Written by: Chrysanthi Vazitari, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Do you ever wonder sometimes why it is so difficult to feel fulfilled and satisfied with your life? Why we, as humans, are constantly seeking more and more? More money, more work, more responsibilities, more projects, more more more… When does this “more” enough? Who defines this “more”? How does that “more” serve us? Is this “more” driving our lives, or is it the moving power for our growth?
Let’s change this inner dialogue of “more” into “ENOUGH”! By enough, we are happy, satisfied and complete for being where we are at the moment. To do that, we need to focus on our well-being.
In this article, you will discover the other 3 pillars of well-being and how approaching it holistically can take you far away from burnout.
In case you didn’t read part I, find it here.
Part of the individual responsibility on acting on burnout prevention is being able to protect and take care of our well-being. Besides the emotional and the social one, mentioned in the previous article, we will discuss the physical, the workplace and the societal well-being.
Physical well-being
Physical well-being is the ability to maintain a healthy level of life that allows us to get the most out of our daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress.
3 practical ways to practise physical well-being are:
➡Healthy eating: This doesn't mean diet or restrictions, but making sure that you increase the veggies, fruits or water intake and reduce maybe the caffeine, alcohol, sugar or even the "take away" food.
Make a small challenge for yourself and try to set a goal to eat more healthy for a week and see how that will make you feel. Of course, If you are not sure how ask an expert.
➡ Detox your body: Remove toxins from your body for a few days. Drinking water is one of the best and fastest ways to flush out toxins from your system.
➡ Work out: When I say work out, I don't mean to hit the gym 2h every day. I mean, walk to work, take the stairs, stretch or do 15' yoga at home. Anything that can fit into your busy schedule and makes you feel good.
What could you do to increase your physical activity?
Workplace well-being
Workplace well-being covers the aspects of our working life. Anything from the quality and safety of the physical environment, to how we feel while being at work or about our working environment.
➡ Work-life balance: easier said than done, right? Not really! Being able to follow your programme and your schedule needs simply clear prioritisation. Is it clear to you, what your priorities are? If not download “the wheel of life”, a coaching tool, to help you check all the aspects of your life, identify where you are and improve the areas needed.
TIP: If you work from home or still have a hybrid work life, set an area to work, that you won't visit after the end of your “work schedule”. This will allow you to separate the working hours from the private hours!
➡ Boundaries: Stop saying yes to everything! It won’t make you a better employee and definitely, it won’t offer you balance if you keep taking on more and more projects! By identifying what your needs are, and where you want to go with your career, you will have a clear path of what is needed for you to do.
Next time someone asks you to do something, think… “How will this bring me closer to my career goal?” or “How excited am I to do this?” If the answers are not “Absolutely needed” and “Heck Yeah” then learn to say “NO”.
➡ Confidence: Building confidence is a muscle. Doing tasks, which allow you to build skills for your career development is great! For doing this, you really need to know what your skill set is and identify which of these skills you need in order to move to the next level!
➡ Work aligned with your values: Identifying and understanding our values and needs is a crucial element in job research. Living by your values at the workplace means living the most authentic version of yourself in all areas of your life. When personal values are aligned with the company values, employees feel more inspired and happy, because they feel their contribution has a positive impact in the company.
Do you know your top 5 values?
➡ Motivation: According to positive psychology, “Motivation reflects something unique about each one of us and allows us to gain valued outcomes like improved performance, enhanced well-being, personal growth, or a sense of purpose. Motivation is a pathway to change our way of thinking, feeling, and behaving.” So, when you find ways to increase your motivation at work, you can improve performance, enhance your well-being, and personal growth, or acquire a sense of purpose.
How can you do that?
1. Focus on your vision, what you want to achieve and where you want to go.
2. Use your superpowers and your great skill set more often.
3. Recognise and reward yourself for the good work and the milestones achieved.
Societal well-being
Feeling the sense of community. It’s the ability to actively participate in creating a thriving community, culture, and environment.
All you can do is simply take a small action every day to contribute to a better world. How? Smile to the next person you see in the street, make a sincere compliment, buy a coffee for the next person in the queue, hold the elevator for someone, help an elder person in the supermarket, or even volunteer for a cause which is important to you.
All these are great, but the biggest obstacle that we can all face during this, is admission and self-resistance. Being able to admit to ourselves that we are not invincible and that we have the right not to feel okay at all times, is a big step for many people.
Burnout is a sign that something needs to change…
Chrysanthi Vazitari, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chrysanthi is a certified transformational coach working with multi-passionate and highly energetic professionals, who try to get career satisfaction, advancement or who want to completely pivot their careers. Chrysa has successfully pivoted her career three times already, from an educator to communications advisor in big corporations and is now an entrepreneur/coach. She is the founder of Career Grow & Glow and the co-founder of GrowthUP coaching. Her coaching method is the ACC: Awareness ‒ Clarity ‒ Choice (by CMA) in combination with somatic/embodied and cognitive-behavioral elements. Of course, there is constant change, as she doesn't rest and keep incorporating new methods along the way!
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