You’re a coach – it’s your life’s calling to be someone’s source of support. You’re their guide. In many instances, you even keep them together. When they’re falling apart, less than hopeful, stressed, or burned out, it’s you who gets them through it.
But what if you’re the one who’s burned out?
Look, you’re human. No one – not even the world’s most brilliant coach (is there even such a thing?) – is immune to burnout. And in fact, due to the increased demands of professionals and individuals around the world, who are seeking coaches for this very reason, incidents of coaches burning out too are rising.
Considering it’s probably part of your practice to help combat burnout, what we at Coaciety want to help you with is how to recognize the symptoms of burnout. That, for many driven entrepreneurs (and high-functioning people in general) is sometimes the toughest thing to recognize.
Symptom 1: You are physically (and mentally and emotionally) exhausted.
Getting out of bed is getting harder and harder to do, even if you absolutely love your job. Including exercise in your day might have been enjoyable for you once, or it may have been a chore, but lately, it’s something you dread. You’re getting headaches, and they’re getting worse. You may even be having trouble with your digestive system.
Mentally and emotionally, you feel at the brink of losing it, sometimes every day. Sometimes it’s multiple times a day. You can’t shake the feeling of dread. You put things off, or you lose track of time, or you’re starting to cancel on people in your personal life.
From one coach to another: Set aside a schedule for sleep and stick to it. Same for exercise. Take a look at your day-to-day activities and see what you can (honestly and healthfully) let go for now. Take an inventory of the things you do that bring you relaxation and peace, and if that list is empty, start filling it right now.
Symptom 2: You feel discouraged more than passionate.
We all have clients who feel stuck, but you might be feeling as though you’re the one failing when your client can’t seem to move past one of their barriers. Or perhaps all your clients seem to be succeeding, or at the very least doing really well, and you’re the one who feels like a failure. Yikes. Either feeling is really uncomfortable.
From one coach to another: You know you won’t always be at the top of your game. No one ever is. Sometimes you’ll feel low; other times you’ll feel at the top of the world. Right now might just be one of those low periods, and hey – now you can really relate to those who come to you with similar symptoms.
Remember to focus on why you started doing this in the first place, and just as you help your clients celebrate their mini-successes, you can do the same for you.