How to Avoid Burnout

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off Podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get right into it. Today we're going to be discussing an interesting topic, It's based on something I think needs to be addressed, given the feedback I've been receiving on the podcast since we launched. The topic today is actually gonna be around burnout, or avoiding burnout. And it's an interesting topic, and you might be asking, well, why is that something that's come up? And the truth is, I've been getting really good feedback, and I appreciate everybody that's been listening, but I've been hearing, I've heard from a couple people, they've said, well, hey, if I'm doing this every single day, if I'm really pushing myself every single day, that seems kind of like a crazy pace, right? Like you say no days off, but can I take a day off? And I think you may know where I stand on that. The answer is no. Every day, we can take a minute to get better at something, right? So that's typically my answer, like, no, you can't take a day off. It doesn't take much energy to spend 1 minute or 2 minutes or 3 minutes reading something or doing something a little differently than you did yesterday. But I thought it would still be a good topic to address, burnout, right? Like when you think there's a crazy pace or an unsustainable pace, burnout, is what people think of. Hey, I can't keep doing this and not run out of energy. And I honestly, I disagree with that. See, burnout is the result of misalignment between the work that you're doing and your core values and your interests and the fascination, your fascination with the meaning behind your work. Right? So burnout is a disconnect between what you're doing, the work you're doing, and what it is you stand for. If there is a misalignment between what it is you're doing and what it is you stand for and what you're interested in and what you're passionate about, well then guess what? Burnout may happen. Right? But if you are passionate about what you're doing, if you believe in what you're doing, if you're energized by what you're doing, every single day, as, as I am about life and improving and getting better and being a better father and being a better leader, being healthier, just winning more at life. If you're passionate about that, well, there isn't a misalignment between the work I'm doing and what it is I in fact stand for. So if you're ever feeling like you are trending towards burnout, You may want to slow down and reassess the work you're doing, how you feel about it. Are you truly interested in it? Does it align with your core values? Is there a meaning behind it? And, and if there isn't, well, something's got to change. See, in order to be successful— I think we can all agree on this— in order to be successful, Not only do we have to form habits around those things that failures just don't like to do, frankly, you're gonna have to work hard, right? Like, there really is no substitute for hard work, especially early in your career, right? Like, I know we can work smarter. I get that. I'm not saying we shouldn't all strive to work smarter, but there is an element of hard work absolutely required. I'm a firm believer that you have to do work during what I would call, and what Kobe Bryant would call, because this is where I got the term from, the unseen hours, right? When nobody is watching. When you're showing up at the gym at 4:00 AM and nobody else is there till 7:00, right? When you're doing things during the off minutes where everyone's joking around or maybe taking a break and you're putting in an extra minute or 2 or 3. I mean, that's what this No Days Off movement is all about. So I believe the key to success is going to be working hard, especially during those unseen hours. But you only can do that if you find meaning behind the work. See, you can, you can motivate yourself to do it now and again, but to sustain that over time, to sustain that pace, you must find meaning behind the work. So it's never the long hours. It's when the long hours are not congruent with what it is that lights you up, that fills your cup. I'm going to say that one more time because I think it's really important. It's never the long hours you're putting in. It's when the long hours are not congruent with what it is that lights you up and fills your cup. So the, the focusing question today, the focusing question today What is it that you're potentially burned out around, or what is it that you think may be trending towards burnout? If you have this going on, what is it that you feel is trending towards burnout, and what can you do right now to create more meaning, more excitement, more energy, more passion around that thing so that it is more congruent with what it is you stand for? So you avoid burnout? What is it that you're potentially nearing burnout around where you're hearing what I'm saying right now and you're assessing like, "Gosh, I really am not that fired up or passionate about it." Well, what is that thing and do you need to consider a different direction? It may not be leaving that role or that industry or that path in your life, but maybe there's a certain tweak or something you can change that re-energizes you, that fires you up again so you can go and do the work during those unseen hours. I think it's really important we all take a step back and assess, you know, what it is we're doing and spending so much time on and how we actually feel about that, what kind of energy that's given, how passionate we are. And the key here to be able to sustain this push, this drive, this no days off mentality, right? That's the key, that's the key, 'cause over time, success will happen by doing these things over the course of time. In order to let time play out, we got to be pretty damn fired up about what we're doing. That's all we have for today. No Days Off Podcast, thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better, so let's get after it. Thank you.