It happened during the first two years of my teaching. I had just completed teaching a six hour workshop in Storm Lake, Iowa. The local organizer asked me if we could visit after class for a few minutes.
“You were pretty good up there today,” he commented. “People like your stories and they like your warm personality. You sure do give it your all.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
“You need to be careful,” he continued. “This kind of work is not a sprint. It is a series of long marathons if you truly want to make it a career.”
“Say more,” I inquired.
“I used to be a presenter,” he replied. “I did what you were doing. Teach a six hour continuing education class. Drive a couple of hours. Sleep in a small town hotel. Wake up the next morning in a new city and do it all over again week after week after week.
It was a couple of years ago when I realized that the pace of the work was burning me out. I liked the teaching but the constant teaching and the constant travel related details got to be overwhelming.
Then, one day in the middle of a six hour workshop, I realized that what I was saying about stress management, leadership, change and authenticity was not matching how I was feeling or how I was living. The integrity of my words did not match the integrity of my living. I had burned out doing something that I had loved doing in the beginning.
Let me give you some advice since you are young and new to this work. First, burnout is real and it happens to the best of us. Second, too much of a good thing in the end is just too much. Be careful. Be the kind of person who lives a life that is sustainable not just a flash in the pan success.”
I thanked him for his wisdom and pondered it as I drove a few hours to the next place where I was going to sleep and then teach the following day. And now, nearly 30+ years later, I still keep his wise counsel in mind.
This week, remember burnout is real. It can happen to the best of us. Therefore, seek a sustainable way of living over the course of your entire life. Your family, your loved ones and yourself will be eternally grateful that you did.
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