Feeling Exhausted? Check In On Your Life

5:30 am. I'm laying in bed bleary-eyed, having just turned off my alarm. I think I slept OK, but I’m still exhausted and the thought of going to work seems more than I can bear again today. And yet... I sit up and hang my legs off the side of the bed, mustering the oomph to get out of bed and into the shower. This had been happening more and more in recent months. I never seemed to be able to replenish the energy I was expanding in the day and felt like I was running on fumes.

Then one day, I was on the Book of Faces and read that a good friend of mine had passed away of a brain aneurysm in her sleep. She was my age. That was my tipping point. At that moment, I made the decision to leave my 9-5 to chase my dream of coaching.

Almost instantly, I felt the shift. Excitement was growing inside me, as was fear. "Am I doing the right thing?" At the time, I didn't know if it was the right thing, but I also didn't care. I felt pulled to do this. It felt like the right thing. Maybe I was exhausted because I was in a field that no longer felt right. Maybe I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? I wasn't sure. But I WAS sure of one thing. I had to make a change, or I was headed for a health crisis.

Identify the Areas of Your Life Causing You the Most Stress

My life was so out of balance I needed to do something drastic. I was giving so much focus to work that the other areas of my life were not getting the attention they needed. I was not taking care of my health. Hobbies? Are you serious? I don’t have time for that. We also had a teenager at home who was experiencing a lot of problems. Every day, was one big ball of stress.

It wasn’t always like that? I always loved my job, having been quite successful in different areas, such as Marketing and Sales. But, as the years went by and the stress increased, I found it more and more difficult to not get overly emotionally involved with work and not to take things personally when things went sideways. And slowly, the stress kept mounting, and my energy and drive to succeed started to lessen. 

Our life is comprised of 10 different areas which need to be in balance, for us to thrive. Balance is not about time. It’s about the fulfillment you get from each area and whether or not the time spent there is supporting or draining you.

These 10 areas are Health, Mental/Emotional, Partner, Family, Friends, Mission, Experiences, Spirit, Finances, and Learning.

Identifying the areas that need your attention is the first step in getting your life back in balance and overcoming that feeling of exhaustion!

To help you, I have made the Life Assessment available to you. Each area has a corresponding explanation. For each, I ask you to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. This will give you a baseline to work from. From there, you can identify which areas need more attention and start thinking about what you can do to start making changes in these areas.

If you would like a copy of the questionnaire, click here to download it.

Reasons For Feeling Exhausted

There are many reasons why we can feel exhausted. Here are some of them:

• Overwhelm: this and exhaustion tend to go together. When we have so much on our plate that we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is incredibly energy depleting. It can lead to thoughts of “why bother” when there is so much so often, that we don’t feel we have the capacity to do it all.
  
  
• Uncertainty: Being stressed out and anxious about the future is another cause of exhaustion. Worse even, is when we don’t know how to fix it or where to start to change the course of our life. When you know you’re not doing the right things for yourself and/or your loved ones or if you feel you’ve gotten off track in your career, can feel like it is sucking the life out of you.
  
  
• Apathy: Do you find yourself going through the motions, but getting little pleasure or reward for the work you’re doing?
  
  
• People-Pleasing: We do for everyone else, but ourselves. We’re so busy making sure everyone else is taken care of, that we forget to tend to our backyard.
  
  
• Work is all-consuming:  Do you spend most of your time at work, with some time at home with your family? Do you dedicate enough time for friends or hobbies.
  
  
• Spiritual life on life support: That could be leaving a big gap in your life. Maybe it's time to decide what a rich spiritual life looks like for you.
  
  
• Comfort: You haven't stretched yourself by learning something new or getting out of your comfort zone in a long time.
  
  
• Controlling the wrong things: We all want to control our lives, but aside from our thoughts, our attitudes, and our emotions, we have control over very little. Yet, when we learn to control those things,  our life becomes calmer and healthier.
  
  

And many more… The good news is, that you are not alone and there are ways you can right the ship.

7 Tips To Help Regain Your Energy

1. Identify the energy-generating activities in your life: These are the things that make you feel good and give you a sense of accomplishment. For me, it’s things like spending time in nature, being creative, writing, teaching, and dancing. When I make time for these activities, my energy levels increase.
   
   
2. Figure out what's important to you and focus on those things: We can't do it all and be everything to everyone. Figure out what's most important to you and focus your attention there.
   
   
3. Simplify your life: Streamline your life by getting rid of anything that is causing you stress that you can live without. This may include commitments, material possessions, and anything else that is draining your energy. As harsh as it may sound, that might include people too. 
   
   
4. Set boundaries: f we don't set boundaries, we end up doing things we don't want to do and people can take advantage of us. It’s time to put our own needs first. So, learn to say no to things that don't fit into your schedule or that you don't really want to do.
   
   
5. Take some time for yourself each day to relax and rejuvenate: This is so important and yet, so often we forget to do it. We need to schedule some time each day, even if it's just 10-15 minutes, to do something that we enjoy and that relaxes us. This could be reading, taking a bath, going for a walk, or anything else that works for you.
   
   
6. Create a support network: This could be family, friends, or professionals. When we have people we can rely on, it takes a load off of us and we don't have to do it all alone.
   
   
7. Find a hobby that brings you joy:  When we have something to look forward to outside of work, it can make a big difference in how we feel. It gives us something to focus on that we enjoy and that is just for us. That guitar gathering dust in the corner? Go ahead and dust it off. That puzzle you've been meaning to do, find a place and start it. That paint brush you packed away into the garage, go find it.

Conclusion

If you're feeling exhausted, it's important to take a step back and assess what might be causing it. There are many potential causes, but some of the most common include people-pleasing, workaholism, low levels of fulfillment, little to no spiritual life, comfort zone living, and controlling the wrong things.

Luckily, there are things you can do to help regain your energy. These include identifying the energy-generating activities in your life, simplifying your life, taking some time for yourself each day, creating a support network, and finding a hobby that brings you joy. Taking these steps can help you to get back on track and feel like yourself again.

And if you're looking for support in this area, let me know. I'll be happy to have a conversation and see how I can best support you!