One of the most frequently asked questions I get from clients and in the FRIED. Facebook Group is: “But, how do I start my burnout recovery?” When you are absolutely mentally and physically depleted, figuring out where or how to start feeling better is daunting, to say the least. You know you want to get better, but you might not feel like you have it in you to try.
First off, I want to say congratulations! Recognizing that you are burnt out and ready to start feeling better is a massive step. Now that you’re in that headspace, I have created a series of resources for you to make the start of your recovery journey as simple and straightforward as possible.
First, you’ll want to go to your doctor for a FULL physical examination. I’m talking blood work, a urine analysis… all of it. This will help you identify, correct and/or rule out any physical reasons for your fatigue right off the bat.
Next, you’ll want to take my Resentment Journal Mini Course. Unfortunately, you can’t just will away resentments by “thinking positive.” Instead, you’ll need to begin where you are and transform those resentments into boundaries and spare energy.
Lastly, you can uncover your core values with my free resource, linked below. This will help you identify what you love and care about most, so you can stop carrying or holding onto things that don’t meaningfully serve you.
And, of course, you can always reach out for support at any stage of this process. Whether it’s joining one of my free weekly calls or contacting another wellness professional you feel might benefit your recovery journey, there is someone out there who is just waiting to support you. You can do this!
Quotes
“I gathered a really easy beginning series of steps for you to take that will help you carve out a path towards recovery without you having to do too much thinking.” (01:42-01:54)
“It is so important for you to realize that as soon as you are able to name the problem, as soon as you realize that what you are going through is burnout, your recovery started. That awareness is so crucial.” (02:21-02:36)
“By watching your resentments, you’ll be able to find some tasks and some behaviors that you can get rid of, probably without talking to anyone else or doing anything else. You’ll just be able to stop doing some things.” (04:25-04:37)
“When you are in the muck, you’ve got to meet yourself in the muck.” (05:53-05:57)
Links
XOXO,
C
If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait
TRANSCRIPT
Caitlin Donovan
Hello, fried fans and welcome to season four of fried the burnout podcast. I'm your host Cait Donovan and my mission with FRIED is to #endburnoutculture. On this pod we end burnout culture by sharing stories of people who have been through it all sharing expert tips from the best in the burnout field, sharing #straightfromcait episodes with my own expertise and some fun research. now that I'm a student again, plus sharing actionable steps to help you end burnout starting today. If you're feeling burned out right now and you need personalized guidance, you can book a free breakthrough burnout call with me, you'll find the link in the show notes. Also, if you love fried and want to be part of our community, we'd love to have you just head over to Facebook and type in fried the burnout, podcast discussion, and click to join our group. It's a place for continued healing deeper conversations and connections with people who just get it. And now for this week's episode.
Hi, Fried fam. continuing along my path of answering your most common questions in the form of podcast episodes, it is time to address the biggest one that I have seen lately. And that is, but how do I start? recovery? Right, I'm exhausted, I can't even do anything. I can't think I know I want to get better. But I just don't have an image to even try. I just need to know what to do to start feeling better. As soon as possible. I hear these things every single day. And I don't blame you. I remember what it felt like and feeling totally overwhelmed. So I gathered a really easy beginning series of steps for you to take that will help you carve out a path towards recovery. without you having to do too much thinking it does involve you and you do need to be present for it. But I have created resources for you that are as straightforward as possible. So you can just use them and move forward and move on with your life. But if you are in that space right now, and you're thinking I just don't know what to do. Let me first say, congratulations, burnout, recovery has officially started. It is so important for you to realize that as soon as you were able to name the problem. As soon as you realize that what you are going through is burnout. Your recovery started that awareness is step one, it's so crucial, you cannot start burnout recovery. If you have not acknowledged admitted or noticed that you are burned out. So good for you. At least we're one step there. The next thing, the first thing that I'll ask you to do, which might seem counterintuitive, is because I am a burnout coach. But if you are lucky enough to have health insurance, or you have the ability to otherwise afford a visit to your doctor, the next step is going to your doctor for a full physical, that means blood work, urine analysis, all of it, it is possible that your energy levels are down because of your thyroid because of low iron levels, anemia, vitamin D levels, it's possible that your B 12 is depleted. Stress does do that. There are a lot of physical reasons for fatigue. So I would love if you went and found out if something was going on. And if it is, do whatever needs to be done in order to correct that in your physical body. Because if your physical body isn't nourished, it's going to be really hard for you to implement any of the other changes that are necessary for burnout recovery. Let's just remember that not everything is about your mindset and your emotions and trauma. Some things are just physical, please go get that checked out. And once you have that under wraps, you can do the next thing.
So once that is done, you're going to need to take some things off your plate we call this life pruning. And in order to life prune, I suggest that you use the resentment journal mini-course that's on my website. It will be linked in the show notes by watching your resentments for a few days for a few months. It took me a year and a half. But even the first few days brought me some relief. By watching your resentments. You'll be able to find some tasks and some behaviors that you can get rid of. Probably without even talking to anyone else. or doing anything else you'll just be able to stop doing some things and that will become clear within the resentment journal itself.
Resentment is this crazy amazing tool and it's an amazing place to start. They say you know that they whoever they are, they do say start where you are. And when I was burned out I was living in resentment land. So if you are to the mini-course is your fast track to more energy and better boundaries. So this is a really, really crucial point that I need to drive home. If you attempt right now, to push through with positive thinking and gratitude journaling, and whatever other trick you've read on Instagram, I'm going to tell you, you're going to end up being more frustrated than when you started, you do have to start with yourself where you are.
So if you're feeling irritable and resentful, you're not alone, most of us do feel that way. But you do need to address it, we don't want to ignore it, pretend it's not there, and move on. Just, you know, closing our eyes and like stamping our feet and saying, I'm just going to be positive and pray for happiness like it's not going to work that way. Eventually, there are some positive thinking techniques that are super helpful. But when you are in the muck, you've got to meet yourself in the muck, so get ready to get your feet dirty, get that resentment journal out, and get started.
And then, when your resentment has started to shift, I have a free resource because the resentment journal is a paid resource, but then I have a free resource that will help you with the next stage. The free resource is an exercise that is designed to help you uncover your core values.
This is important because when you're burned out, it can be hard, if not impossible, to envision what it might be like when you're not burned out. So you don't know what it is you're going for, you know that you want more energy, you know, where you want to be less frustrated, you know, you want to be able to accomplish your work tasks the way that you did. Previously, you might know that you want to quit your job and start a business, but you can't see it. And when you can't see it, because you're so tired, it makes it harder to take any action toward healing. Because it feels like you don't know what you're taking action toward or for. It feels purposeless because there's no use for it.
So doing the core values, exercise helps you to recenter yourself to be more aligned, and to remember what is important to you so that you can prioritize those things. This will help you dump more things off your plate, as you realize that you're carrying and holding on to things that you don't care about carrying or holding on to. And once you let those go, carrying and holding on to things that you do love and care about feels like a lot less of a burden, and life becomes lighter.
Now, I'm not going to give you more than that. Because those are three big things already. And I know that if you actually stop and do them, don't think about anything else, just stop and do these things. They will help you carve a clear path so that the next steps of whatever it is you need to do become more obvious. And if you do these things, and you don't feel like things are more obvious, then the next step is to reach out for help. I am always here you know that I offer free calls, you can hop on them whenever you need.
And there are also loads of other amazing people that I've had on here as guests that might be exactly who you need. You are not alone in this, we will help you through it. And there is someone out there who was just waiting to support you. So I'm going to include a link to a blog post on my website, which has a list of people that I love who were doing burnout work, in case you want to check that out in case you're thinking, you know, I know I need to do some functional medicine or I would love somebody that focuses on focuses on generational trauma, or I really want somebody that does something with yoga because that was part of my life that I enjoyed before that I've lost some love for whatever it happens to be. There's somebody in there that will match your needs.
So I will link that for you so you can work through these things first, and then if you feel like you still need support and you don't know what to do next, it is time to reach out for help. Alright, so off to the start lines you go. Go ahead and make that doctor's appointment and let us know how it turns out. We'll be in the Facebook group waiting for you. Until next time.