If you've followed my work for any period of time, you'll know that I talk about Burnout frequently.
80% of Employees are Experiencing it, and it is the Single Psychophysiological Reason that Leaders are Completely Failing.
Everything that Burnout Causes is in Direct Opposition to "Every" Goal Leaders have.
Now, many people think that the Solution to this is Simple.
Recovery.
This is partially correct, but it brings me to the Hardest Part of Recovery.
It's taking the Time Necessary to Recover Fully.
Now, I have had to do my fair share of Recovery the past few days after I overcame a sickness that left me mostly bedridden.
Today I'm feeling a "Lot" better so I decided I'd go outside again for my daily run, and I had the same First Instinct that nearly everyone has when it comes to Recovery.
I'm Starting to Feel Better, so let me go All Out!
This Feeling though is a Trap that most people Fall Into, Again and Again.
See, "Recovery" is not the Full Answer to Burnout, or being Extremely Sick for that matter.
"Full Recovery" is the True Answer, but Feeling "Better" does not mean "Fully Recovered".
The Challenge is that when most people get the first inkling that they are "Better", they try to hit their "Best" immediately.
However, when you are in Burnout, your "Best" will actually Decrease for the Entire duration.
When you try to hit your Previous Best Immediately, you end up Shocking your System into a State of Fight-or-Flight, which will immediately work against every Recovery Effort you took.
In some cases, a single act can Undo "Every" Recovery Effort taken.
For Running, like I have been working with the past few days, if I tried to go "All Out" today after being sick, I both would Not hit my previous "Best" and at the same time would have endangered my Body of getting injured in the same process.
My Recovery Efforts for the Past Few Days would have been Undone in less than 30 minutes.
In Business, it ends up more like this...
You hit Burnout, and are there for months (as is the norm currently) and you decide to "take time off".
It could be a few days or a week, or for those who are more blessed, they may get a full month off.
The time off feels Amazing!
So refreshed!
You get back into the office and go, yeah, I should be able to get immediately back to it!
So you try to hit Maximum the day you get back...
Then the next day...
Suddenly, in Less Time than you had taken off, you feel you are in Burnout again.
By the time the Next Month comes around, you can't even remember what it felt like to Not be in Burnout.
All because you Never Fully Recovered, and you tried to hit your previous "Best" Immediately upon getting back.
So, we stay in this endless cycle of Trying and Failing to Recover and remaining in Burnout Hopelessly.
As they say, the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.
The Workplace today is Drowning in Insanity, causing Leaders to get Worse and Worse Results with More and More Efforts.
That is how Burnout works.
The Hardest Thing about Recovery is that it takes "Time" for it to Truly Work.
You Must Slow Down Significantly, sometimes to Maddeningly Slow Speeds, before you can start Speeding Up.
I Know how Maddening it is because I've Experienced it, and I've had Clients Experience it as well.
It Feels "Ridiculous" how Slow You Must Go.
But this is the thing.
In Burnout, in which 80% of Employees are currently with more close behind, you're already going "At Least" 25 Times Slower than your Potential (Or 4% of your Potential).
Maybe at "Worst" You have to go 70% of Your Current Speed, but 70% of 4% is 3%.
Let's say you need 100 Days to Fully Recover.
That is Excessive if you Recover Properly (a large assumption as most Recovery Fails to incorporate anything with Ceruloplasmin), but is possible to do while still getting some work done.
In the Short Term, it will feel like you're behind, sure, but when you can jump from 3% to 100% after those 100 Days, the people stuck in Burnout at 4% will Remain Hopelessly Behind.
By the End of the Year, You and/or Your Team/Organization (assuming Everyone Recovers Fully) could be Light Years ahead of Competitors.
How far can an Organization in Burnout going 4% get?
Not very far.
How far can a Healthy Organization, even 1/10th the size, but going 100% get?
Astronomically Further.
But the Key to this is "Full Recovery".
As long as Organizations remain in Burnout, and Refuse to allow Employees to get Full Recovery, they will "Always" be Hindered.
However, if you Fully Recover Properly, Results will pick up faster than you can Imagine and everything will completely flip in your favor.