Recharge your energy to avoid end-of-year burnout

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio

 For many in the online world, this year has felt like a boxing match with Mike Tyson. In a tough economic climate and in the busy world that we live in, you might feel like you were counting down the weeks until the end of the year. Perhaps you’re feeling a decline in your energy levels, or like you’re more irritable than usual, or maybe just feeling a little flat. Well, my friend, if you can relate today’s episode of the podcast is for you. And I’m going to share how you can finish off the year feeling inspired, reinvigorated and full of energy rather than feeling flat and burned out. Because in business your energy is everything and you can’t afford not to be feeling your best.

 An appropriate place to start today’s episode of the podcast is talking about burnout. Like what exactly is burnout? Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion that happens when we are constantly pushing ourselves.

This is something that business owners do a lot. So it’s not surprising that this is a common occurrence for small business owners, especially as we approach the end of year with deadlines, social commitments and the holiday preparations coming up. Some signs of burnout can be fatigue, headaches, digestive systems. You might be feeling irritable, anxious, depressed, maybe even a loss of interest in activities that you once enjoyed. And some of the things that you might start notice happening is that you’re procrastinating, your productivity goes down, you have difficulty concentrating.

So maybe you aren’t at the stage of burnout just yet, but you might be experiencing some of the early warning signs. Feeling exhausted, having low energy levels, or are you just feeling uninspired and flat?

So if any of this is resonating, how exactly do you prevent yourself from burning out? Well, the first thing is that you need to recognize your limits. We are all different as human beings. We’ve all got different energy levels, different bodies, different things going on in our lives as well. So the important thing is that you start to recognize your limits and set boundaries and prioritize self-care. So when it comes to knowing your limits, you need to be in tune with your body when it is telling you, hey, enough is enough and look for those early warning signs that I mentioned. And if you’re starting to notice that they’re there and obviously wanting to avoid it getting worse, getting to that stage of burnout, something important to do is be setting boundaries, setting boundaries with clients, with friends, and even with yourself. I know that often I need to set myself some boundaries around, for example, my social media use. I can find myself getting stuck in soccer. It was scrolling and scrolling and scrolling.

The next thing that is absolutely imperative for looking after yourself is self care. Now’s a good time to check in. Am I eating healthy? Am I prioritizing exercise? How’s my sleep? And rather than just sort of identify what’s going on, really ask yourself, what do I need to do differently in this space? Let me share an example in the space of sleep. So my young boy, I’m going to be honest, he’s a bit of a handful and he’s not a great sleeper. So I haven’t been sleeping well because he wakes up and comes in and jumps on mummy in the morning. An example of self care that I’ve invested in, in this space, I’ve bought him some supplements, these gummies to help him help him sleep. And also I’ve bought a new clock so that we have a clock in the lounge room and I can say to him, Hey, you’re not allowed to come into my room until this time. At the moment I say, don’t come in until the sun comes up. But what time the sun comes up is actually quite questionable. And to be honest, here in Queensland, where I am, the sun is getting up earlier and earlier. So I don’t want him thinking that that’s okay time for him to come in and wake me up. Now that’s just an example, but maybe for you, it’s like is now the time that I need to be going to bed earlier? Do I need to consider trying some supplements to help me with my sleep? Another thing that I’ve started taking for myself is magnesium, and I’ve definitely noticed a difference in the length and quality of my sleep. Maybe when it comes to a health and nutrition, you recognize maybe I’m not eating the best. Maybe you’re not taking the time to go and buy beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables. Maybe you’re not taking the time to actually prepare fresh meals and you’re finding yourself grabbing things on the go a lot. What do you need to do to prioritize looking after you?

Another thing that is incredibly important for both avoiding burnout, your exhaustion, but also for helping you to feel more energized, focused, relaxed is meditation, is having time for mindfulness to actually slow down, breathe, and not be being busy all the time.

Here’s the thing with a lot of our self care activities. They often tend to be things that we slot in around everything else in life. But you really have to look after yourself if you want to feel energized, empowered, and inspired in your business.

One other thing that I think a lot of people forget in this space of self care and, and in terms of preventing burnout, is having a strong sense of social support. Studies have shown that people with great friendships, Actually live longer. And increasingly they’re starting to find all of these studies around the power of having great social networks. So again, if you’re starting to feel yourself getting flat, burning out, are you making time for your friends? Are you making time for fun? It really is important.

Now, if a lot of this is resonating, if you were thinking, yes, I know that I’m feeling the signs of the early signs of burnout. Yes I am feeling like I’m a bit flat, I’m not at my usual energetic levels that I like to be operating at. I am going to do a bit of a plug for my retreat. So the level up retreat is a perfect example of a way that you can Avoid burnout and step into caring for yourself. I cultivated these two days as a way that you can actually step away from the day to day of business and be focusing on you, your wellness, your physical wellness, your mental wellness, getting in the energy of high vibe people. And also investing in your financial wellness. One of the prime reasons I called it the level up retreat is that I truly believe that to earn more money, you need to be in a great magnetic energetic state yourself.

So let me share a little bit about the retreat. We’re actually having the retreat at my own yoga studio, it’s in this beautiful rainforest retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland. Every day we’re going to be doing meditation and yoga. And on the final day, we’re also having a beautiful sound healing. I personally go on retreats all the time. If you follow me on Instagram, you will see I go multiple times a year and, firstly, I appreciate the absolute privilege that I have in this space, but I’m also amazed by how many, particularly women who do have the means don’t prioritize themselves. They say they can’t justify getting away from the family or even the financial investment. But here’s the thing, my friend Denise Duffield Thomas has this saying, which is you are the golden goose. And what that means is that everything, if you run a business, you are the thing that makes money. And for me, it’s not just in business, it’s also with my family. If I fall apart, the family falls apart. We’re wearing a lot of different hats and that is why it is so freaking important to make sure that your cup is full. You can’t pour From an empty cup.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, I recognize the privilege that there is being able to invest in retreats, but I did just want to share something if my retreat really is calling to you that perhaps the financial investment is a hurdle that you need to overcome a couple of things that I did want to say. Firstly, if you did want to chat about a payment plan, by all means, reach out to me, or if you are from a disadvantaged background or disadvantaged circumstances, again, I’m more than happy to come up with a solution so that you can take the time and space to work on yourself and your business. I truly believe that these two days will deliver minimum the investment back to attendees in a true financial sense. So obviously there’s a lot of other benefits around health, wellness, all of those things, but purely from a financial sense, I truly believe that having these 2 days to step away, work on your business, will deliver back at a minimum the cost of the retreat. I know for many of my attendees in the past, it’s delivered that many, many, many times over.

To sum up today’s episode of the podcast. Your health is your wealth. And if you were starting to notice the early signs of burnout showing up, now is the time to act. Prioritize your health, your mental wellness and restore your energy now so that you can finish the year strong.

Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Clare Wood podcast. I really appreciate you being here, listening, and I hope that you are deriving benefits from every episode that you listen to. Have a beautiful week and I’ll chat to you again next week.

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio