The best strategy for navigating burnout is remembering to celebrate your wins

There were days when I was at the height of my burnout when someone asked me how my day was and I genuinely couldn’t remember.

Between powering through the brain fog and trying to balance four tasks at the same time, it was like nothing was recording.

Like in suspense/thriller movies “the tape was wiped.”

My sole focus was on making it through the day and making it through my list. Like a train chugging along at full speed ahead, I was only focused on the destination. Which meant I missed 95% of the things along the way. When I was finishing grad school I couldn’t wait until I was just working full-time and had one less thing on my plate. When I was just working full time I couldn’t wait to be working on my business full time. When I look back, I wasn’t pausing if even for a moment to deeply celebrate what I had just accomplished.

Because I wasn’t taking a moment to recognize the journey I could only see how far I was from the next milestone –– a threshold that I kept moving.

This right here is one of the biggest contributors to my burnout.

Life feels much more draining when I’m focused on how much I’m running behind, how much the work has piled up and how little free time there is on my calendar. This was the place I was operating from for a majority of the past decade.

I was stuck in a cycle of of wishing that I was done with one thing so that I could move onto the next thing so that maybe just maybe I could get some rest. I remember having this feeling of not being fully present at a friend’s wedding because I was so stressed about work, I remember wishing for a vacation was over so that I could just hole up in my house. And when I look back, I wish I had recorded those memories. These times that bring such joy, I was so in my own head that I couldn’t fully enjoy the moment.

This right here is how I stayed in a state of burnout. I was only focused on how I could muster the energy to complete or show up for the next thing, I was so focused on my to-do list that I couldn’t take the time to celebrate how much progress I had made.

Out of the list of many, I’m going to share three things I’m remembering to celebrate.

Celebrating that I’m a published author

I don’t talk about this nearly enough.

In my last year of grad school I decided to change my thesis (whoops) but it was this deep calling that I knew I had to explore this idea. And this intuitive ‘yes’ told me to go for it no matter how wild it sounded. It was the summer before I was. graduating and out of nowhere I got the idea to write about how my workplace felt different because there was a culture where we could talk openly about our mental health. Instead of having to soft launch a cough the day before to get a day off, you could send to our Slack channel “hey, I’m having a rough day today and going to take some time to regroup.” No questions asked. Besides the messages of support that followed and asked if you needed anything. This was so different from any workplace I had experienced or heard others talk about.

The idea came to me to see if there’s something to that. So I reached out to a professor I didn’t know to see if he would be my advisor. He said yes and we began the challenge of writing a thesis in 6 months. This was in 2019, pre-COVID, and mental health in the workplace wasn’t a big topic yet. Something inside kept telling me that I needed to write this paper because this work is going to be needed. And because of that intuitive ‘yes’ my paper, A step towards understanding mental health disclosure in the workplace (2023) was published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. It’s the first peer-reviewed article to connect depressive symptoms, self-disclosure, productivity and workplace support to better understand how talking about mental health impacts a person’s work life.

Celebrating that Late Breakfast is 4 years old

It’s very un-Leo of me not to celebrate Late Breakfast’s birthday. The story of Late Breakfast began with breakfast-scented candles and has evolved into a holistic approach to self-care. Four years ago I thought I needed a candle to help my space feel a little cozier. What it led to was learning the tools to see myself and my journey with compassion and I’m so grateful for every part of the process.

When I slow down to take a look at the journey it has been (and continues to be) a wild ride. And I’m so grateful for every part of it.

Celebrating that I’ve been a full-time entrepreneur for 1.5 years

Speaking of wild rides, this entrepreneurial one has been the wildest. I’ve learned so much about myself in the process that I never could have expected. I’ve been shown my fears, my wounds, my weak spots and everything in between.

I’m just celebrating trying it.

I’m celebrating being with everything that continues to deepen my love and trust of this journey.

It’s beautiful to see the things we envision and dream of become a reality. I notice sometimes I can be so immersed in the how that I don’t take a moment to look at the journey. I’m so focused on where I’m headed, I don’t slow down to appreciate every small moment that led me here.

So let’s try something together.

For the next 30 days, I’m challenging you and me to write down 5 small moments that had a big impact on your day.

It could be as simple as seeing a cute dog when you were stuck in some challenging emotions. Or getting a call from a friend the same moment you picked up your phone to text them.

Let’s practice stringing together more of these moments.

If you feel like the goalpost is always moving…

The Aligned Action Membership includes a private community to celebrate your wins and hold you accountable so you can keep making progress on bringing your vision to life.