Stop Trying To (just) Mindset Your Way Out Of Burnout

Let’s be honest for a moment. Is there anything more annoying than being told to "chin up, could be worse", "look on the bright side" when you feel like you have been dragged through a hedge backwards at high speed?

I love mindset work. I built a huge chunk of my business around belief shifting and reframing narratives and have done a lot and I mean A LOT of reframing through self coaching. But there is a specific time and place for it and in the middle of a burnout cycle it can be bloody hard.

If you have been listening to affirmations, journaling until your hand cramps, and trying to "manifest" energy but still feel like you are wading through treacle, I have good news. You aren't doing it wrong. You are just trying to apply a cognitive solution to a physiological problem.  

I get it, I totally do, the end of 2024 I never felt like I had cried so much in my life!  I was completely depleted.  Functioning but barely.  This was from someone who'd done a lot of work on herself and at the time had learnt some blooming good tools in coaching and Belief Coding® but yet I couldn't seem to shift out of it.  I just didn't feel like I could face using them (though note to self use them earlier especially Belief Coding® if it happens again 🥴)

Your Nervous System Is Running the Show

Here is the science bit without the jargon. When you are burnt out, your nervous system has likely shifted into a state of functional freeze or high-alert survival mode. Your body is acting like there is a 12 ft grizzly bear in the room. It doesn't matter if the "bear" is actually an overflowing inbox or the mental load of running a household or in my case a massive identity shift with my daughter turning 18.

When your body is in this state, the part of your brain responsible for logic, reasoning, and positive mindset (the prefrontal cortex) goes offline. It is a biological safety mechanism.

Trying to force positive thoughts when your nervous system is screaming "DANGER DANGER" is like trying to plant flowers in the middle of a desert. It is not just difficult... it is a waste of energy you do not have.

Burnout vs Lack of Motivation

This is where we get tripped up. We often treat burnout like a motivation issue. We think if we just watched a motivational video or bought a new planner, we would snap out of it.

But the difference is distinct:

• Lack of motivation is when you have the energy but lack the desire or focus.
• Burnout is when you might have the desire (you want to do the things!) but the tank is completely empty.

When you try to use "effort-based change" (pushing through, stricter discipline) on a burnt-out system, you are borrowing energy from tomorrow that you didn't have today. It creates a debt cycle that leads to a bigger crash later.

So What Do We Do Instead?

We have to work bottom-up, not top-down. This means prioritising the body before the brain.

Before you try to change your beliefs, you need to regulate your nervous system. You need to signal safety to your body so it can switch off that alarm bell. Only then will your brain come back online enough to handle the mindset work.

This looks like:

• Rest without guilt: Actual rest, not scrolling on your phone which is just high-speed information processing.
• Body based release: Breath, movement, shaking, dancing, progressive relaxation 
• Energy support: Things like Reiki allow your system to down-regulate without you having to "do" anything. It bypasses the conscious mind and speaks directly to the energy body.

Once you are regulated, the mindset shifts can then start to happen . The world looks less scary not because you forced a new thought, but because your body no longer feels under attack.

If you are ready to stop fighting your own physiology and start actually healing with mind and body working together.

Want to give it whirl explore Transform & Rise.

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