What is wrong God-centered entrepreneur? Have you been feeling unmotivated and isolated? Are you stressed about the uncertainty of it all? These are ALL things that lead directly to burnout.
Where are you right now? Are you on the verge of giving up on things that are truly important to you to make this entrepreneur thing work? Do you know you are neglecting things, like your family and your health, just to keep going?
Careful! Burnout is on the horizon.
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Let’s examine three things to see how you are doing and then give you some strategies to reframe your approach and learn how to avoid burnout. We’ll look at:
- Your passion, What God has put on your heart to do
- Your mindset, What God wants your focus to be
- Your direction, What God planned for you at this time
When you have the right combination of these three things, you will know how to avoid burnout and are more likely to grow your tenacity as an entrepreneur.
How to avoid burnout
I see burnout way too often, and it often leads to entrepreneurs just giving up on their dreams. Also, I need to remind my clients how to avoid burnout regularly. And I wanted to share with you some of the strategies I give them to avoid burnout.
Two types of passion for your business
Passion for your business is easy because it should be what you feel God has called you to do. It is work you find important to you. There are two types of passion, however, obsessive and harmonious.
Obsessive means your business is important to you because of the status, money, or other rewards it brings you.
Harmonious means your business is important to you because of the satisfaction you receive from it and how it shows who you are as a person.
Be honest with yourself
Having obsessive passion, as you can imagine, leads to more burnout. Why? Because you put yourself in a constant state of anxiety and stress to perform, the work is more emotionally draining, and you feel it takes a lot of effort to complete your daily tasks.
Having harmonious passion, on the other hand, experiences less burnout. Why? Because while you may be absorbed in your work, you are creating experiences that allow you to reflect on the qualities you like about yourself. You are doing you.
Do you find yourself in the first category? Obsessive passion? Maybe a little? Here are some things you can do to be more harmonious and less obsessive and how to avoid burnout.
You are your own boss
Take breaks from work. Not just daily, but plan your Sabbath time, go on a weekend away, and take a vacation. You’re an entrepreneur for the autonomy of being your own boss.
- Give yourself a 50-minute hour, stopping every 50 minutes and moving your body. As a result, you have more concentration and can give better attention to your tasks.
- Take a Sabbath. God modeled the Sabbath for us to show us we need a down day every week. So, starting today, I dare you to trust God enough to shut down for 24 hours weekly with your business and life.
- Plan time away with family. Family time is obviously super important to your life-work balance (which I call prioritization.) So when you can prioritize time with those important to you without guilt that you have been working ‘too hard,’ that’s a win for balance.
What it comes down to is a reframe of priorities. Your passion for your work needs to be Christ-centered, not world-centered. God has promised you satisfaction when you are following His calling. Following His calling won’t always be easy, but it will give you that continued sense of purpose that grows your tenacity and keeps you from burnout.
Two types of mindsets
There are so many coaches out there that talk about mindset. What is a mindset, exactly? It is the way you approach a situation or the course of action you take based on a set of beliefs. We’re going to look at two types of mindset (and you may have heard of them), fixed and flexible.
Do you know what type of mindset you have?
A fixed mindset is a rigid way of looking at the world. There is one way to do things and the only way. Imagine how hard that is when you are an entrepreneur. One thing that is necessary for an entrepreneur is to be able to think through different solutions to problems. It kind of goes with the territory.
When you have a fixed mindset, you get stuck thinking you ARE your work. You believe your abilities are fixed traits, so you find one way to do something (your way) and won’t change even if you are seeing no results, insanity that leads to burnout.
There is always room for improvement with a flexible (or growth) mindset. You must work hard, and your talents and abilities will develop more over time. That’s tenacity. Working THAT muscle means you get better and thus know how to avoid burnout.
Do you lean towards a fixed mindset, or do you have a more flexible mindset?
Ways to shift your mindset
By reframing those words in your head, you see growth when you see your work as a process and not a project. Your work, your calling, is just like the process of sanctification, growing little by little.
- Start by taking time to celebrate successes. Then, write out one thing you are grateful for daily in your life or business. Then write out WHY you are grateful for it.
- Take time at the end of every week to review how you moved forward and what got accomplished. In addition, reward yourself in some way.
- Remember to have this little phrase ready to go whenever your mind says, “I messed up, and I can’t do anything right,” or something like that. Use the power of YET, BUT. Instead, say, “I can’t do this right YET, BUT I am improving every day as I continue to follow my plan,” OR something similar.
When you stay focused on the adventure God has given you through entrepreneurship, you realize He is using it to make you more like Jesus. He will provide you with precisely what you need to equip to do what He has called you to do.
Be open to what God is doing and allow it to transform you. Be excited as you watch God work in your life and business. As a result, you will know how to avoid burnout, and it will never be an issue with a flexible mindset.
Direction to fit your business to your lifestyle
I am sure you have heard of serial entrepreneurs. They do one thing at a time, make it successful, and then move on. When you see your direction as an all or nothing and not as a this now and that later, you are doing too much. Instead of thinking, “all right now,” think, “what will fit now?”
Let me ask, How many ideas are you trying to include in your one business? I know you want to help as many people as possible because you CAN. You have multiple talents, interests, and gifting, and you want to use them all in some way to meet the needs of everyone.
This is reckless and is a slippery slope to burnout.
Be faithful in the little things
God will use you in different ways at different times in your life. Therefore, you do not need to put all your talents, skills, and strengths into one place. Calling Clarity is all about choosing the pieces of your life that create your unique Mosaic Masterpiece for your business right now.
It’s really about fitting in your business to your lifestyle. To create something that allows you to have the impact you want in the way God designed you.
Believe me. Sometimes you will modify what you are doing now and grow into bigger things than you can imagine. It is not about the BIG Vision with God. It is about being faithful in the little things that He grows into something you have not even imagined possible.
Three factors to reframe your thinking
Are you tired when you face a new day? Are you doubting the significance of what you are doing? That’s the signal you may be on the road to burnout.
What if you could reframe your direction with a more streamlined approach? What will fit now. . . over the years, this is how I have approached my own business. From teaching Spanish classes to having a Networking Group, doing retreats, running workshops, and now coaching. I have added and taken away pieces unique to my talents and abilities to create the business that works for that particular time in my life.
You can reframe how you think about your business by looking at three factors. First, what problem do you want to solve, who do you want to solve it for, and how do you solve it uniquely?
- Start with your own story. What have you experienced and solved for yourself? Then, write out the problem and the steps you took to overcome and solve your problem. Those you can help are many times just a mirror of you.
- Find out more about those you want to serve by talking to them about their wants. Until you know what they want, you will never be able to align your solution and attract them.
- Create two lists labeled: What I am good at and What I LOVE to do. Write out as many things as possible (don’t filter yourself). Where is the overlap? Only do the things that overlap in your business. This will make you stand out.
Getting clear on these three things will keep you from being overwhelmed and maneuver to know how to avoid burnout. Instead, tenacity shines through as you take each step God has called you to take, and trust that you will make the impact He wants you to make.
How to avoid burnout as an entrepreneur grow in God
Burnout is a distraction from the enemy. He’s the one that makes things confusing, overwhelming, and stressful. He wants you to give up on what God has called you to do by twisting your passion, mindset, and direction.
Don’t allow this to happen. Grow in God. Allow Him to teach you.
1 Peter 1:5-7 says, . . . make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
God’s got you. He wants you to serve those He planned for you to serve. You are part of His story.
Are you living out your passion? How’s your mindset improving things in your business? How is your direction impacting those you feel called to serve?
If you are reading this and you are on the verge of burnout (or know you may be heading there), I would love to chat with you about your passion, your mindset, and your direction and see if I help you to create the business God has designed for your life right now.
Click HERE to set up that appointment today.
You can avoid burnout by growing in tenacity. God wants you to be strong in Him, to grow your faith, so it fuels your business.
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