The Issues That Led to My Burnout (And How to Avoid Them)

Photo by M.T ElGassier on Unsplash

By Michelle Velan, Founder of Wondersource

Burnout is at record highs. Deloitte’s marketplace survey on burnout confirmed that professionals today are undoubtedly feeling the pressure of an ‘always on’ work culture, causing stress and sometimes leading to burnout. The findings indicate that 77 percent of respondents say they have experienced employee burnout at their current job, with more than half citing more than one occurrence.

Having personally experienced burnout and insomnia, I’m deeply passionate about helping others prevent or heal from these challenges. I believe the current conversation around burnout is too narrow. While toxic work cultures and overwhelming workloads are significant factors, true healing requires a deeper look beneath the surface. Addressing unresolved trauma, reframing limiting beliefs, and fostering an empowered mindset are just as critical. A person who’s worked through these inner barriers will experience the same work environment in a completely different way than someone who hasn’t. I say this with compassion because I once made things harder for myself by not recognising these underlying issues.

The biggest mistakes I made which lead to burnout and insomnia:

- ❌ Not healing my subconscious stories and identities: I needed to heal my subconscious stories and identities around unworthiness, perfectionism, stress, being good enough and who I am and what’s available to me in this world.

- ❌ Not working on my beliefs: I needed to reframe limiting beliefs and replace them with new empowering ones. Beliefs like work could be joyful and exciting and I get to be happy and fulfilled. If we hold the belief that success has to be exhausting, serious and stressful, most of us will self-sabotage because our subconscious mind simply won’t let us sign up for that.

- ❌ Not doing the work to heal my nervous system: I started to take the particular things that felt good and healing to me more seriously. Slowing down and making time for more moments of stillness, daily walks in nature, sunshine on my face, tapping, guided meditations, breathwork, reiki, prioritising fun and laughter, baths with epsom salts, massage, dancing.

- ❌ Not cultivating inner safety: I needed to develop deep self-compassion and unconditional self-love and learn to acknowledge and validate my emotions. I started doing inner child work to connect with them, and develop a loving relationship with both them and myself. By consistently showing up for myself and providing the care, acceptance, love and reassurance I needed, I created an inner sense of safety that wasn’t dependent on external factors, but rather rooted in the trust and love I cultivated within.

- ❌ Giving away my power: I allowed external factors and opinions to cloud my thinking and dictate my path.

- ❌ Rushing around: I neglected to slow down and connect to my inner world and intuition so I could be there for myself on a deep level.

- ❌ Ignoring my needs: My gut health, dreams, goals, laughter, time with loved ones, and feeling good. I challenged unhelpful beliefs and created new empowering ones like “my needs matter,” and “I am valuable and important.”

- ❌ Not taking a holistic approach: My adrenals were shot and I was making it worse by having coffee on an empty stomach, doing HIIT classes, and having chocolate to lift my mood.

- ❌ Lack of boundaries: Not setting these led to overwhelm, frustration and a lack of confidence. Without boundaries, we’re essentially telling ourselves that other people’s needs are more important than ours which is of course not true.

- ❌ Not staying connected: Not spending enough time with loved ones or in nature and doing things that nourished me and connected me to myself and loved ones.

The things that healed me:

- 🙋‍♀️ Taking full responsibility: I let go of any parts of me that were acting like a victim, and realised how much power I really held. I started to be honest with myself, choosing who I wanted to be and what I wanted out of life, challenging any limiting beliefs that told me I couldn’t have those things or be the person I knew myself to be. And then I stayed committed to the vision I held no matter how inconvenient.

- 🥦 Holistic Health: I chose whole foods that nourished me and cut down on sugar, processed foods and alcohol, I ate more of an anti-inflammatory diet that supported my gut health, I took supplements like magnesium glycinate, Vitamin D3 K2 and Omega 3, I focused on gentler forms or exercise like pilates and yoga rather than HIIT classes, I made time to connect with myself with walks in nature, meditation, tapping (emotional freedom technique), journaling.

- 💖 Self-love and compassion: I made a conscious effort to love myself with guided meditations, tapping, rest and more. And, with help from some amazing wellness guides, I dug deep and made peace with my past and learned to accept, love, value and forgive myself on a deep level.

- 🙏 Valuing myself: I started operating from a place that reflects my true worth to the world. For every decision I made I asked myself, “does this support the life I’m creating?” And I acted accordingly.

- 😴 Investing in sleep: I made sleep a priority. When you’re struggling with insomnia, it can feel frustrating to hear someone say that, but it truly does make a difference. I cut out caffeine after noon, put my phone away several hours before bed to avoid blue light, made time each morning to get natural sunlight, and created a consistent wind-down routine. If I was feeling drained, I chose to stay in rather than push myself to go out. I know the exhaustion that comes from sleepless nights, but I’ve also learned that small lifestyle tweaks can have a huge impact on sleep quality.

- 🤗 Prioritizing joy: I made time for the people and things I enjoy, I let go and let life be more fun and easy.

Here’s to healing your wounds, making decisions that honour your inherent worth and developing compassion.

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Interested in delving deeper into Wondersource's Mental Fitness, Holistic Health, and Professional Development offerings? Our virtual sessions, spanning 60 minutes across 6 sessions, are meticulously curated and led by world-class experts to empower ambitious teams worldwide. Participants not only enhance their leadership skills but also experience heightened job satisfaction, improved mental well-being, and a greater sense of preparedness to excel in their roles.

If you're ready to amplify your team's potential and foster a culture of holistic growth, reach out to us at hello@wondersource.co or book in a call to learn more. Let's embark on a journey towards thriving together.

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