Bounce Out of Burn Out: Five Simple Steps to Create the Energy You Need to Live a Vibrant Life

By Dr Louise MR Blair

Bounce Out of Burn Out offers a comprehensive guide for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the hectic pace of modern life. It promises to rejuvenate readers and help them reclaim their vitality. By addressing physical, mental, and emotional well-being, it equips readers with practical strategies to combat burnout and improve overall health.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Blaze
• Release date: Apr 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9780473712273

Book preview

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For Laura, my friend who has been an inspiration and steadfastly fueled my fire when I forgot to shine.

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Chapter One Reality Check

We were told that we could have EVERYTHING. Growing up, Girl Power was exalted. But somehow, we’re in our thirties or forties or even early fifties, and that all seems like it may have been either a lie or that we didn’t work something out.

Each week, I talk to women who are at the peak of their careers—they are usually business owners, directors, or top-level executives. And they all tell me the same thing; they don’t feel like they have the energy to reach that Supergirl power they were told was theirs.

The major reason women don’t feel like Superwomen is because we are close to burnout. It’s sometimes also referred to as Adrenal Fatigue. This is where you have been pushing so hard for so long you’ve lost the ability to reset your system. An inappropriate level of demand (or stress) has gone on for too long.

Energy is defined as the ability to do work. And for most of the women I help, they’ve had no trouble with energy or work output, until they do. Then it’s like running through mud. Every day seems like such hard work. You might be experiencing women’s problems, feel like your hormones are dictating your life, maybe you’ve had random rashes and your hair has been starting to fall out, or you feel bloated after meals. You’re crawling out of bed feeling like you’ve not slept enough—whether that’s from kids disturbing your sleep or your mind not letting you switch off or even sleeping at all—just not being refreshed—let me reassure you that this has become so common, it’s almost normal. But it’s not normal.

You should bounce out of bed, ready to face the day. Your mind can be clear and focused, with the capacity to remember details and stay on top of your work. Coffee can become a pleasure again rather than a necessity. And a glass of wine with friends can return to a choice rather than a requirement to even begin to unwind.

Meet Melissa. Melissa is a wonderful, caring mother of two girls, Ella is eight and Sophie is eleven. She and her husband Tony run a business together, which they started whilst her youngest daughter Ella was still in pre-school. Before that, Melisa was a successful project manager in a large corporation. She was responsible for multiple million-dollar-projects, ensuring delivery on time, coordinating staff and contractors. Melissa had left the corporate world to focus more on her family and have flexible working hours. She had felt pulled in too many directions. But three years later, she was wondering if it was her that was the problem. When she came to us, she was always tired, felt like there wasn’t enough coffee in the whole wide world to keep her going, and would sometimes delay eating because she knew that the bloated feeling made it hard to concentrate in meetings. Her menstrual cycle had changed, and she was noticing that symptoms of PMS seemed more intense. Melissa was too young for menopause, but maybe this was the start? Often, Melissa felt as though she was just looking for a fight. It was easy to keep it in at work, but on arriving home, Melissa often just had no more to give and the normal noise and demands of her girls seemed to never end. And intimacy with Tony seemed like just another chore. Melissa was particularly unhappy about this, as she remembered when desiring Tony filled her with joy. Melissa would often lie awake at night, willing her brain to turn off—sometimes that worked, sometimes not.

Unfortunately, Melissa is far too common now. Did you know that in Australia or New Zealand, nearly half of all women will take an anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication at some point in their lifetime? Many of us are taking hormonal medication –contraceptives or HRT—in order to manage symptoms from hormonal imbalances, and the number of women who are using sleeping pills to help get a good night’s sleep breaks my heart.

We are not broken, we are not imperfect, and we do not require outside chemicals in order to navigate through our day-to-day lives. At least not in the quantities that are being prescribed in the Western world. If you are taking these medications, please know I am not criticising you. Rather, I am criticising the society and medical structures that have put us here.

Too many women are flirting with burnout. Is this you? Consider the questions below.

No matter how much sleep you get, do you wake up feeling tired and unrefreshed?

Do you need caffeine to get going in the morning?

Do you use sugar for a pick-me-up in the afternoon?

Do you get colds and flus more often than you used to?

Are you easily distracted or have trouble concentrating?

Do you feel tired, but when you try to relax you’re too wound up?

Do you hit the wall in the afternoon, can hardly keep your eyes open at dinnertime, and then get a second wind later in the evening?

Do you have trouble switching off your mind, especially in bed at night?

Do you crave salty foods?

Do you get irritated when others can’t keep up with you, more so than you used to?

Does it feel like you’ve gained weight—especially around the middle?

Do you experience headaches or migraines?

Do you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (bloating, diarrhoea, and/or constipation, pain and cramping) or gut problems?

Are you developing more sensitivities to medications, supplements, or foods and developing allergies, skin problems, hives, or itchy skin?

Have you noticed a reduction in your libido (sex drive)?

Do you get lightheaded when you stand up quickly?

Do you have body pain, stiffness, or muscle and joint inflammation?

Do you experience anxiety, depression, mood swings, and sadness?

Are you wiped out after an emotionally charged event?

Do you feel as though you are supporting everyone and as though the "buck always stops with you’?

Based upon your answers, at Blaze!, we might classify you as Warming Up, Flirting with Flames, Inferno, or Ashes.

If you’d like to know your where you are on the Blaze! BurnOut scale, please take our online quiz. We’ll send you your results by email.

https://blaze-academy.involve.me/free-burn-out-personality

Our bodies are amazing instruments that when