Burnout and Fear of the Future Can Hold Us Back from Intentionally Pursuing Solutions

Burnout and fear of the future ... stress about what might be ahead and what we might have to face affects everybody from time to time. But when it gets entrenched it can be difficult to shake.

The second reason we put off taking the steps to beat burnout is that it could affect us in some personal way. It could affect how people see us. It could affect our position, our power or our influence. Or it could affect our career or finances.

You notice how the focus is entirely in the future. Something ‘might’ happen. This is called catastrophizing - projecting the worst case scenario onto a time that hasn't even happened yet.

Our minds are geared to protect us. So we move initially to worst-case scenarios, because we have a sense that avoidance may keep us from some sort of harm. Our thoughts are occupied with worry.

The only problem is that most of our catastrophic thinking has no basis in reality. It is at best an educated assumption and doesn’t take into account any positive actions you might take to alter the seemingly dire consequences.

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We'd like to hear your experiences dealing with burnout. Your insights may be helpful to someone else. What happened (briefly)? What do you feel were the contributing factors? How did you deal with burnout? What tips would you give to help others with avoiding burnout?