My burnout story

In August I had a huge privilege to be featured in Psychologies magazine sharing my story. I had so many questions and queries since then that I decided to share it with you here. Let me know your thoughts and if I can help in any ways, reach out. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Here it is :

For as long as I remember, I’ve been an ambitious person. I lived by the motto that if you work hard, you will be successful and happy. After graduating and not knowing what exactly to do, I threw myself into a career in recruitment. I worked long hours and rarely took a break- my only relaxation was a glass of wine in the evening. I managed a team and was responsible for them and their performance, so there was a lot of pressure to deliver and I always had to be at my best. It was so draining, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. On the weekends, I’d either sleep because I was so exhausted, or I’d carry on working.

But the more I worked, the less happy I became, and the success I dreamt of wasn’t coming either. I am a positive person and usually look on the bright side, but by 2012 I’d got to the point where I just couldn’t. I didn’t have any self- confidence, cried at anything and was so detached from myself. Eventually, I was signed off work for a few weeks. That’s when I came across visualisations and affirmations for the first time. I didnt know whether they would work- to be honest, I was quite sceptical about it, but if there was the slightest chance it would help me, I was willing to try. It didn’t happen overnight, but gradually I noticed it was making me feel better. That was the beginning of my personal development journey. 

I had to go back to work, because I needed to pay the bills, but I started looking for a new job and found one that was more suited to me and less pressured. Then, a couple of years later, I began training as a coach and last year I found a new part-time job that allowed me to start building up my coaching practice.

I often meet clients who say, “ I’m unhappy, I just want to leave my job”. But I say, “ No, first we need to bring your confidence back and get you feeling better”. You need some self- care, so you get a bit more energy to figure out what you actually want and what you’d be better suited to do. 

"You have to feel good about yourself before you can make bigger life changes"

You have to take small steps to try and restore yourself first before you do anything else. That is how it worked for me.