Beat Burnout: Redefine Success to Stay Energized and Motivated

Chances are, you’re working hard, hustling along, and doing your best to stay ahead. But when success is narrowly defined, burnout becomes a real risk. The good news? You can reduce exhaustion and stay energized by redefining what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re making the effort.

Burnout is especially prevalent. According to Gallup, three out of four employees experience burnout. If you experience it, you’re likely to have more sick days, feel less confident, and be looking for another job. In addition, if you’re feeling burned out, you may also experience exhaustion or depression.

Focus on Progress to Avoid Burnout

One of the hallmarks of burnout is feeling ineffective. You feel like no matter what you do, it’s not good enough or that you just can’t meet your own standards. One of the biggest things you can do to combat this feeling is change your mindset and focus on small wins.

Often, we feel like we have to do big things to have successful days or weeks, but a study of 12,000 people from Harvard found something different. Researchers asked people what constituted their best days at work and their worst days. The single most important factor that drove the good days was feeling they were making progress. It was small steps and the feeling of moving things forward each day that mattered most.

A survey by Woohoo reinforced the idea, finding that people’s best days included advancing goals, doing meaningful work, and making a difference. Redefine your success to making progress rather than hitting the one big win. Know that each day you may not accomplish the big objectives, but you can make a difference with incremental, consistent effort.

Focus on Learning to Stay Resilient

Another attribute of burnout is feeling trapped. You may be unfulfilled and feel as though you have nowhere to go in your job, your career, or your future. For this reason, when you focus on learning you can make a big difference in reducing your feelings of burnout.

We tend to assume success is about reaching the milestone, making it to the top of the mountain, planting the flag, and sitting down to rest. But even before you reach the summit, learning creates its own rewards because we crave growth and development.

Seek challenges and look for places where you can do new things. Offer to work on a project that requires new skills or new knowledge. Take a class or seek opportunities that expose you to things you don’t already know. Get to know a colleague and ask them to share advice or expertise. Redefine success by focusing on seeking to learn something new each week. This learning will help you avoid burnout and also build your resilience so you can get to what’s next.

Focus on People to Stay Connected

Our instinct is that success is a solo journey, but burnout often stems from isolation. Building meaningful relationships at work can help you feel supported and valued. Share your challenges with trusted colleagues, celebrate small wins together, and ask for help when needed. Redefining success to include connection can reduce burnout and foster a healthier work environment.