I couldn’t get off my sofa…

Most of you won’t know this about me but at one point in my life I could hardly get off my sofa!  

At the end of my 4 ½ years of studying natural health I could hardly get off our sofa. It’s ironic I know but I found myself beyond exhausted after working 3-4 days most weeks and going to and from college – a 5-hour round trip – 3 days a week plus the extra work needed to complete assignments. 

It took the following 2 years to recover. 

Whilst I never had the sudden and often very severe rupture in my physical and mental health that is associated with burnout I fitted the picture very nicely. 

I was a high achiever who was used to being able to dig deep and extend myself beyond my limits every day. Plus I’d unwittingly been doing it for years! 

Staying up late to get assignments finished. Saying yes to work shifts even though it meant I’d then be under more pressure for deadlines. Saying yes to  going out because I was asked even though I knew I needed an early night. Missing meals because I had so much going on and then eating sugar to keep on keeping on as my energy levels plummeted. 

And the truth is I’m far from alone. So many women I work with are on the verge of burnout, but often they don’t even know it. 

The misplaced badge of busyness hides the feelings of exhaustion, overwhelming stress, and we’ve been taught to ignore it until the reservoir of physical, mental and emotional has run dry and we find ourselves in crisis.  

And the cost for us consistently over reaching our capacity is tremendously high. 

The personal cost to us as individuals: I struggled for 2 years to really feel motivated or physically able to work more than a couple of days a week. I felt pathetic that I couldn’t contribute to the same degree as I had previously. 

The cost to our family: I didn’t have children at the time, thankfully, but in the state I was in it would have been very challenging to have met even their basic needs. I was grumpy and my mood fluctuated a lot which didn’t make me hugely fun to live with! 

The financial cost: if you can’t work then it’s hard to earn money (unless you have a property portfolio or some other means of semi passive income – I didn’t). 

So, if you’re waking un-refreshed and dragging yourself through treacle on a daily basis, if you can’t function without caffeine (even if you’re telling yourself that you only drink it because you “love it”), if you feel exhausted at times and use sugar to keep yourself going, then these could all be warning signs that you are heading towards burnout. 

Don’t wait. Life’s too short.

Click this link to get started: I’m ready to feel amazing!