Are you constantly feeling stressed, exhausted, and disengaged at work or in your personal life? If so, you might be struggling with burnout, which is that frustrating state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by long standing or over-the-top stress in your work, home life, or relationships.
As a burnout therapist in Seattle, I have worked with countless individuals who have experienced this exact scenario. The good news? A profound shift in mindset can help you overcome this emotional valley and bring the spark back to your life.
Burnout Isn’t the Flex You Think it Is
The first thing to understand is that burnout isn’t a badge of honor; it’s a call for change.
Which is hard, right?
We live in a society that overvalues productivity and busyness, and undervalues rest, rejuvenation, and taking pleasure in a slower life. Most of us have learned to equate our worth with how much we accomplish, and we wear our exhaustion like a badge of honor. However, this mindset leads many of us to totally neglect our physical and emotional wellbeing, with catastrophic consequences for not just ourselves, but also for the people we love and communities we are part of.
This is where making a change internally can be a gamechanger for the chronically burnt out. A shift towards a mindset that values balance, well-being, and self-care—and away from a mindset that values productivity and busyness over everything else—is crucial to beating burnout.
Mindset Shift: Valuing Balance More than Busyness
A key mindset shift is prioritizing balance in our lives. It’s important to remember that our self-worth isn’t solely tied to our productivity or professional success. Rather, our worth comes from our unique selves: our passions, our relationships, and our capacity for growth and resilience.
As a burnout therapist in Seattle, I have helped guide many burnt-out clients towards this more balanced perspective by encouraging them to allocate time for rest, hobbies, and relationships that bring joy and meaning to their lives. While they often tell me this feels odd or wrong at first, they come to find over time that rebalancing their lives has profoundly positive effects on their overall levels of burnout and exhaustion.
Mindset Shift: Process Over Outcome
Next, focusing on the process of change, rather than the outcome, can be a transformative way of shifting your mindset.
When we are constantly chasing different or changing targets (i.e. outcomes), we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment and exhaustion. Instead, shift your mindset toward appreciating the journey of changing your approach to life. Find small ways to enjoy the process of learning, growing, and overcoming challenges, rather than just the final result (which is somehow always beyond your grasp). This shift can significantly reduce stress levels and or help reduce burnout over time.
Mindset Shift: Progress Over Perfection
Embrace the concept of imperfection. Nobody is perfect—no, not even therapists 😉—and striving for perfectionism can lead to an overload of stress and dissatisfaction. It can be a hard shift, but learning to radically accept that mistakes are part of the journey and using them as stepping stones towards personal growth is a vital mindset shift to help with burnout.
Remember, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it. As a burnout therapist in Seattle, I am always honored when clients come to me seeking support and guidance in making a mindset shift away from perfectionism. You deserve the same care and attention to help you make the shift, as well!
Mindset Shift: Being with the Present Moment
Lastly, implementing mindfulness is a vital step in changing your mindset. This practice encourages you to stay present, acknowledging your feelings without judgment. It’s about taking a moment to breathe, observe, and understand your emotional state, helping you manage stress effectively.
Mindset Shift: Make Tiny Changes
So, how can you start making these mindset changes? Start small. Really small! Choose one area to focus on, whether it’s embracing imperfection, focusing on the process, or practicing mindfulness, and take tiny steps toward implementing the shifts. Incorporate this new approach into your daily life and observe how it impacts your feelings of burnout. This might mean picking a helpful phrase to replace automatic negative thoughts, or keeping a reflection journal focused on the area you’re trying to change.
Once you feel solid in changing a certain mindset, you can start working on the next. There is no timeline and there is no expected outcome or “right way” of doing this—the “right way” is going to be the way that works best for you, that helps you keep moving forward and making the progress you want to see!
Therapist for Burnout in Seattle
As a therapist in Seattle who helps clients overcome burnout through radically positive mindset shifts, I’ve worked with many people who have found emotional freedom in setting compassionate boundaries, practicing radical self care, and busting through the drag of burnout in their work and personal lives.
To learn more about counseling for burnout in Seattle, contact me for a free consultation to see if I’m the right fit for you. I can’t wait to hear from you!
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