Detoxing From Shoulds: The Key To Recovering From Burnout

You abandon yourself every time you don’t acknowledge or ask for what you need. 

I’ll say it again. 

You abandon yourself every time you don’t acknowledge or ask for what you need. 

I know. It is a thick truth to swallow. But, for a lot of us, our desire to give our best for the wellbeing of others has caused us to lose ourselves along the way. We have developed such a grand ability to be everything for everybody else that there is an overwhelmingly growing population of womxn who are diminishing from the inside-out right before our eyes. 

If this resonates more than you wish it did, then you can likely count yourself into this category. You also can likely qualify yourself to be living in a state of burnout. ‘Burnout’ is a term that has been tossed around more frequently in recent years, but what really is it? 

Psychology Today defines burnout as, “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.”

Here’s the intriguing thing about burnout -- it’s common, but it is not normal. We were not designed to be overly exhausted, constantly buzzed with low-grade anxiety, overly-caffeinated and overly-committed womxn with a forced smile. But, so many of us are living out this kind of existence without any questioning. 

Are you done already? Truly. Are you ready to make the necessary shifts to change how you are living your life. 

Once you have decided is when you are open to make a change. 

I’d love to give you one practice to begin implementing right. But, remember, you first must decide a shift in your life needs to occur. 

You ready? 

It’s called Detoxing From Shoulds. It is an opportunity to take inventory that is always available to you. Especially when you are in a position of making a decision. This is about embodying the simple, yet admittedly difficult practice of noticing. Just noticing. Then, writing down what you learn. 

All you have to do is ask yourself the following questions: 

What is the situation?

What is the phrase that comes up in my mind?

How does it feel when you hear it?

Where do you feel it in your body?

What do you do about it?

How does what you do about it make you feel?

That’s it. The power of recognizing is profound because it is the only real first step that leads to actual transformation. 

It’s also worth noting that if you feel judgement creep in as you do this exercise, notice it, recognize what the reason is that you made the decision you did or continue to make, and practice compassion for yourself. And remember you are always trying to do the best you can with the information you have.

This is your sign that the possibility for change is yours to experience. So, grab your notebook. Take a deep breath. And begin to move yourself out of burnout as you simply recognize your shoulds.