Are you working towards a big goal but worried about falling behind? Or are you stuck not knowing what your next career or home life step should be?
No matter what stage you’re in on the journey towards achieving your goals, exhaustion and discouragement can inevitably kick in. Those feelings of being at your wits’ end are certainly real with many people, but they cannot be the end of your road!
Here are six tips to help guide you when you feel burnt out.
1. Be Kind to Yourself
Discouraging moments are bound to happen. It’s best to choose to be kind to and comfort yourself rather than adding pressure to an already overwhelming situation. Try not to take your frustration with your circumstances out on yourself. Feeling burnt out is not a shortcoming, but an opportunity to reboot.
2. Practice the Necessary Self-Care
Self-care is an umbrella term for a whole range of practices. According to the International Self-Care Foundation, self-care is “what people do for themselves to establish and maintain health, and to prevent and deal with illness.”
There is a popular idea of self-care as an excuse to do something luxurious or buy something extravagant, but something as simple as taking a nap, making a list, drinking a glass of water, or closing the computer to take a short walk can make all of the difference. Try to evaluate what your body and mind need to feel cared for and do what you can to fulfill those needs.
3. Set Some “Tomorrow Goals”
Rest can often have astounding effects on your feelings of burnout and discouragement. Making a list of plans for tomorrow, or even later today, before taking a break can make the rest all that more meaningful.
You can dump all of the responsibilities and concerns floating around in your brain onto paper, providing you with a clear mind and allowing a more genuinely nurturing rest experience. Not only are you taking the break you need now, but you’re building up the energy you need for later.
4. Remember Your “Why”
Taking a moment to reevaluate and reassert your goals can cause a huge shift in your attitude towards a problem. It can be easy to become so focused on a single step that you forget the broader goal. Each responsibility that you have now is merely one step in a larger journey. Keep in mind that your purpose is larger than any one task, and recenter your mindset!
5. Reach Out to Your Support System
Sometimes you need a reminder that you are not alone amid hard times. Misery loves company, but the discouraged don’t mind it either.
Your support system isn’t only there to cheer for your success, but also to uplift you in times of hardship. It can feel impossible to make it through a difficult time alone because sometimes it truly is. Life is not a solo journey, and we have a community for a reason.
6. Remember: This is the MIDDLE of the Road; Not the End!
No roadblock is truly the end of the road. By remembering this, you can stay on your path in even the most difficult moments.
As run down as you may feel, try to remember that any step (whether straight ahead, far to the left, or even backward) is ultimately headed towards your goal. The path to success is never a straight line, so try to remind yourself of that when life gives you a detour.
You have put too much of yourself and your energy into achieving these goals to quit without seeing them through.
As John Leaf Whittier once said, “Often the goal is nearer than, It seems to a faint and faltering man.”
Often in the worst of times, moments of joy and success are only a few steps away! Keep this in mind - and keep pushing ahead.