Written by: Bronwen Sciortino, 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.
It feels like it’s been a long, hard slog for quite some time now.
Most people would say that it feels like that because the world has been traumatised for a few years … but if you’re honest, you know that it felt that way long before everyone was facing the fall out of a global pandemic.
We’re hearing about how working from home is fuelling burnout, stress and exhaustion, but we were experiencing all of those things long before we knew about a virus that would take over the world.
People are leaving their jobs in droves, mainly because the pandemic showed them that they weren’t valued or acknowledged. But that too was already there before.
We ignored a lot before; we blew it off as ‘just the way it is.
Suddenly all the things that were everyday players in our lives are now having the finger pointed at them as the culprit of our unhappiness.
But when we stop the finger-pointing, drop the blame game and step back to have a look at what’s really going on, what do we see? We’ve actually allowed our lives to move away from working for us — and we’ve accepted that it’s normal for us to feel like our lives are working against us.
When we look at the path that we’ve followed, we start to understand that in spite of doing everything that was expected of us — think getting the ‘right’ education, having the ‘right’ job, doing the ‘right’ things, meeting the ‘right’ people … and the list goes on — we’re no closer to the happiness that success is supposed to bring us.
We drive ourselves every day, filling our plates with too many things and over-extending ourselves in every way possible. All in the desperate hope that we’ll hit on that one thing that will catapult our success and change our lives in a different way.
We’re exhausted, unhappy, unwell and stressed to the max. We know something needs to change. But we keep going anyway because that’s what we believe we’re expected to do.
But what if that’s wrong?
Let’s be clear: this stuff didn’t just start happening overnight. We simply got conscious about not being prepared to accept it as normal anymore.
What if the key to our success is in turning everything on its head, so we can start behaving as if we’re on holidays, every day?
Examine that idea for just a moment. When we’re on holidays, our whole approach to life changes.
We relax more. We sleep soundly. We’re more active. We’re adventurous and prepared to explore. And we remove the weight of needing to be successful from everything we do.
If we try an activity and we don’t like it, it doesn’t matter.
Experiment with a new cuisine and can’t stand it? No big deal.
Living like this allows the pressure to drop out of everything you do.
Without the pressure, there’s way less stress. You’re not competing with anyone over anything. You’re simply using your curiosity to find the things in life that make you happy, and then allowing yourself to regularly experience them.
Without the stress, you sleep better. You’re drawn towards more nourishing food, and you have more time for the people, places, activities and things that give you energy every day.
So, maybe it’s time to stop worrying about whether or not you feel valued, and instead find the things that allow you to value yourself. Stop getting bogged down by the things you can’t do and search instead for the things you can do every day.
Relax, sleep and play. Who wouldn’t want the ‘holiday way’ to be the structure that underpins every day?
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website for more info! Read more from Bronwen!
Bronwen Sciortino, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Bronwen Sciortino is an International Author and Simplicity Expert who spent almost two decades as an award-winning executive before experiencing a life changing event that forced her to stop and ask the question ‘What if there’s a better way to live?’
Embarking on a journey to answer this question, Bronwen developed a whole new way of living – one that teaches you to challenge the status quo and include the power of questions in everyday life.
Gaining international critical acclaim and 5-star awards for her books and online programs, Bronwen spends every day teaching people that there is an easy, practical and simple pathway to creating a healthy, happy AND highly successful life.
Sourced globally for media comment as an expert and working with corporate programs, conference platforms, retreats, professional mentoring and in the online environment, Bronwen teaches people how easy it is to live life very differently.
