[Colleen Callendar,](https://www.colleencallander.com.au/) at age 37 and general manager of Sportsgirl, described herself as a “red Ferrari who didn’t want to pull into the pits." It led to burnout. She says she was exhausted, and felt like she’d hit a wall. After taking 3 months off and prioritising self-care, Colleen says the experience taught her to live her life differently.

[Shannah Kennedy](https://shannahkennedy.com/) was single, in her 20s, married to her job in sports sponsorship and working 7 days a week, when she burned out. She said she had no self-care strategy. It was “go hard or go home” but and she became tired, cynical, got headaches, and felt anxious. It led to chronic fatigue syndrome and Shannah spent a year in bed – her nervous system was fried and she went into a deep depression. Eventually she got herself a coach, unpacked her  unhealthy thoughts, and retrained her brain and body. To this day Shannah lives with symptoms of chronic fatigue and mild depression.

Burnout is at an all time high. In 2023 63% of Australian workers had burnout, the highest rate in the world.

To lead successfully, it is vital to learn how to lead with longevity. Much of this comes down to planning your life for your 10-year future self! 

In our Emerging Leaders Program session on Longevity, Shannah and Colleen share their best tips for doing so.

Read also summaries of [Elevate Session 1: Life](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/elevate-your-potential-for-high-performance) and [Elevate Session 2: Leadership](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/session-2-personal-brand)

2 burnout stories

Burnout can be caused by workload, poor self-care, perceived lack of control, a lack of boundaries, a lack of clarity in the role, unfair treatment, or a workaholic mentality.

Signs of burnout include chronic fatigue, reduced performance, concentration problems, heightened level of anxiety, sleep disorder, always being tired, lack of motivation, brain fog, wanting to run away from tasks, and memory problems.

To recover from burnout you need to learn to say no, set fresh boundaries, create a plan of action, build a self-care plan, take a break, and seek support.

Burnout causes and signs

One of the biggest things you can do to avoid burnout is to set boundaries. Most people know they’re important but very few people have them.

As Shannah and Colleen say, boundaries are the gatekeeper to your energy, they are the guidelines of how you want to be treated. If you don’t set your own boundaries someone else will set those for you.

Setting boundaries:

•DEFINE what is most important to you

•COMMUNICATE CLEARLY; ask for what you want

•SET TOOLS DOWN TIME; out of office sign

•START SAYING THE GRACIOUS ‘NO’; protect your energy

•TECHNOLOGY; create space, digital time on and off. Research shows 33% of people look at their phone in the middle of the night

•RESET YOUR FOCUS; refueling and restoring

•CREATE POWER RITUALS; AM/PM bookends to your day

•LET GO OF THE GUILT

•TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for time management

ACTION: What will you start doing, stop doing, and keep doing to ensure you set boundaries?

Boundaries

Protect your time, your energy, your space. High achievers avoid burnout by being exceptional planners. The brain loves a roadmap.

So, plan in decades; plan for your 10-year self. Think in years. Work in months. Live in days.

Shannah and Colleen suggest creating an annual plan that is broken into seasons. Start with a piece of paper and a pencil, and start plotting. Mark in birthdays and anniversaries, work commitments, main goal for each season, non-negotiables.

You may want to follow their schedule:

·        **Autumn** – start big projects

·        **Winter** – big goal work

·        **Spring** – gift of new energy – use it to declutter and complete big tasks and big projects

·        **Summer** – a great refuelling time. Refresh yourself and have a break.

Master high performance planning

Genes and external circumstances and events account for some of your happiness, but 40% comes from what we do and what we think. In other words, much of your happiness is in your control. It comes from the inside.

5 ACTIONS FOR HAPPINESS

·        **Gratitude** – write down 3 thing you’re grateful for every day

·        **Kindness** - (be kind to others and to yourself; give yourself permission to not be perfect)

·        **Empathy** – practise listening without interruption, and seeing things from others points of view

·        **Journalling** - (written record of your experiences, thoughts, and observations – record daily acts of progress, gratitude, release your worries),

·        **Affirmations** (positive affirmations help break the pattern of negative self-talk “I get to do this” “I am enough” “Today is a new day” “You can do this” “I am stronger than I think”)

ACTION: What can you stop, keep and start doing to practise happiness?

Find your happiness

People at high performance levels become achievement junkies but they’re not fulfilled. There isn’t depth there. Achievement becomes addictive, but it’s not fulfillment.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE FULFILLMENT:

·        **Visualise success**: Make a vision board. How you want to feel. What brings you joy?

·        **Ground in breath**: Helps control your nervous system with taking 3 deep breaths

·        **Meditation**: Do breathwork and sit still for 5 minutes.

·        **Helping others**: Volunteer, or fill your own oxygen tank

·        **Mindfulness**: Sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Embrace your senses. Be in the present.

·        **Relationships**: Meaningful connections. Think about your network. Who are positive influences in your life?

Live a deeply fulfilled life

Self-care is not selfish. Eating, sleeping, and moving properly is a life long investment that help reduce stress, anxiety and overwhelm.

**Eat –   High Performance Eating Habits** include meal plan and prep, Make vegetables the hero, Enjoy breakfast, Eat foods that give you energy, Limit takeaway food, Water is the best hydration, Snack smartly, Eat regularly, control portion size, Reduce salt and sugar intake

**Sleep – High Performance Sleeping Habits**: Prioritise optimal sleep (7-9hrs), No caffeine after 2pm, Avoid alcohol before bed, Avoid large meal before bed, Avoid drinking liquids 1-2hrs before bed, Optimise bedroom environment; quiet, clean, relaxing, nurturing, Comfortable bed, mattress and pillow, Create a pre-sleep routine, Disconnect devices an hour before bed.

**Move – High Performance Moving Habits**: Do something every day, Sweat it out in the morning, Plan and prioritise movement, Always take the stairs, Dance with music, Move your feet before you eat, Yoga and Tai Chi for flexibility, Weights and body work for strength.

What can you start, stop, or keep doing to make better decisions about how you eat, move, and sleep each day?

Invest in self-care

Make celebration a high-performance habit.

By celebrating the small wins we begin to rewire our brains to recognise the progress we are making.

When you stop and celebrate your achievements it not only gives you an awesome rush of dopamine, it also builds your confidence, allows you to try new things and gives you the motivation to keep going.

Even celebrate the “nos” as it means you’re closer to the win. Embrace every small win to foster a positive mindset.

Until further notice, celebrate everything! Remember every day of your life is a special occasion

Celebrate!

[Growth Faculty members](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/memberships/?campaign_id=701RG000006BNNhYAO&promo=BlogGF) get all of Growth Faculty's [immersive live virtual learning program](https://thegrowthfaculty.ac-page.com/GF-Program-Download) included in their annual subscription. It’s an engaging and entertaining way to develop leaders.

Growth Faculty recently launched a good value [Enterprise plan](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/#plans) for **larger companies** to develop leadership skills in teams of 20 or more employees. See our [EOFY offers.](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/EOFY2024?campaign_id=701RG00000GwyAzYAJ&promo=EOFY24)

New events are being added regularly to this highly curated program. Keep an eye on the website Growthfaculty.com for fresh additions to the line-up.

For **higher level leaders,** including CEOs, there is an in-person [Good to Great® Immersion Workshop with Jim Collins](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/events/a02RG000002EGYsYAO/overview/?campaign_id=701RG00000ALpCMYA1&promo=Blog&type=Affiliate) in Chicago, U.S., in October 2024. This is exclusively for executive teams and numbers are limited.

[EOFY OFFER T&Cs](https://join.thegrowthfaculty.com/terms-eofy24/)

Elevate Session 3: Plan Your 10 Year Future Self

Emerging Leaders Program: Longevity

Keep informed
Stay Inspired

Elevate Session 3: Plan Your 10 Year Future Self

Emerging Leaders Program: Longevity

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired