1. Worse than burnout is a broken heart
Burnout was never the biggest problem for me.
Over the years, I burnt out many times but each time I made myself bounce back. Pushed myself to get up and go again. Forced myself to get back up to speed.
I'm not recommending this, I'm not saying it was good for me, but that's how I did things.
Since those days, though, I've come to my senses. I'm now 100% and unapologetically anti-burnout. I love helping leaders quit sacrificing and commit to taking the very best care of themselves. I love helping them take that kind of stand for themselves in all the different ways they can take it—like upgrading to the sustainable and soaring operating systems, giving themselves that treat, because those two systems have...
The innate power to prevent burnout.
Of course, there might still be periods when too many urgent things come at you all at once and you'll have to spend a couple weeks working hours that are way too long. But that's a time-limited thing. It's manageable. It's very different from a lifestyle of burnout.
And when the rush is over, you'll take a serious rest. So that short, intense push is then just a bump in the road. The big picture is still...
You taking care of yourself, happily, skillfully, and for the long-term.
We know that the classic, persistent, debilitating kind of burnout does not have to happen anymore. There are enough leaders now who are leading sustainable lives to prove that this is so.
Which means we can't shrug off burnout with an easy justification like, "It goes with the territory." Because the truth is we know how to beat it.
But now...
What's the thing that's worse than burnout?
What's the thing that's much harder on us and much harder for us to deal with?
I think it's this...
How human beings can break our hearts.
And why might this happen?
Look at what our work asks of us...
We're confronting how power operates in our society, and trying to change it at all levels and in all institutions, so it stops hurting people and killing the planet.
And to do this means...
We go into the worst of being human to bring out the best.
But...
Confronting the worst can shake us to the core.
It can be heartbreaking when we come face to face with the destructive side of human nature, how relentless it is, how it persists down through the ages.
It can be heartbreaking...
To work so hard to save the world while the world so stubbornly refuses to be saved.
And it can be especially heartbreaking when human dysfunction hits us hard inside our own organizations...
When we get caught up in acting out against each other, or
When we find ourselves in conflicts that keep getting more entrenched because we don't know where they came from or how to solve them, or
When we let ugly gossip and personal recriminations escalate unchecked, or
When we hurt each others feelings in ways it might take years to get over.
And it can break our hearts...
When victories which should be ours for the taking slip away because of our own internal failings.
We start out so committed to our missions...
Missions which are full of love.
But we can end up in such trouble with each other. And when this happens...
How could our hearts not begin to break?
If you ever find this is true for you, as it has been for me, if you ever find yourself asking...
How do I face the bitter truths of human behavior and yet
Keep my heart from turning bitter?
Then please feel free to call me. This question has been a big one in my life. I've spent a lot of time finding a way to settle it for myself. And if you like, I'd be glad to help you work your way through it, too.
Rich
510-663-3555
e-mail
© 2011 Rich Snowdon
