I can imagine that many people right now are stuck in a tricky situation, whether it be their job that they hate, a relationship they just can’t shake, or something just hit their to-do list that they really don’t have the inclination to deal with.
One of these for me is being stuck in a writing rut—ironically I turn to writing to portray this to you. Will I still able to discipline myself to get up every morning and get online for the start of the work day, or make my way to the gym even when I’m not feeling up to it and I’m struggling to perform at my best?
Like every good, hardworking individual, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that I’m experiencing burnout.
By all means, this isn’t the first time. I can safely say I’m prone to it for a number of reasons:
I enjoy the feeling of working hard
I often wish to make better use of my time, which causes me to forgo booking my annual leave for extended periods of time
I’m not so great at switching off—or planning my day in such a way that I can rest properly
I wouldn’t state that burnout is a frequent occurrence, but it definitely is common—particularly in this unforgiving world of busy, busy, busy. One of the things I’ve realised recently is that distraction exacerbates exhaustion, and we’re constantly surrounded by things attempting to grab our attention.
In this digital era, we’re dependant on our phones—and those of you that say you’re not…where is it now? In your pocket? On your desk? By your side?
I was aware of this quite early on and have become very conscious of when and where I use my phone, but I never really understood the effects of distraction until now.
A great comment that I took away from Shadé Zahrai’s ‘5 Habits keeping you STUCK & 5 ways to get UNSTUCK’ is the mental drain experienced with distractions at arms reach, or instant gratification only a click away. I can definitely agree, after some consideration and introspection, that having my phone next to me—albeit facing down—saps more energy than simply putting it away.
Imagine how quickly you could complete a day’s work without your phone around, or the things you could achieve with all that focus.
While I’m far from a productivity guru, I urge you to curate your time with the internet where possible, or better yet, in digital detox.
Let’s see how we feel at the end of the week without the theoretical hustle and bustle of a digital device.
Message from Tom:
I’ve got nothing to hide, I’ve already published this before. So, why have I done it again?
Caring little about whether this will impact my ratings (although non-existent as I start my newsletter here) I wanted to make sure this was available for readers to enjoy.
I’ve learned a valuable lesson over the past few years—you don’t always have to be revolutionary. I’m sharing this content because I have it ready for you, but I’m also making sure that it’s useful. If I were to write something entirely new today, it may not come from a place of happiness or contentment—this article did.
If it’s useful, let me know…
You’ve got to find a benchmark
Are there more people focusing on their fitness these days or does it just seem that way?
I’m sure that I’ve seen more fitness fantastics and change advocates over the past year than I ever have done. People that seemingly weren’t even driven to be fit now running marathons, partaking in triathlons, or lifting bigger and heavier than ever before.
But there’s a caveat.
Of course, it’s amazing that fitness is the primary, if not secondary, goal of many, but much like the daily grind, hitting the gym every day or even twice day can take its toll both physically and mentally.
Having recently joined a CrossFit box, I’ve begun to realise the changes that can happen over a short period of time. Nevertheless, if you live for lift, this rapid transformation can soon be undone, and I’ve known this to pick me up at times but also drag me down.
This is why it’s important to measure your progress over a period of time, not just how you felt yesterday or even last week. This can also be said for other aspects of life, such as work or other hobbies. Goal-setting is great, but benchmarking is better—a data-driven approach if you will.
In order to understand where you started and measure your progress with a specific goal over time, you have to been to measure performance over the long-term.
If you’re stuck in terms of goal-setting (ie you’re not sure what goals to aim for) maybe take a look at what you’re favourite sport or activity is, see what goals your peers set for themselves, and make that your interim goal—of course scaling it to fit your abilities and needs.
Sometimes progress requires inspiration, but when this is lacking, make a simple move in the right direction.
Financial freedom - Is it real?
Now, like many I’ve often been snapped up by the idea of remote working, living a life of ‘freedom’ and financial detachment to purchasing things. Much of this driven by my desire to travel, earn, and learn, but for the most part plagued by the image of a perfect life found on good old Instagram.
It’s certainly not easy to tell yourself that you don’t fancy yourself a bit of the luxury life in today’s society, but is it a true healthy state to live in?
The world is changing and the likelihood of the Gen Z population taking out a mortgage is becoming ever more unlikely, but I’m not sure it’s worth it anyway.
The traditional expectations are slowly seeping through the cracks and more and more individuals are coming to terms with the idea that renting a property can make their lives easier and save them money, but also allow them to spend their hard-earned money—that digit you work so hard everyday to increase—on the things that truly make them happy.
I feel as though my journey of though as taken me down a very introspective road to discover what is truly valuable and initially it was centred around minimalism, which is a worthy step on the path to enlightenment, but I was searching for a way to overcome financial stress.
Rather than simply clearing out the unwanted or unnecessary items, I sought a more sustainable approach to money—coming to terms with it and, ultimately, learning to love it. Spending just a few hours listening to the personal finance adviser Ramit Sethi, it wasn’t long before I came to realise the direction I headed could’ve been much more straightforward.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at this episode of The Diary of a CEO (and if you’re looking for something light-hearted to understand how people look at money, check out the Netflix show ‘How to Get Rich’).
You want to be rich? But what does that mean?
Comparison can be a killer
Personal evaluation is great. The aforementioned idea of benchmarking is one way to do it, but comparing performance to others can be a slippery slope.
To put this into perspective, listen to this.
People come from different parts of the world…
…they experience difference upbringings…
…exposed to unique environments…
…they tell each other that everyone is different…
…yet they expect the same opportunities…
Crazy right?
If anything, comparison should be banned from our vocabulary and replaced with inspiration.
Instead of comparing your art to someone else’s you can be inspired by their work to either continue your pursuits or take them in a completely unforeseen direction. Rather than considering how that dude in the gym is much fitter, maybe it’s a case wondering how they got there?
I wouldn’t like to be mistaken for a psychologist, but this kind of reframing has really helped to overcome the barriers to challenge as opposed to feeling helpless about my shortcomings. In this regard, it’s about learning what you want to learn from other people, which will push you forward in the right direction.