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Sharing Huffington Posts we love

dandelionWe love sharing articles we think will be of interest to our readers, especially our highly sensitive women.

If you have a sensitive child in your life….This is a good article published in Huffington Post about sensitive children who may be misunderstood, or worse labelled as not ‘normal’.

Dr Brand is the mother of a sensitive child herself:  Nine Ways to Acknowledge Your Indigo Child—and Help Her Thrive  http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/dr-idelle-brand/indigo-child_b_6373294.html

The Burnout Queens xx

 

Be Bold and Dance!

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Well, it seems that ‘burnout-proofing’ your life isn’t as boring a topic as we thought! Our last article obviously hit the right note with a lot of you. So…sticking with the theme we want to share one huge aspect of burnout proofing your life that you need to put at the top of your hit parade. What’s that? Loving and respecting who you are! (What did you think I was going to say? Time management! Now THAT’s totally boring!)

We believe in the quiet power of living life as ‘mindful’ HSPs. That means loving and respecting our sensitivity. It’s of paramount importance to value your ability to feel, think and reflect deeply. Plus there is that cool, creative, slightly angled view of the world we HSPs share. Personally, the world would feel deadly dull without that 45 degree tilted viewpoint!

Now embracing your HSP’ness (Do not say that fast it will bring on a dose of giggles! We did warn you.) does not mean hiding away or living timidly. No living with the shades drawn or reclining on a chaise longue sniffing lavender as you swoon! No, nothing so dramatic or romantic! Being an HSP certainly doesn’t mean that you are a shrinking violet, au contraire, you have the power and foresight to live boldly, bravely, and bigger than you ever thought you could.

At your core you are a ‘go for it’ kind of woman.
(tweet this)

We encourage our Highly Sensitive, creative, and completely fabulous clients to find, respect, value and love their own natural (but admittedly sometimes ‘off beat as far as the rest of the world goes) rhythm. You need to discover what it means to dance in your own very unique or quirky style. To live life that other, dare we say ordinary, way is to invite burnout.

Burnout proofing your life is all about believing in yourself, accepting yourself and genuinely being yourself. When you do you will be amazed at how grounded and powerful you feel, you will stop struggling with whatever it is that keeps you struggling, and you will embrace the equilibrium of enlightened balance that makes ‘work/life balance’ look like a concept from the stone age!

You simply can’t unlock your amazing potential if you are always teetering on the edge of burnout. You will end up living ‘mediocre’ and we know that’s not what you were meant to do. Get ready to boldly embrace what you want, need, desire, and dream of. Get ready to dance!

It’s time, it’s definitely time, for you to ‘defy ordinary’.

Here’s one great tip:

Do something totally different today…instead of checking off all the things on your list that you ‘need’ to do, replace them, (yes you read it right, we said replace not add to) with things you ‘want’ to do.

Oh call us crazy kids, it’s radical we know, but give it a go! Who knows what you will discover!

“Today I want to….”

Until next time…Grab Life by the Crown!
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Burnout Proof Your Life! (Yawn, booooring!

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I started out this year by asking myself this one very simple question:

What am I committed to doing this year?

Now for me this question isn’t about the ‘doing’ bit, not the ‘to do’lists or juggling stuff, no, it is all about the commitment end of things. To me that means throwing myself heart and soul into whatever is on my viewmaster at that moment in time. It’s about how I live. It’s about being truthful with myself. It’s about overcoming that sneaky form of fear that undermines commitment. Mostly it’s about living enthusiastically, energetically and ‘spirit-fully’ (I don’t think that’s a real word, but it’s my word and I’m committing to it!)

As The Burnout Queens we get asked pretty regularly how we live so we don’t burnout and ‘make it look so easy’. Most people expect us to list-off the usual things: say No, set goals, make a plan, don’t take on too much, and live the ‘perfectly’ balanced life! (Wrong answer! SOUND THE LOUD BUZZER PLEASE!!! )

If you want to live your life without burnout you have to burnout proof your life.
(tweet this)

Now that has nothing to do with sorting the stuff in your life and everything to do with YOU. Ask yourself: Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Are you pursuing your dreams? Do you believe in yourself? Do you live consciously? Do you live with confidence? Do you understand the who, how, and why of your heart and soul? If you can’t say ‘yes’ to these questions, well that’s where burnout gets its footing.

Here’s some things to consider:

First, there is no such thing as work/life balance! You have been fed a myth with royal proportions!

Next, stress is a good thing, embrace it and give it style…your style! (What’s your other option? It’s not going to go away!)

Finally, being Highly Sensitive with your oh so fab combo of characteristics you are primed to be brave, bold and bigger than you ever thought possible. You are definitely not a shrinking violet!

There’s plenty more, but now we’re really talking burnout proofing your life. Oh we know, it’s not a stylish, trendy, or cutesy phrase is it? (We tried to think of some other ‘popsy’ way of saying it, but nothing worked.)

Burnout proof your life. It’s practical, to the point, and it completely describes what you get in the box!

Well that’s good because burnout proofing your life can mean the difference between success and (we won’t even whisper that other nasty word!). Most importantly it is very very doable! And, wow, these days, it is necessary if you don’t want to end up exhausted and feeling like you are drowning under the sheer volume of obligations, responsibilities, choices, decisions, problems, worries, fears for the future, and even all the fun and entertaining stuff you try to cram in. (Oh come on admit it, sometimes you make social plans and then end up moaning that you don’t have time or are just too tired to be social and would rather curl up with a cuppa! ) .

Now just cause burnout proofing your life sounds so darn practical, or dare we say, even dull (Never! The Burnout Queens don’t do dull!) it doesn’t mean it is. In fact, think opposite; it’s creative, inspiring, fun, fulfilling and expanding.

When you burnout proof your life you get to live spirit-fully and enthusiastically.

You will make a commitment to yourself at such a deep level that things just start making sense. You don’t even have to try to ‘find balance’ (which is like trying to find the holy grail!) your life naturally develops a rhythm and an equilibrium. You don’t have to worry about ‘finding your meaning and purpose’ (we heard that audible sigh of relief) you will be living it in small ways, big ways, inside and out. Now that’s meaningful and soulful.

So, that’s what I’m committing to this year, living another burnout free year, and that means living in full colour and being willing to defy ordinary. Oh, and have a bunch of adventures along the way. Are you ready to come along?

YES? (OK, cue the choir!!!)

Here’s one great tip:

You know it’s coming don’t you…don’t you? (Could I have been more obvious?)

Write down your answer to this one ever so important question…you could change your life with your answer!

What are you committed to doing this year?

Until next time…Grab Life by the Crown!

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Go Ahead and Change It! (and we don’t mean your hair colour)

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We love change; small change, big change, change that is truly exciting and at times change that makes us go weak at the knees. Sometimes we embrace change without giving it a second thought, and then there are times…oh yes there are those times…we think it through until we drive ourselves nuts (that’s a clinical term by the way!).

Change is not necessarily easy, but oh (!!!) it is empowering.

Mostly when people think about ‘change’ they think about changing stuff: habits, things, hair colour, work, shoes. Anybody can change stuff, but if you find yourself thinking or saying, “I want to change my life! I want to change who I am!” then you are talking about a bolder, braver, bigger kind of change. This kind of change needs a real shift in belief and a willingness to stretch waaaaay beyond the familiar.

Change like this lifts you up and makes you defy ordinary.

To us change is a spiritual journey because it takes a lot of trust, courage, belief, honesty, faith and love.

  • You have to reach inside yourself and be alone with your fears.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and find the courage to step off into the unknown.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and find the strength to trust yourself.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and surrender to some guiding force, intuition, or set of beliefs you can rely on.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and confront the truth about your desires and dreams.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and acknowledge your shortcomings and your strengths.
  • You have to reach inside yourself and dare to take responsibility for it all.
  • Then you have to count to 3, hold your nose and JUMP! Now that takes real faith.

Once you are ready to do that you are ready to Defy Ordinary!

So as this year draws to a close and we all peak around the corner of the New Year in anticipation of what is to come, we invite you to join us as we Defy Ordinary in a year of change. Why not join us for the adventure?

Cheers until 2015!

Until next time…Grab Life by the Crown!
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