Burn out is a long state of exhaustion, and a symptom of stress that appears to be widespread in our society. Most often it stems from our jobs or business and then filters itself into our personal lives.

What are the signs that we may be burning out?

People with feelings of too much to do, too little time, and who are constantly on the go. They have lost touch with a healthy work/life balance. They don’t feel they have a minute to themselves let alone with family or friends. For some, their eating habits change for the worse, they have trouble sleeping, and can experience headaches, neck pain, grinding teeth, or other forms of body aches or pain.

My personal experience was during my career in IT (information technology). I was not aware of the constant tension throughout my body until my jaw locked on me one day. For others it could be feelings of overwhelm, ongoing fatigue, constant frustration with life or feelings of helplessness which promotes procrastination.

The unhappiness and detachment burnout causes can threaten your job, your relationships, and your health.

What to do to avoid burn out?

Even though burn out sneaks up on us slowly, our bodies provide us with symptoms or indicators to let us know something isn’t right. Self-awareness helps us focus on our emotions; consider the impact of those emotions, discover how they are serving us, and then we manage our response.

Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from adversity and disappointment. This is a learned trait and key to success in life and business. Resiliency encompasses other traits such as self-confidence and assertiveness. However, if we don’t eat healthy, and if we lack proper sleep our body’s immune system is weakened, and so is our resiliency.

Our feelings or emotions are our inner guidance system, so we mustn’t consider them to be inconsequential or un-important as they truly define who we are.