How to Avoid Burnout as an Entrepreneur

The subject of burnout typically attracts two different types of people. First, are people that always think they’ve burned out. They say things like, “Yeah, I’m really going through burnout right now.” Or, “You don’t understand. Things are really hard for me right now because I’m burning out.”

Then you have people who say, “I’m not burned out. I can push more.” Regardless of where you are when it comes to burnout, stick with me. I’ll share some things that may on one side contradict your mindset. I’ll also give you tools that can help you go through the burnout process.

Who Goes Through Burnout – 0:34

So first, let’s process who goes through burnout.

#1: Perfectionists – 0:37

The first group of people that experience burnout is perfectionists. With perfectionists, unless everything goes perfectly, they’re not happy. That’s just how perfectionists are wired. They feel that everything needs to be perfect.

#2: Pessimists – 0:51

The next group of people that are prone to burnout is pessimists. With pessimists, no matter what you do for them or how things are going in their lives, they’re not happy. Pessimism is a mindset, a way of thinking, and since they see everything in a negative way, they are prone to burnout.

#3: Control Freaks – 1:04

Next are control freaks. Anytime there’s expansion, you have to lose some control. So if your business is growing, at some point, you lose a little bit of control. As your kids grow up, they go to school and create their own opinions, and you lose control. You don’t have the same control over teenagers as you do when kids are five or eight years old. But you have to let go, or else it will drive you nuts, and you won’t enjoy your life.

#4: Type A Personality – 1:38

People with a Type A personality are also prone to burnout. These people are super competitive. They may compare themselves to someone who is 7′ 2″ tall when they are just 6′ 4″ tall. No matter what, they won’t be 7′ 2″ tall. If someone can only jump 16″, they will never be able to jump 43″. If you don’t come from a family of wealth, you don’t have the same resources as someone that comes from a wealthy family. So why compare yourself to that? If you have a Type A personality and you constantly compare yourself to others, you may experience burnout.

Causes of Burnout – 2:07

Now let’s look at the causes of burnout.

Neglect – 2:09

First, neglect. What is neglect? An example of neglect is if you eat fast food every day and end up putting on 39 pounds. You are then lethargic and have low energy. You feel burned out. That is neglect because of your diet. You can also neglect relationships. It could be that you haven’t had a date night with your spouse for six months, or haven’t had substantial conversations with your kids.

Overload – 2:37

Number two is overload. Overload could be always taking on more projects, friendships, and businesses. There are people that run five businesses or work three different jobs at the same time, instead of focusing on doing a very good job with one of them. They feel overloaded, and burn out.

Lack of Growth – 3:00

Number three is a lack of growth. When you aren’t growing, there’s nothing exciting about life. If you don’t develop yourself, while your business may still be going, you don’t see progress, and that causes burnout. You wonder why you’re putting yourself through all that when you don’t see growth. This is also true in other areas of life such as working out. If you keep going to the gym and you don’t see results, you could burn out.

Newness  – 3:30

Next is newness. Life needs excitement, new things, and experiences. You need to see a new world, read new books, experience newness in your family. It’s important to have new things to look forward to in business and life.

Figment of Your Imagination – 3:46

Listen in here to discover how figments of your imagination can lead to burnout.

People You Go To – 4:18

Now, let’s talk about people you go to. Every time there’s something that happens in our lives, crisis, victory, loss or setback, we typically are going to go and speak to three different types of people. There’s the downer, the upper, and the Socratic listener. Let me explain to you what I mean by this.

Downer – 4:39

If you share about challenging times with a downer, they say things like, “Why do you even try? I told you this thing never works. Man, that guy’s making all the money off you. What are you doing with this?”

Listening to that kind of thinking leads to you saying, “Yeah, you’re right” and you burn out.

Upper – 5:03

The upper is somebody that no matter what you ever do, they always love you. They say things like, “Honey, you’re amazing, I love you. You’re great. You can do this. Go get ’em. You’re awesome. You’re amazing.”

Socratic – 5:15

Listen in here to discover how the Socratic person takes all of your excuses and justifications away from you.

Go to the Right Person

It’s important that you go to the right person. If you go to the downer, they make burnout a bigger event. If you go to the upper, they alleviate burnout. And if you go to the Socratic person, it makes the problem even smaller.

14 Tips for Avoiding Burnout in the First Place – 6:51

So now let’s get into some things that can help you not only beat burnout but keep from experiencing it in the first place.

#1: Protect Your “Yeses.” – 7:25

First, protect your “yeses.” Let me explain what I mean by protect your yeses. Don’t be easy. Don’t say yes to everybody. If you do, you’re giving it up too easy. Protect it a little bit. Say yes to people that matter that don’t typically ask you to do things for the hell of it. There are always people that ask for favors for nothing. They always ask for help but never give anything in return. So protect your yesses.

#2: Turn Off Your Phone and Pray and Meditate – 8:12

Listen in here for how prayer helped me to overcome some difficult times in my life.

#3: Spend Time with Children – 9:33

I don’t know what it is about kids, but being around them brings out our child-like tendencies. When you’re around kids, you tend to forget about your problems. When I wrestle with my kids for 15 – 30 minutes, it’s so therapeutic, it’s amazing.

If you don’t have kids of your own, give back to the community and do something with kids. Or play with your nephews or nieces or kids in the neighborhood. Play LEGOs or nonsense stuff they’re playing. Just play with them, and you’ll calm down fairly quickly.

#4: Quarterly Getaway/Annual Travel – 10:08

Next are quarterly and annual getaways. Getting away is good for everyone, but especially for those who have a spouse. Here’s what I used to do every quarter. On Saturday afternoon I left, and checked into a hotel and didn’t return home until Sunday night. So it was a day-and-a-half away. Afterward, I was rejuvenated and fired up.

Often during my getaway, I went to a spa for a massage and facial, and came back relaxed. I did this regularly, every quarter, and it was phenomenal.

Then annually, I traveled. I’ve been all over the world. It’s great to see the world and to see history. It’s fun. These trips were often with other people who are winning. Travel gives you a chance to release, enjoy yourself, and eat good food. Planning travel ahead of time gives you something to look forward to.

I know there are certain channels you watch and certain people that say, “No, I’m 24/7. Screw vacation. I’m going to do this until the day I die.” I don’t subscribe to that mindset. I think you have to work your tail off and have victories and those victories have to be around people you enjoy spending time with and seeing the world.

#5: Go Somewhere to Gain Perspective – 11:53

Going somewhere that helps you gain perspective is a great way to beat burnout. Listen in here for ways to do this.

#6: Gratitude – 13:10

Next, gratitude. There’s nothing like gratitude. What are you grateful for right now in life? Family, kids, relationships, shower, food, your bed?

I remember when I was in the Army and in the field for a long, long time. We had no beds, and we showered with baby wipes. You know, baby wipes don’t clean everything. There’s not really a bathroom, but I won’t get into those disgusting details.

I remember the first time I came back after being in the field.  I took a one-and-a-half hour hot shower. The entire bottom of the shower got covered with dirt. And sleeping in my bed at night was heavenly. It made me realize how good it feels to shower and sleep in a bed.

When was the last time you were grateful for your bed, your shower, hot water? Gratitude really takes a lot of pressure off.

#7: Music – 14:15

Listen in here for how music can help you beat burnout.

#8: Comedy/Humor – 14:50

Next is comedy and humor. You know how you have that one friend that just makes you laugh? When you’re under a lot of pressure, it’s good to spend time with that person. Or go to a comedy club on a Saturday night, have a beer and listen to a bunch of jokes. Or find videos that make you laugh.

Humor has a lot of power to make the pressure go away.

#9: Simplify Life – 15:21

Next, is simplify life. Let me explain what I mean by simplifying life. Look at every aspect of your life that’s complicated and create systems for it. For instance, create systems for your health, paying bills, time with family, everything. Don’t complicate things. Simplify everything.

There are a lot of weeds in different aspects of life. Don’t let them stay there. Say, “No, I’m not dealing with this anymore” and pull them out. Simplify your life.

#10: Minimize Relationships -15:53

Listen in here for how to avoid burnout by minimizing relationships.

And check out this video on how to choose great friends:

How to Choose Great Friends

#11: Exercise – 17:28

Next, exercise. The more you move, the better you feel. Body movement needs to happen. When you move, you feel better. I’ve never once gone to a gym and left the gym not feeling good about myself – even when I was not in the mood to go to the gym.

#12: Positive Distractions – 17:43

Next, minimize negative distractions and instead replace those with positive distractions.

#13: Seek Progress, Not Perfection – 17:57

Next is to seek progress, not perfection. Don’t put pressure on yourself to make everything perfect. Instead, focus on constant growth. I mentor a lot of people who are perfectionists, and quite frankly, their business never explodes. I’ve worked on some of them for several years by saying, “Stop trying to be perfect and justifying and making excuses for everything.” Your business won’t explode if you try to be perfect. But your business will grow, and you’ll enjoy it more when you focus on consistent progress.

#14: Spa – 18:30

And obviously, last but not least is go to the spa. Get a foot massage or whatever you like.

Watch the video here to see an example of the value of human touch.

If you have any questions or thoughts, comment on the bottom. And if you have not subscribed to this channel yet, be sure to click on the button below to subscribe.

 

 

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