Postcards from the Funny Farm

Chances are if you are reading this, you are a leader. This is not a blog catered to followers ;). But whoever you think you are, all of us have to lead sometimes and sometimes as leaders, we burn out. In those moments when you burn out, you should remember that you are only human and it’s okay to feel that way. You don’t have to be the inventor of every solution, though I know it sometimes feels that way. Based on things I have been through as a leader (including burnouts and success) here’s a couple survival techniques for when your tank’s “empty-light” dings:

• Find something that gives you a recharge and do it: a food? an activity? a hammock? a hike? exercise? you call it.
• Spend time in pure “play mode” with your children or act like a child (safely please!)
• Get in touch with a higher power. As a Christian, this is easy for me to do through prayer but not always easy to remember to do. Remember you are small and something else is much bigger, it takes a lot of the load off you.
• Prioritize the things overwhelming you by making a list, then put it away
• Try and address the items on the list one per day, if you can do more that’s okay but not required
• Become a listener. As leaders, we tend to talk all the time. You will be shocked how answers to your problems often come from simple listening.
• Visualize: your favorite animal in the wild, an empty canvas, a beach, yourself in space, yourself doing somersaults in the waves, add your visual here
• Put the stress out of your mind for a time, the space between the stress may be where miracle solutions reveal themselves.

and finally,

• Don’t stress about any problem until you have a tangible reason to. The “what-ifs” destroy leadership, let them fall by the wayside when they fly up in your face. If your life’s track record for problems is any indicator, you must agree that the ratio of actual problems is far smaller than all the ones you worried about needlessly.

Most the stuff I call inspiration here on this blog is the stuff I write to inspire myself. if you got something out of it, let me know in a comment or email won’t you? Perhaps you have something to add to this conversation.  Good luck fighting back that burnout monster, remember that many people count on you to take care of yourself and you are a very important leader in your family and world!