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– but for some reason I still don’t feel successful.” He responded right away that it’s because I was measuring forward instead of measuring backward. What does this mean? I was looking ahead to where I wanted to be – the ideal version of myself that I thought was somewhere out in the future – rather than looking back to where I came from. Of course I wasn’t feeling successful! I was constantly measuring against an ideal instead of against real progress that I had already made. If you want to shift from more to rest, make sure you are measuring your progress backward so you can actually feel the progress you’ve made, instead of forward where you’ll never be good enough. THE SPARKNOTES. Burnout is hard. Anxiety grabs us and makes everything in our life hard, and before we know it, life is even harder and we’re not healthy emotionally, physically, or psychologically – which makes us worse people, friends, spouses, employees, bosses, and the rest. If you want to avoid burnout, focus on being in the present moment, planning rest, and measuring backward. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to break out of your burnout cycle and start loving life. Go get started right away and let me know if I can help. Good luck, friends. You got this. Matt Verderamo, MS is a consultant at Well Built Construction Consulting. Connect with him on LinkedIn .
MATT VERDERAMO, from page 3
win, I kept reminding myself to be in this moment. I couldn’t do anything about the work, so what was the point of getting anxious about it? I would get to it when I got to it, but worrying certainly wasn’t going to help get it done. So, as I reminded myself to just be, I was reminding my body to get some much-needed rest. It worked exceedingly well for me mentally and physically – and spoiler alert – I ended up getting caught up on my work anyway. The anxiety wasn’t necessary! All I needed to do was be in the moment. You can practice this at any time – let the anxiety be your indicator that it’s time to settle into the present moment. 2. Plan rest. Every week, I take Saturday as a full, guilt-free rest day. I don’t let myself do work or worry about work. I just enjoy breakfast with my wife, walking with my dog, and watching the Premier League. Until two years ago, I always had a work plan but never had a rest plan. So, make sure you are planning rest into your week in the same way you are planning work, because it makes a huge difference toward burnout and being the best version of you. 3. Measure backward. I went to my mentor two years ago and said, “I keep reaching traditional milestones of success – promotions, winning sales, getting married
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THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 27, 2024, ISSUE 1539
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