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Leadership Strategies and NO to Burnout

Guest post by: Sylvia Lafair

Article Overview: Entrepreneurs are constantly reinventing themselves, often on a daily basis. As high energy business people it is often hard to keep up with you. And then the inevitable happens. One day, for no obvious reason brains stop working; not in the sense that you forget how to drive a car, more like creative ideas have flown the coop. When this happens to me I tend to freeze, worried that I'll never have another good, let alone great idea ever again. Did you ever stop to think about the best way to handle these moments of brain drain?

Leadership Strategies and NO to Burnout

Entrepreneurs are constantly reinventing themselves, often on a daily basis. As high energy business people it is often hard to keep up with you. And then the inevitable happens.

One day, for no obvious reason brains stop working; not in the sense that you forget how to drive a car, more like creative ideas have flown the coop. When this happens to me I tend to freeze, worried that I'll never have another good, let alone great idea ever again.

Did you ever stop to think about the best way to handle these moments of brain drain?

These are real happenings, not made up because you are truly forgetful or lazy. This is a warning sign that burnout is around the corner. Burnout is a stress induced condition that says "the pitcher is overflowing, there is no more room".

Here are 4 ways to keep the burnout bear from your door:

1. Sip a cup of tea: I mean exactly that. Get a cup of whatever tea, brimming and hot, and then sip and sip and sip. For you male entrepreneurs, this is a very manly thing to do to stave off the burnout blues. So sip one sip after another for at least 5 minutes. When you focus on sipping you cannot think about anything else and it will be like an inexpensive all inclusive resort vacation.

2. Walk backwards: Yes, I mean exactly that. Close your office door and walk around, in a circle if that is all the room you have. No enclosed office? Do this at home when everyone is away or asleep, or go to a quiet part at a local park. Practice and concentrate for at least five minutes. This is enough time to get you thinking about the past and for a few minutes your future oriented mind will be quiet.

3. Smile for no reason: That's it. Tilt those lips in an upward manner, now hold it. Say, "Cheese" or whatever work is one that gives you lower face a lift. Practice with different words. Say them out loud, sing them if you want, just hold the smile. This is so simple and I promise you it is a stress releaser and even has some physiological reasons behind it. However, since you are de-stressing, I'll spare you the mental details for now.

4. Make cloud pictures: Did you ever do this as a kid; lie on the grass looking up at he marshmallow filled sky and seeing the tigers and dragons as the clouds rolled by? Do it now for, you guessed it, five minutes. You'll begin to relax, I promise. Getting in touch with the mostly carefee days of youre is a way to energize and limit stress.

You know when the stress pitcher is too full. It only takes as I have indicated, five minutes of concentrated concentration to make a shift in perspective. Hey, entrepreneurs, take the time, don't ignore those moments when your body is tense and tight. There are preventive measures that will give you an abundance of creative energy and you can go back to your go, go, go world once again. Happy stopping!

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Article Tags: Burnout, Creativity, Leadership, Leadership Strategies, Stress, Tips and Tools, Workplace Relationships



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