As the last chapter of our How to Make Your Job Work for You blog series we’re tackling a tough topic—burnout. We’re living in a burnout culture where constantly being “on”, continuous connection, and giving your all to your work, even at the sake of your own mental health, is glorified. This mindset is one that leads to many feeling stuck, overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated. If you’re feeling those feelings, you are not alone! Over 75% have felt burned out at work, with half of millennials actually quitting a job due to burnout. But let’s think about that for a second. What will happen at your next role if you don’t change your habits and mentality now? You’ll likely get stuck in the same cycle.
The Connection Between Mindset & Burnout
Burnout can lead to a lot of things: feelings of frustration, avoidance, pessimistic outlooks, disinterest, mood changes, low productivity, even physical symptoms like headaches and insomnia. It was actually recently classified by the WHO as a syndrome that impacts mental health, productivity, and energy levels.
A study done by Harvard University found that among university students, those who had a fixed mindset had greater struggles with mental health issues, while those with a growth mindset, a mindset that looks at everything as an opportunity for learning, were less likely to experience anxiety and other issues.
So, what if we took the results of that study and applied it to the world of work. If you consciously develop a growth mindset, and see the opportunity even in what seems negative, maybe you can spark long-term change for yourself and overcome the burnout!
3 Ways to Shift Your Mindset to Overcome & Avoid Burnout
So, what can you do to overcome burnout in your current role, reinvigorate your outlook, and build a successful future without finding a new role? You can focus on changing your mindset. Yes, it’s easier said than done. But once you change your mindset, your entire outlook on life and opportunity changes, making everything feel a little bit more fulfilling again.
How do you start? Here are a few tips:
Let Go of Perfectionism
Those with a fixed mindset are usually stuck on being perfect. One mistake and you’re constantly beating yourself up. You must let go of that! No one is perfect. Life is made for learning. Be willing to make mistakes and learn. Once you become comfortable with that, you’ll be more willing to try new things, make new connections, and be more vulnerable—because you won’t fear that failure and you’ll be able to confidently embrace your imperfection. This in itself could breathe new life into your career!
Search for Your Sense of Purpose
Without purpose it’s hard to have direction. Many of us find a job and decide to give it our all, making our sole purpose to be good at our job. But what happens when you burn out and don’t care anymore? You need something to motivate you. If you have a deeper sense of purpose, you can spend every day doing little things, in and out of work, in pursuit of that purpose. This will fulfill you and lead to greater satisfaction with your day-today, getting you unstuck!
Treat Every Experience as a Learning Opportunity
Even the most uncomfortable and negative things provide us a chance to learn. Negative feedback from your boss could be inspiration for how to find your next challenge to reinvigorate yourself. Losing a deal could spark you to change up your sales tactics, breathing new creativity into your role. Even when things are uncomfortable, ask yourself what you can learn? This will help you grow and achieve so much more! This is a growth mindset.
Need Help Shifting Your Mindset? NimblyWise Can Help.
Our NimblyWise programs are deeply rooted in real-time learning. This concept is a total shift in the way you look at your life, your work, and your career path. It helps you choose joy, opportunity, and look at the silver linings in each and every situation. If you want to learn how to adopt a real-time learning mindset and practice with others in a similar chapter of life as you, let’s chat. We’d love to welcome you to our NimblyWise cohort, where we’re beating burnout and seeing new opportunities each and every day!
