What is the single best way to avoid burning out?
That's the number one question that I get, is how do you avoid burning out?
It's tough.
When I first started business it was very, very tough.
I still remember when I was at dinner after three months of going hard 12-hour days, every
single fucking day.
I went to dinner, it was a Christmas dinner with my girlfriend.
It was something I still remember to this day because I felt so bad about it.
I was at dinner with her and throughout dinner, prior to the food coming, I was on the phone
more than 10 times.
My phone was ringing off the hook.
I was running a tutoring service at that time and it was actually during finals seasons,
the Christmas dinner.
So, everyone was just giving me calls, back to back calls.
It felt like ... It didn't even feel like I was at dinner.
I didn't even know what I ordered.
I was just like, hey I ordered and I was just in and out of the restaurant.
At one point when I came back ... So, we were eating at this place where you get to cook
your own steak and when it comes the steak is already on hot stone.
So, when I came back I was kind of pissed off.
Like why is my steak well done?
What's going on?
My girlfriend was telling me, "Your steak has been here for 20 minutes."
That really, really hurt me.
I was pissed because why is my steak well done and then to really that I was actually
gone for so long after the food has already arrived, that I neglected my girlfriend and
I took her for granted because I was so involved with hustle and grind of this.
That really made me feel so guilty and shameful of what I was doing and eventually I was burning out
I didn't go back to work and it made me really reflect on why I was doing what I was doing
and how I should approach this whole thing differently.
I mean, a lot of us have these different kind of scenarios that puts things into perspective
of what is important.
Is it all work or is it all family or is it all relationship?
For me, specifically, it's all about the balance between being able to take care of yourself
physically and emotionally, taking care of your family, your significant other and your
friends, then your business.
So, having these different pillars in my life allowed me to not burn out because I know
for a fact that my life consists of these six different pillars and if I put too much
attention in one aspect and neglect the other, this pyramid or this school is not going to
hold up strong and I'm not going to have a foundation.
So, for myself, right now I'm operating three different companies at the same time, managing
over 100 staff.
Yet, I still have time to take care of my family, my loved ones, myself.
It is all because of the fact that of understanding what I truly value.
Understanding what keeps me grounded and seeing things in perspective.
So, at the end of the day it really comes back down to you, what you believe in, what
are your values, what are things that are not negotiable for you, and what makes you
truly happy.
If it's about business success, yes, then you know what go ahead, go full steam on it,
you're never going to burn out.
It matters what truly drives you, but if you use working as a mask or as a thing to stay
behind because you're avoiding other problems, yes of course you're going to burn out.
Sooner or later you're going to burn out and it's never going to be the same.
It's not going to be effective work.
Now when I go to work it's much more effective, it's much more efficient because I know for
a fact that I only have this much allotted to finish my work.
Then, I need to move onto taking care of my family.
Then, I need to take care of myself.
Self-development, business, all these different chunks.
It's about knowing your balance, knowing your values.
That's what's going to prevent you from burning out.
So, next time you're thinking about how do I avoid burning out?
Ask yourself the questions, what do you truly value?
What are the non-negotiables?
What makes you truly happy?
Once you have those answers, hold tight to them and be true to them and be honest with
yourself.
That's how you avoid burning out.
The way I avoid burning out is actually knowing my balance, my non-negotiables and they are
family, my friends, my loved ones, my career and myself, emotionally and physically.
That's the reason why I travel a lot.
That's the reason why I spend a lot of time chilling with them and playing sports, while
still running my businesses.
So, I actually want to know from you on your end, what do you do that allows you to avoid
burning out?
Is it going to the malls, is it going on a shopping spree or is it traveling?
Leave it in the comments section below, I'd like to know.