Friday, March 13, 2015

Self-Care: Avoiding Burnout #fried

"Yes, that is me."

Reading Fried (2011), I had a hard time putting it down. I found myself saying, "Yes, that is me" over and over again. According to the results of the Kiersey’s temperament assessment (2010), my temperament is that of a 40%-45% of the population, the Inspector. Inspectors' needs lend to complaints of being tired, drained and stressed. Inspectors can take actions to avoid stressors, gain back control of their emotions and avoid the preventable disease of burnout via self-care.

There is not a one size fits all technique for reducing stress but yoga, mediation, retreats and other non-medical forms of self-care as techniques for training one's attention and awareness to help bring thoughts under control (Guttenberg, 2013). Disengaging from the external factors and looking internally to develop feelings, beliefs and actions, which benefit the body’s growth, are ways to develop as a healthy leader but more importantly to develop a healthy soul. To reduce stress and focus on a healthy body, I will practice yoga, chiropractic care and acupuncture a minimum of three times a week.

Edenfield and Saeed (2012) state that mindfulness, the act of bringing external and internal factors to one's attention, has been shown to effect stress reduction and reduce negative mood states, and improve the emotional well-being of individuals with chronic physical illnesses. " Improving attention, awareness, acceptance, and compassion may facilitate more flexible and adaptive responses to stress" thereby improving the health, life satisfaction, well-being and overall quality of life (Edenfield & Saeed, 2012). To focus on mindfulness and reduce negativity, I will not only incorporate my yoga practice back into my schedule but also use my compassion meditation app on my iPhone a minimum of three times a week.

Finding the balance of giving to others and giving to oneself is not an easy task, especially for the idealists who take on more and more. In essence, the appearance of selflessness is an individual’s search to be right, feel accepted and be rewarded; ego fulfillment. It is this energy draining, idealistic, ego fulfilling vision in life that lends to burnout. The ideal is to move from serving one's own ego to recognizing the limits of life and serving one's soul. To transition from the stressed idealistic woman, I am going to set out a block of time daily where I focus on me. Time where I rest, eat a healthy meal, spend time alone, avoid social media and simply focus on myself. The goal is to “put the oxygen mask on” and transition from ego fulfilling to "selfish" actions.

Mama Gena is quoted in Fried (2011) as saying, "You don't revive from burnout by thinking about it and reflecting on your problems." Instead individuals should focus on changing their minds and feelings; cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) (Borysenko, 2011). Through strategies such as self-talking and writing about feelings, thoughts, beliefs and actions, individuals can use CBT to transform their frame of mind, the way they feel and their action despite a lack of change in external factors. With this in mind, I have set a goal of journaling at least three times a week, using the Day One application, to write about my feelings, thoughts and beliefs with the intent of changing negative feelings, actions and stress to a positive sense of being.

"Learning to care for yourself is an art" (Borysenko, 2011, p. 116). Much of this contributes to the fact that the speed of life certainly has changed. As life progresses there appears to be less and less time. Keeping up with the Joneses is not an easy task and one which sets individuals up for failure and even burnout. Instead take the time to keep up with yourself and understand that "When you come to the end of the rope, tie a knot and start climbing" (Borysenko, 2011 p. 144).


References

Borysenko, J. (2011). Fried: Why you burn out and how to revive. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.

Edenfield, T. M., & Saeed, S. A. (2012). An update on mindfulness meditation as a self-help treatment for anxiety and depression. Psychology research and behavior management, 5, 131.

Guttenberg, K. (2013, May22). Yoga, meditation benefit both brain and body [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/05/22/yoga-meditation-benefit-both-brain-and-body/

Personality Test - Keirsey Temperament Website. (2010). Personality Test - Keirsey Temperament Website. Retrieved July 25, 2014, from http://www.keirsey.com

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