The year right before my burnout, I received my Innovation and Performance awards from my company. I was one of the best performers!
And so you can imagine how I felt when I came back from my long sick leave. Trying to hide that I was still tired. Applying for lots of positions (for which I was not genuinely interested). Hoping to show me the best again. When I attempted a promotion, the feedback from my manager was: “My concern is your level of resilience”. I was shocked.
At the same time, I understood something inside of me. It’s true that I didn’t have anymore the same level of energy. I felt desperate. How can I ever overcome this situation?
If you feel the same, assure yourself: you’re not the only one!
Coming back from burnout, job promotion is far away for many reasons:
Your usual level of energy is not yet there. You need some time to be mentally and physically prepared for a new challenge
Your passion is elsewhere! Probably if you are like me and others burned-out folks, many got burned out because we didn’t love our job anymore. So if you are looking into new opportunities and find them all the same, i.e. no inspiration, it’s normal.
What to do in this situation?
Don’t take it personally: I know it’s difficult. But try not to take a personal score of what your boss might tell on your resilience. Understand that he or she just represents a machine of competition, which is this usual corporate world.
Take your time: be confident that it will come again. You were the best performers. You will be again. It is just a matter of time. Don’t bypass steps. Schedule for joy where possible in your current activities and relax. Also, learn to meditate. Meditation is a good way to come back to a state of healing, rest and well-being.
Don’t look for what you lost where there’s light! Remember the story where a man was looking for a key he lost near the road light? A passenger asked: “Did you lose your key here?” He answered: “No I didn’t. But there is light here so I can easily search.” So you might be doing the same. Do not look for a job opportunity in the same area you worked before, because simply you think there are more job offers.
Look for a job where your real passion is!
If there is an important thing that I can share from my experience, here that is:
Take a step back and feel deep inside yourself:
- What do you really want to do?
- Is that this job brings a lot of money?
- Is that this job that everybody approves and considers privileged?
- Or is that something else that you really want but feel that it’s “crazy”, “unrealistic”…?
You can only excel in doing what you love. So go for it!
Read more: Happier at work will be the future