One Burnout Prevention Skill

Greetings !

I hope you’ve been well.  Last time, we talked about a very crucial topic.  As a therapist and coach for over 35 years, I’ve developed an opinion about what concepts truly are essential for someone to grasp if they’re wanting to live a life that deeply thrives, and then to build the skills around them.

There are a select FEW, in my methodology.  And last week’s topic is one of them:  The Observing Self, and increasing the skill and sensitivity of the Observing Self.  Refer back to that email if necessary. 

THIS week, we’re going to APPLY that concept of the Observing Self, with a tactic that you can immediately begin using today.

Let’s run through The What, The Why, and The How.

THE WHAT . . . 

I call this the “0-10 Stress Spectrum”.  This is an application of The Observing Self.  The more skilled, activated, and sensitive our Observing Self is, the more we can utilize this part of our brain to benefit us, in many ways.

THE WHY . . .

The reason we want this tactic in our arsenal is because it gives us the ability to RECOGNIZE when we’re feeling stress, RATE just how stressed we are, and RESPOND to our stress in a healthy and effective way.

And why is this important?  So that we can intervene with ourselves sooner rather than later, and neutralize the stress we’re experiencing.

As you well know, stress escalates and “snowballs” over time, if left unchecked.  It grows in power, force, and momentum.

EARLY intervention with our stress is much easier than LATE intervention.  Stopping that snowball near the top of the mountain, while it’s still small, is a lot easier than stopping that same snowball near the bottom of the hill, after it’s grown in size and speed.

For you American Football fans, it’s a lot easier stopping that 250 lb running back near the line of scrimmage than it is if he’s running in the open field towards the end zone with a full head of steam.

THE HOW . . .

We can apply what we just talked about, and break this tactic into these 3 steps:  recognize, rate, and respond.

First, we need to RECOGNIZE.  Recognize what?  Our stress!

For you personally, when do YOU start recognizing your stress?  What are the warning signs and cues that your stress is building?

Here are some possible signs of stress:

• Irritability
• Anger
• Racing thoughts
• Muscles tension
• Dizziness
• Anxiety, worry, fear
• Fatigue
• Isolating from people
• Overwhelmed
• Increased heart rate
• Shallow breathing

And so forth.

So having a well-attuned Observing Self will aid you in recognizing early when stress is building.

Second, we need to RATE our stress level on a scale of 0-10, with 0=no stress/calm and 10=severe stress.  Give yourself a number, according to your best guess.  This is obviously purely subjective, but once you do it a few times, you’ll develop a greater awareness of what a “3” feels like for you, and a “6”, and a “9”. 

It’s important that you see the “gradations” of stress, and feel what its escalation is like.

Third, we need to RESPOND to our stress and de-escalate it.  This is where having a robust set of stress management strategies is absolutely critical.  If you feel you’re lacking in this, check out my Men’s Renewal Lab–the link is under my name at the end of this.

You may be very good at RECOGNIZING your stress, and you may even be good at accurately RATING your stress.  But without RESPONDING to your stress and having healthy and effective ways to de-escalate it, then all of your great self-awareness is for nothing.

Of course, you CAN’T de-escalate your stress if you aren’t sufficiently tuned in and don’t recognize it!  All 3 work in harmony with each other.

So there you have it.  Keep building the strength and capacity of your Observing Self, and specifically, build your skill in using the 0-10 Stress Spectrum.  You’ll only get good at this by practice.

FINAL PRACTICAL PRO-TIP

Try this, until you come up with a way that works better for you.  Every so often, take a moment and check in with yourself, and rate your stress 0-10.  

How you do it is up to you, and if you practice it enough, you’ll start doing it automatically.

For example, set an alarm for somewhere around mid-day, and then, mid-afternoon, and then mid-evening.

Or, if your watch has an hourly chime function, check in on your stress level at the top of the hour.  It might feel like too much to do it every hour, but you get the idea.

You get the idea.  That’s all for now !  Until next time, take good care of yourself.

Sean Cox

Chicago