One Breath Away From Burnout - A Frustrating Job

One Breath Away from Burnout - A Frustrating Job

“I’M DONE. I am absolutely done with this job.” How many of us have gotten to a breaking point in our careers? Or a better question might be: how many of us are at that point today?

Once we really begin to analyze the cause of burnout at work, we discover that the actual job or task we perform is rarely the issue. Most of us enjoy doing the work. And while our bosses, subordinates, or coworkers can sometimes be a bit wonky, for the most part they’re good people with good intentions. Eliminating the work itself and the people we work with leaves us with only three other possibilities: me, myself, and I.

I was my own worst enemy at the age of thirty-one. Managing a $750 million business unit for a soon-to-be publicly traded company, I threw myself 110 percent into every initiative that crossed my desk. No project was too big or too small for me to take on. My boss warned that I couldn’t sustain my pace or perfect record, and he predicted I would crash and burn. And I did. Four years later I left the company and job I loved because I was physically and mentally burned out.

Looking back I see that the root cause behind my burnout was perfectionism. Driven by the need for acceptance and validation, I drove myself (and I’m pretty sure everyone else around me) absolutely batty trying to get a project or job done perfectly. But something else fueled my perfectionism: fear. Having neither the education nor the experience to run such an important piece of the business, I was afraid management would discover I wasn’t as smart as they thought I was. Over time, my twisted thinking, not my lack of intelligence, caused my burnout.

So where does this perfectionism stem from? I have a theory. First of all, some of us are genetically inclined this way. My mother was a perfectionist, so I think I got a touch of it from her gene pool. But for some of us, it is a reinforced philosophy. If you excelled in solo sports such as swimming or tennis, if you were a trained gymnast, if you were a seasoned dancer, or if, like me, you were a classically trained musician, there’s a good chance that a perfect performance was expected. Before my behind hit that piano bench, I knew that I had to perform my music perfectly. There would be no stage performance without a perfect practice.

Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

If you’re suffering from professional burnout, consider the source of the fire. It might not have a thing to do with your job, the gal in the next cubicle, or a stinky boss.