Stress Isn’t the Problem

Stress isn’t the problem. 

Say what?!

Stress is unavoided so believe it or not, it’s not the issue.

The issue is how you deal with the following two things:

1. The stressor
2. Your stress response

And the tricky part with those two things is the strategy you will use to deal with the stressor is going to be completely different than the strategy you use to deal with your stress response.

You need to have stress management techniques to address the stressor and techniques to regularly complete your stress cycle. 

Did you know that your body holds onto stress and needs help from you to complete the stress response cycle? Read more about that here. Part of the stress response involved releasing stress hormones throughout your body. These hormones need a way of releasing otherwise they can pile up in your body.

Unresolved stress that piles up day after day eventually will drain you of all your coping resources emotionally, physically and mentally. You might not notice this is happening at first as part of the stress response involves being flooded with adrenaline that masks the impacts of stress. This causes us to think we’re handling things well which is why burnout can sneak up on us.

Burnout is the final stage of chronic stress.

When I think back to the two times I experienced burnout, they were for different reasons.

The cause of each of my burnouts was different but the reason I experienced burnout for a second time was I didn’t change my stress management techniques or stress cycle completion routines. 

Honestly, at the time, I didn’t realize there were two parts - the stressor and the stress response.

In fact, I thought I could just tell myself to get over my stress and I would be fine.

I had many years of ignoring difficult emotions, pretending they didn’t exist.

I had prided myself in the amount of work I could get done.

I’m ashamed to admit this but I also judged others who couldn’t “handle as much as me”. 

In hindsight, aside from realizing just how much of a jerk I was, I wasn’t handling things at all. 

I was just avoiding them and hoping they’d go away. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. 

Have you ever found yourself suddenly hit with the realization that you’re not coping as well as you thought you were?

If your stress has become too much for too long, my eBook "A Way Out of Burnout" offers simple and practical steps so you can start healing from burnout today.

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