I’m seeing a few scenarios playing out for people at the moment that are all variations on a theme – heading down the stress highway. As a reformed stress-junkie myself, I can tell you that this highway can be deceptive. It can look like a cool, happening, busy kinda place where you’re doing lots of good stuff, putting out fires and making things happen … that is until you realise you’re just running yourself ragged, trying to use action and doing-doing-doing to cope with the things that feel outside your control and basically getting a bit out of hand.
Does that sound a bit dramatic? It’s not meant to, but hopefully it shows you what I discovered – that once you’re on it it’s very easy to pick up speed and be careening into burnout before you know it. For that very reason, the sooner you spot this happening and u-turn yourself out of there, the better.
Let’s face it, a serious amount of sh*t has gone down in the last six months and whilst many of us are taking it in our stride, there are all sorts of pressures around work, home and running a business that can pile up on us, bit by bit, even without a pandemic in the mix. I call this ‘stress creep’ and it’s good to know about.
Let me outline the stress highway in brief for you and how ‘stress creep’ plays out:
For those having a ‘mild’ experience on the highway, it’s like they’ve just got on and are driving down the road at a sedate pace. Life is feeling a bit full, there’s a lot going on, and at the moment there is also wider uncertainty. They’re often feeling rushed and like there’s not quite enough time for everything, and they’re not feeling quite as organised or clear headed as usual.
Those who have been travelling down the road for a while have probably picked up a bit of pace. They’re now realising that they’re quite often waking in the night and waking up tired. They’re perhaps not as productive at work or as focused, and feel like they’re on the hamster wheel. They can’t quite catch up on sleep or energy. It feels like they’re at the mercy of other’s schedules, the momentum at work or the demands of their business.
Then there are those who can feel the wheels starting to come off. They’re starting to or surely are hurtling down the highway – some at breakneck speed. They’re waking up at 3 or 4am most nights or often. They’re knackered whether they want to admit it or not. They’re finding day to day demands a bit much. They feel only able to deal with what’s right in front of them. Thinking too far ahead is just stressful and murky. They’re getting coughs and colds. There might be days they don’t want to get out of bed at all. There’s a lot more to each of these levels or degrees of stress, but you get the idea.
Now here’s the thing: wherever you are on the highway, you can back up that truck or u-turn your way out of there.
It’s not always an overnight process, but it is totally do-able.
I did it.
I’ve helped many clients do it.
After they’ve had a stent fitted due to stress. Or kicked their cat and decided that was one step too far.
It’s what I’m good at.
Because not only have I lived it myself AND created a whole suite of tools and strategies to do so, but I’m also ridiculously passionate about beautiful humans with passionate hearts like you finding your way to not only doing well at work, but also being well. To living and working with balance and enjoyment and success. To being your most brilliant and accomplished self whilst taking stunningly good care of yourself in the process. And having a good time!
We don’t have to choose one over the other.
We don’t have to sacrifice our way to success.
That is old-school BS.
It’s time to step into an entirely new flow of life and work where we get to flourish on levels of self and across all areas of our life. Because we can.
If you want that for yourself and you’re totally ready to go get it, get in touch and talk to me about your goals and what might be the best approach to get there. I’m ready to go chase that stress right out of the building!
Message me now to set up a free phone consult to go get your best life.
Karen x
PS. If you’d like to know more about stress creep, check out my full article on this here.
PPS. For more info on my coaching packages go here including my newest programme SWITCH –Go get yourself a new normal.
PPS. To overhaul your stress levels and create a whole new mode of working and living, check out the Online Resilience Series – a seven-week online course to help you take charge of your stress levels, your work week, and your work-life balance and ton of other stuff too! Click here for more info or to register.
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