permission to take the day off or to do something fun.
By far, without even a consideration or hesitation, the most common kneejerk response is “I can’t”.
In case you haven’t tried it, I promise you that getting burned out is the quickest way to downgrade your quality of life. The fastest way to experience a rapid decline in your health, productivity and general overall well-being is to stay insanely busy, forget your worth and say yes to everyone except yourself.
Most people have a lengthy to do list of what must get done on any particular day. However, we ultimately DO have a choice in WHAT we do and HOW MUCH we do.
Take a look at what you believe. In many cases, you are telling yourself that you are weak, lazy, uncaring, incompetent or less valuable if you make a choice to take a break. Resting for 20 minutes, not doing, or taking the day off when you’re sick might trigger feelings of not being enough. You’ve somehow convinced yourself that there is no one else to do it or people and things will fall apart if you do.
A good therapist can help challenge your beliefs and show you that setting boundaries is a sign of strength, not weakness. The more you take care of yourself, the more you are able to give.
If you struggle with where to begin, start with an email to me at carrie@carrienet.com
Carrie
