Most of us have at one point or another found ourselves in a place of complete exhaustion. A dead end street, where it seems like all our effort goes to waste, and there’s no prospect for things to change.
When the whole culture feels like a stampede, how do you stop and take a break, without risking being crushed down?
Sacrifices have to be made in order to achieve anything. We invest time, energy, and focus into things that matter to us the most.
The question is, are we sacrificing more than necessary?
Are we wasting too much of our precious resources because we don’t know how to distinguish busyness from productivity?
More importantly, do we even know what we are working towards?
Our self-worth and busyness
Our belief of a person’s worth being measured by the level of busyness of their days is so deeply ingrained that even when we reach the point of a complete burnout, we use those last joules of energy to pour guilt and shame on ourselves. How dare we be this exhausted, when everyone continues to run effortlessly.
Taking a break may seem like a threat to your progress and the risk of falling behind. But if what you’ve been doing so far isn’t giving you the results you want, then it’s necessary to stop for a while so that you can reflect and notice what’s the issue.
If we are to avoid burnout and aimless work tasks, and if our most valuable resources – time, energy, and focus – are limited, we need to learn how to manage them.
We need to know when to reserve them and when to use them.
In other words, we need to know when, to what things, and to whom we want to say ‘yes’, and when to say ‘no.’
Priorities and resources allocation
There are two things we need to discover.
The first one is our priorities. What are they and what is the motivation behind them? Do they feel genuine, or are they something we selected because everyone around us did the same?
Investigate, and be honest. Shame and guilt can’t exist here. This is your life and nobody has a say to what your priority should or shouldn’t be. Honesty is your ally.
The second thing we need to work on is developing awareness about what drains our resources and what renews them.
Those that renew will leave us feeling more energised, and focused on possibilities and the positive side of life.
Those things that restore our resources are an investment into the future. They create a fulfilled life, where each new day feels like a mini adventure, instead of a series of dreadful tasks.
Follow your joy
Look at your interests, the ones you have now and those you had in the past. Look at your natural gifts and talents. Are there any parts where those things connect somehow?
Again, should isn’t a word that belongs here.
Search for those activities that fire up your world.
Do more of that.
With time, possible ways how that can develop and expand, maybe even into a career, will unravel.
Fuel for meaningful and fulfilling life
Investing into the things that we truly believe in will ultimately result in gaining more than we had. We’ll spend hours working on the project, but the aftermath will be excitement, joy, and self-trust. Being tired won’t feel like exhaustion, but a sign that we did meaningful work that day. We’ll be full of energy and hope for the future.
Working on things we believe in turns even those dreadful tasks into manageable pieces, because we can see the big picture they belong to – and we like what we see.
More importantly, the process of working on what matters to us will help us develop into the person we want to be – motivated, driven, passionate, and content with who they are.
Those things that keep calling and drawing us in, when we pour our energy and focus into them, they end up filling us with joy, and more desire and willpower to create a good life.
Investing in the things that we believe in becomes a fuel for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.
A proof that you’re on the right path
If you find yourself in that hopeless place where you feel like nothing works in your favour, how all odds are against you, or the confusion of not knowing where to start – there is a very clear way out.
Find one thing that you are passionate about, something you like to do, or would like to explore, and figure out what you can do about that today. No matter what the objective, there is always something you can do about it right now.
This is the key. Doing small things in favour of our big goals every day. Resisting temptation to dwell in our insecurities and doubts that never move us forward.
Seek evidence of life working in your favour
Instead of consistently seeking evidence of life not working out for you, look for the proof that you are making it. If today you did just one thing that’s aligned with the life you want to have, there’s your proof that you are on the right path.
Our days are a chain of small events, with one thing leading to another. Acquiring a new skill or success of any kind is a series of small steps of focused attention and action. Which means that there is something you can do today that will have a positive effect on your journey and propel you towards the life you want to have.
Establish foundations
Precisely because of the connectedness of all things, when we change a single thing in our life, no matter how small it is, others change too. Maybe not immediately, but we’ll start a chain reaction of change and progress.
Slow but steady.
While slow may not be how we would like to move, it’s necessary for us to develop what’s required to deal with the upcoming chapter of our life. Slow paced in order for us to have enough time to readjust ourselves to the new reality and establish foundations, but steady enough to maintain our hopes high, our eyes fixed on the horizon filled with possibilities.
Maybe that’s one of our biggest enemies, this perception of time flying by too fast for us to catch up. So much of the pressure is based on the belief of not doing, having, and being enough.
Are we really too slow, or are we just too quick to jump on to another goal?
Is time really flying by that quickly, or are we just missing to notice how there are things we can do every day that can make it great, and eliminate the tendency to focus so strongly on both the past and future?
A momentum of growth
What if it’s not about the place you are at, but the momentum you are riding?
Maybe what matters less are those high points when a certain achievement finally falls into your hands. Majority of the journey we spend working and moving towards our target. If during that process we are becoming a better person in some way, maybe that could be something we pay more attention to.
Maybe that could be a reward, or even a goal in itself.
A momentum of growth and exploration, fueled by boundless curiosity, meaning, and hope for the better.
Choose for yourself.
Choose the life you’ll be proud of living.
