Showing posts with label new lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new lifestyle. Show all posts

April 14, 2013

I recovered from a burn out


Dear Bloggers,

It may be too late for you to talk about avoiding burnout. Maybe you've already reached the stage where you are thoroughly disillusioned with your job and where you no longer get anything of emotional value from it. You may feel let down or betrayed by your organization, and may be "going through the motions" just for the money your job brings in.



While you can deal with exhaustion by taking a good break, rest may not cure this sense of disillusionment. The passion and commitment that you previously brought to your job may now have completely burned out. Without this, your career may not progress much further.
People deal with this situation in a number of different ways. Some are effective, while others are not so good:


 
First of all most of us start with doing nothing: Often, one of the worst ways of dealing with burnout is to accept it and do nothing about it. By remaining in place, you risk becoming bitter and angry as opportunities pass you by. Your organization may come to regard you as “dead wood” and if things do not change, you may be doomed to a gradual or sudden decline. You need to change the situation in some way. 


A better option is changing your career: If you have lost all interest in the values that led you into your profession in the first place, then career change may be the best option open to you. If possible even in total different job and another company.


The first downside of this, however, is that you lose the benefit of the precious experience you have already gained within the profession. In entering a new profession, you will be competing equally with people much younger than you, and these people are willing to accept much lower salaries. I speak about my own experience.

A second downside is that you risk a strong sense of failure in the way how you handled things, whereas burnout will only have been a temporary setback if you succeed in turning the situation around. 


Changing jobs: Job change within the same profession is usually less of an issue than a full-scale career change, in that many of your skills and much of your experience will be transferrable. Job change gives you the opportunity to rededicate yourself to your original goals. It also provides a fresh start in a new environment, without the painful reminders that come with staying in the same job. 



Changing jobs is an appropriate response where you are disillusioned with your organization more than you are with your career. What you risk, however, is ending up in the same situation again: In changing your job, you must make sure that you understand what lead you to burn out, and ensure that history does not repeat itself. Looking at this positively, you should know what to look for, and have a good idea of how to avoid it!
Using your burnout as a trigger for personal growth: This is probably one the most positive ways that people manage burnout: By using it as a wakeup call to re-evaluate the way they want to live their lives and what they want to achieve. 

 

Understanding why you burned out
An important first step in managing burnout is to deal with the sense of failure that you may experience following it. A starting point for this is to take a long, rational, dispassionate look at the circumstances leading up to it.




A good way of doing this is by talking to someone who you trust and who is experienced in similar situations in similar organizations (you may find a personal coach helpful here). Avoid people within your own organization, as these people will be tainted with its assumptions and thinking habits: These may contribute to the problem. Take the time to talk the situation through in detail, looking at the circumstances before your involvement, your workload, your actions and the actions of other people, and the situations that evolved.


If you are the sort of person who has been committed enough to your work to burn out, it is more than likely that you will have already done everything in your power to resolve the situation.
In reflecting, you will probably find that you made some mistakes, but you will most likely see that these are excusable under the circumstances. You will almost certainly see that a great deal of blame should be attributed externally to the situation, to people around you, or to the people who set up the situation in the first place. In your mind, make sure you place this blame where it fairly belongs.




Lessons that people typically learn through this process are that they are not superhuman, that hard work does not cure all ills, and that major achievements need the commitment and support of other people: In many circumstances, the intense commitment of only one person simply is not enough. They also learn to look at situations with skepticism as they go into them, and to trust their own judgment in spotting and communicating problems early on.

Learn the lessons of your mistakes so that you do not repeat them.
Moving On… Finding a “new” direction
 



Having come to terms with the situation, the next step is to re-evaluate your goals and think about what you want to achieve with your life. I touched on this briefly in a avoiding burnout article; however in recovering from burnout, it is worth doing this in detail together with your coachl.
There are many articles on the mind to guide you through the processes of thinking. About for example what you want to achieve with your life and of reviewing and setting life goals.



Implanting these processes with the increased wisdom and self-understanding you will have gained by understanding why you burned out. Ensure that you give due weight to the relaxation, quality of life issues and social activities that will help to protect you against burnout in the future. Make sure that your goals are set in a balanced manner so that they do not conflict with one-another, and that they are not so challenging that they become a source of excessive stress in their own right.


Next, use SWOT Analysis to more fully understand your current position with respect to these goals. Use it to identify where you need to develop new skills and capabilities, and to understand where you need the help of other people.



Make an action plan for achieving these goals and start work on it. While part of this Action Plan may include changing job or (not very easy in these times), you will be doing this as part of an active plan for the future, not as an escape from one job into another one that is equally bad.
As well as taking these active steps to put your burnout behind you, make sure that you adopt the steps towards a healthy lifestyle we looked at in our defences against stress section. These will help you to avoid exhaustion and long-term stress in the future.


The Old Sailor,

July 26, 2011

My sweet life is ending

Dear Bloggers,

Yesterday morning I had to consult my doctor due to some earlier done bloodtests as my hands have been painful all day long for the last three months. When I phoned two weeks ago for the results the doctor’s assistant advised me to make an appointment after his holidays as there were some matters to discuss about my bloodtest. Today was the day that I made the step into his office, the results kind of overwhelmed me as many wheels had to be set in motion from today on.



My new hobby as I cannot eat them anymore

I was diagnosed as a diabetic type 2 and my cholesterol levels were to high as well. Unfortunately I was not that surprised as diabetics are quite common in my family and I knew that my chances were reasonable to become a diabetic. Still when the doctor tells you this it is a bitter pill. I need to lose weight to get a better Hemoglobin a1c count as this was far too high. F*** my day was spoiled but on the other hand there was an explaination for a lot of funny symptoms that I developped the last few months. This is what he told me and actually warned me for.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are too high because the insulin producing pancreas tires and insulin can no longer effectively store sugars in the body. Persistently elevated blood sugars can result in numerous complications such as blindness, kidney disease and nerve damage. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between type 2 diabetes and obesity (that explains a lot to his royal fatness). The cornerstone of diabetic management is through dietary changes, exercise and weight reduction.


A specialized nurse will make report of my body skills

Chances are that if you have been diagnosed with diabetes, my doctor recommended that I should change my diet, exercise more and lose weight. A way to find out how many calories I need to meet in my weight loss goals I need to visit a specialised nurse who wil explain me what to do diet wise exercise and how to change my lifestyle and how to use the calorie calculator!

It sounds easy when you put it like that, but the truth is that weight loss is not easy and your complete rythm of life will be turned around. The benefits of losing weight are numerous and for the diabetic patient it means better glucose control and fewer diabetic complications. The good news is that even a modest reduction in weight can have significant effects on your sugar readings. While most patients do not need to be convinced of all the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight, it is sometimes difficult to find motivation and stick with a plan.


My diabetes will be monitored for several months after that I have to do it myself.

Many people become overwhelmed and simply want the learn ways to lose weight fast.

Weighing in on Weight Loss Gimmicks
Every patient has different weight loss goals but while the number of pounds that need to be lost may vary, most people agree that they want to know how to lose weight and how to lose belly fat. (my biggest enemy lives on my belly) Unfortunately, there are many different weight loss gimmick plans out there that prey on that very mindset.


This might be the scenario if we do not change my lifestyle
Many of these weight loss methods are expensive and require that you eat purchased foods or drinks. Some of these plans have elaborate ways of keeping track of foods and restricting what you can eat. Other diets sell you special concoctions that promise to help you lose weight while you eat whatever you want. The bad news is that most of these diets are great ways of thinning your wallet and not much more than that.

When I asked him what is the fastest way to lose weight, he answerred my answer isn’t always popular. The bad news is that most of these fast diets and weight loss methods are unreliable and do not keep the weight off for the long term. It’s not difficult because the best weight loss methods involve simple math!

The Secret to Weight Loss is Simple Math!


Weight Loss: Calories In < Calories Out

No Change: Calories In = Calories Out

Weight Gain: Calories In > Calories Out

Pretty straightforward right? It should be no secret that if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. The same goes for losing weight. Burn more calories than you take in! This doesn’t mean that you have to exercise constantly to burn 2000 calories because your body requires energy just to function.

Check out an online calculator to find out how many calories you burn without exercise. This information will help you to determine the proper amount of calories that you need. If you pay attention to this information and monitor your caloric intake, you will find that watching calories is a powerful weight loss tool.

One of the quickest ways to lose weight and keep it off is to seriously commit to changing your way of thinking about food and exercise. We live in a society that thrives on excess. The food on our plates is no exception. If you think that what is served to you at most restaurants is a serving, you’re sadly mistaken.

Looking for the quickest way to lose weight may sound appealing but the reality is that many of the latest dieting fads will send you on a rollercoaster ride. Losing 1-2 pounds per week is considered safe weight loss. Set small goals with realistic timelines and celebrate these achievements. And my biggest horror is quiting smoking as that means normally gaining weight. My doc said that this is something that is bad for me but I should do that in a later stadium when all the other things are in place and I have suitable rythm again.


My favourite thing to do eventhough it is deadly

For people living with diabetes, reducing your weight and improving your learning more about diabetic diets that work will greatly improve your sugars and hemoglobin a1c blood test. You will also notice an improvement in your blood pressure (that was surprisingly good) and cholesterol. These simple changes can have lasting effects and prevent the progression of complications of diabetes. So let us see what the future will bring.

From today this will be a sugar free blog and for the rest things will be the same as always.
 The Old Sailor,

Talking and Writing

Dear Bloggers,   Why is it that some folks (such as myself and my daughter) talk so much? This visit, I am learning how I process throug...