I wasn't knackered, I was burnt out!

A few years ago, I told myself I was ‘just knackered.’

Then I told myself it was just a busy month. Then just a busy few months. Then it’s just how life is when you’re busy building a business and juggling a family.

There were lots of stories I’d tell myself, and every single one of them was true, because the excuses aren't lies. You really are just tired. You really are just busy. Right up until you're not ‘just’ anything anymore, and your body stops asking politely and makes you take notice.

I was waking up exhausted no matter how much I'd slept. Headaches I couldn't explain. A

heaviness in my body that had me napping in the middle of the day. And the one that should have rung alarm bells (but didn’t) was when I stopped loving the work I'd built my whole life around. Something I was so passionate about just... went flat. I told myself that was normal too. Everyone goes through phases, don’t they?

Then COVID hit, and like a lot of us, I was forced to change the way I worked, but was lucky to be able to keep working, helping and supporting others struggling with their businesses. The pace was noticeably slower, the work still demanding, the tiredness and heaviness was still there and I just kept going - because everyone was struggling, so how could I possibly say I was?

And then the world went back to ‘normal.’

Except I didn't.

My body simply wouldn't let me. New contracts were coming in; I was set for my best month ever having built lots of great relationships on lockdown Zooms. But what had been building quietly for years finally had nowhere left to go, my body as not going to let me go back to those old work patterns…and I burnt out. And was genuinely, frighteningly ill.

I had every signal. I just didn't know they were signals.

I thought burnout was something more dramatic, more obvious. Something that happened to other people, not to someone who was still functioning, still showing up, still getting things done. People use the word burnout all the time, with the danger of it becoming a bit of a buzz word – when actually they’ve had a really busy few weeks and do just need a break…

Burnout is quiet. It's carrying too much for too long, until your body makes the decision you wouldn't make for yourself. And sometimes it stops you for a short time, and sometimes it absolutely bloody floors you – and you have to learn a new way of working, recreate your business and learn to put you first, even when it’s hard to do.

And that was me – it took 18 months to get back to working properly… but in reality, it probably took 12 years to get there…

If any part of this sounds familiar - the exhaustion that sleep doesn't touch, the heaviness, the loss of interest in things you used to love - please don't explain it away the way I did. You don't have to wait until it's undeniable. You're allowed to listen to it now, while you still have the choice.

We can break those patterns, change those habits and create a better life and workflow, and I’m here to help. A free 30 minute coaching call could be all you need to spot the loop and interrupt the pattern.

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