Burnout

Stress and burnouts: so many people get to deal with this. It seems as there are as many coaches as victims. I don’t see myself as yet another burnout coach. Of course I have had the education and I have the knowledge, but just as important: I know what it’s like to struggle with too much stress and to be burnt out. I know what it feels like, what you have to cope with and the challenges you have to overcome. Here you will read all about my take on stress and burnouts, how a burnout can come to be, my story and how I can help you.

Navigate directly to:

How do you handle stress?
My story
How does a burnout begin?
How to prevent a burnout yourself
Burnout prevention and burnout recovery coaching

How do you handle stress?

Are you stressed all the time? Or do you find it hard to keep calm and control your stress level? Read on, because I am about to show you what you can do to reduce conflicts, reduce stress and feel better throughout the day. This so you can prevent a possible burnout.

Not being able to control your stress: that used to be my biggest downfall. For years I couldn’t relax. I was always tense and stressed. Even to the point of a physical and mental breakdown. I was burnt-up, exhausted from dealing with my emotions and life: I had a burnout. I’d like to share a few strategies I’ve learned along the way with you. I worked on myself, and came out healthier and happier. And I have my stress under control now. That’s a point you can reach as well with my help. It is possible to reduce and control your stress by altering a few important aspects in your life. Take those steps. Don’t step in the same pitfalls as I did: prevent a burn-out.

How stress got the better of me (and maybe you too)

For years my biggest challenge was the fact that I was addicted to validation. I was working from a desire to be liked and accepted by my peers. This created a huge challenge of trying to be someone I was not. This alone was already very stressful. What I also discovered, was that people are always open to business. Even in their spare time their phone is glued to their hand, checking e-mails, checking social media and working 24/7. It also became clear to me that most people are in a constant state of conflict. Not just with others, but with themselves. My biggest challenge in every relationship I develop, is me. That can cause a lot of internal stress. It can cause you to feel overwhelmed and burnt-up. It can even have chronic consequences for your health.

I know that in my own life and the lives of thousands of people I’ve worked with, there are certain triggers that increase your stress level. The first step you need to take is identifying those triggers. Which events and experiences cause stress? Who were the people or the situations involved? Can you identify the triggers that cause you stress? If not, then there might be a burnout lurking. This is something you want to – and can – prevent.

How a burnout begins

Every burnout starts with too much stress. This stress can be anything. The tricky part is that you don’t always recognize the symptomes. If that were the case, far less people would suffer from a burnout. Because a burnout is something you want to prevent at all costs. Stress is not always bad. But when it involves negativity, that’s when you need to be cautious. How does this begin? Perhaps it starts with you worrying a lot, or with vague physical inconveniences. Stress symptomes can vary a lot per person. Whatever the causes of stress are: when stress and negativity continue to be, this can cause serious problems. Stress becomes too much stress and too much stress becomes a burnout. One day you have suddenly reached your limit. “Suddenly”, that’s how it can feel like. The reality is that you’ve been caught in a flow of negativity for much longer than you are aware of and the stress has been building up all this time. You didn’t recognize or acknowledge this in time, or you weren’t able to break out of it.

How can you reduce stress and prevent a burnout?

Many burnouts could have been prevented. I say this not as a sneer towards victims of a burnout, but it’s true. By reducing stress in time, you can prevent it from building up to a point where it becomes too much. But how can you reduce stress and prevent a burnout? As a burnout coach, I don’t just help clients when it’s “too late” for them and they already have a burnout. Preventing a burnout is one of the main reasons why people seek my help. This starts with recognizing, acknowledging and dealing with stress. These are the steps I take.

Understand what causes stress

It is impossible to reduce stress without knowing what causes it. Maybe you have no idea, perhaps you have a suspicion or perhaps you know all too well but can’t face it yet. Whatever causes your stress: I will help you to understand and acknowledge the reasons.

Be aware of the stress symptomes

Alright, you know what causes stress, but when exactly does stress occur? The next step is to recognize the stress symptomes. Only by learning to recognize these, you will be able to stop stress in time. With my coaching you will gain insight in your triggers and symptomes, so you will learn to signal stress inducing moments in time.

Learn to set boundaries

How does a burnout develop? Because of too much stress, as I wrote earlier. But the real problem often is the fact that you allow yourself to have too much stress. Not voluntarily of course, but you keep crossing your own boundaries, or allow others to overstep them. Learning to set boundaries is one of the most important conditions to put a stop to stress and prevent a burnout.

Minimize clutter

If you effectively want to ban stress, then it is crucial to create an environment that doesn’t cause stress. How do you do this? By minimizing clutter. Thanks to stress coaching, you will learn what causes stress, when this happens and how you respond to it. This knowledge will enable you to make choices in your life. Choices that reduce or prevent stress. Of course it’s not possible to never experience stress, but you can organize your life and create a mindstate that cause stress to be absent as often and as much as possible.

Find your anti-stress anchor

What do you do when you DO experience stress? It’s important to have something to fall back on. Let’s call it your anti-stress anchor, your happy place, your rock in the surf. However you call it, and whatever it is: the important thing is that it’s there. This gives you hold at times your stress symptomes flare up. Together, we will find what works for you.

Breathing exercises

I do a lot of breathing excercises and I like to teach my clients. You’ll be amazed by how effective these can be when you experience stress. A breathing exercise is more than just “breathe in, breathe out”. Breathing exercises help you focus, they help you get back to your core and deal with stress.

Burnout coaching

The amount of people who get floored by a burnout is alarmingly high. That says a lot. Because of my experience as a coach, I know there are some prejudices when it comes to burnouts. Specifically about people who get a burnout. Maybe you had these prejudices as well, until you had a burnout yourself. Often, people with a burnout are seen as weak, non stress resistant or unable to indicate their boundaries. The reality is that everyone can get a burnout. Even succesful people, or people who are happy with their work and lives. Perhaps you know this from experience, because you have had a burnout, currently have a burnout or feel like you are on the verge of having one. I can help you with burnout coaching.

Why burnout coaching?

Why did I specialise as a burnout coach? Go look up burnout coaching on the internet. There are as many burnout coaches as there are burnout victims. Of course I am a certified and experienced coach. But just as important: I know what it is like to have a burnout. I know how it feels like when your life takes a sudden turn and you have to deal with more than you can handle. I understand you. My burnout coaching is not just me being book smart: it’s all about life experience.

Burnout prevention and burnout recovery

With my burnout coaching I help clients that are burnt out, or experience too much stress or want to recover from a burnout. If it were up to me, I’d fully focus on burnout prevention. Not because I prefer this over other forms of burnout coaching, but because I believe preventing is better than curing. Preventing a burnout also prevents a lot of misery. But of course I’m here for you too if you are experiencing a burnout right now. Together we will find the way up. Contact me for a free acquaintance.