If you feel the heat of burn-out, it is possible to stop the fire before it stops you.

Burn-out burns out
confidence
trust
hope

Burn-out can burn up
your job
your marriage
your friendships

There is a simple strategy for helping yourself prevent burn-out, especially if you are a person with more responsibilities than choices.

This strategy may seem too simple, even a waste of time, especially if you are used to looking for a SOLUTION.

YOU CAN PREVENT BURN-OUT BY LEARNING TO LISTEN TO YOURSELF ...even IF YOU THINK THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY!.

If you are a person who is living in the Myth of Everything, then a PART of you that thinks it's ALL of you may be living MOST of your life. That PART of you may not be able to stop herself from working harder and harder as a way of finally making life easier...unless she finds someone to talk to.

The PART of you that is trying to be ALL of you may think that she is ALL of you, especially if you have taken it for granted that she is.

Everyone else in your life may think that this PART of you that tries to do it all is ALL of you, too.

If this is the case, you probably have A LOT of obligations and very few CHOICES.

If you are close to burn-out this PART may be doing everything she can to take care of you the only way she knows how.

I wonder how long she's been living your life.
I wonder who she thinks you are.
I wonder what she does to take care of you at work.
I wonder what she does to take care of you at home.
I wonder how old this PART of you really is.
I wonder what she would do if she discovered that she isn't alone.
I wonder how she would feel if she knew were listening and that she had even one person who understood what it feels like to be you.

If a PART of you has been living your life inside the Myth of Everything, she has probably been trying to get it all done so that you can finally do what you want, but this Part of you may not be big enough to be EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE ALL OF THE TIME. She may not be big enough to be everything for you all of the time either.

HOWEVER....she may not appreciate your shoving her aside and taking over.
What if you asked her what you could do to help her out?
What if you asked her what would make it possible for her to let you be around more of the time?

LISTENING to yourself can often prevent burn-out. LISTENING is FRIENDLY.

Listening to a part of yourself is a good way to make a new friend of someone who thought you already knew.

When you LISTEN to a PART of you, then you are by definition NOT ONLY that PART...When you aren't ONLY one part of you, you might be able to find other parts of you that know how to help you avoid burning-out. You might find other parts of you to help you live the life you really want.

If you decide to LISTEN to the part of you who is living MOST of your life, remember that she needs a friend and not another critic.

After all she has been trying to do it all in a life where there is always more to do. Even if you can see that she doesn't "get-it" about what you really need, THIS PART OF YOU NEEDS A BREAK.

The last thing she needs is somebody telling her that she is not doing enough.

What this part of you really needs is a friend. She needs someone to talk to.

You could be that friend. It might make all the difference.