burnout videos

Knee Socks At 40? Oh My!

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Now if knee socks is your style, we just want to say Brava to you, work it all the way!  On the other hand, if you have just gotten busy, distracted, or waylaid over the last few decades, knee socks at 40 could be a clue that it is time to update your self-identity!  It might just be time to rethink the ‘Who Am I?’ question…as well as your wardrobe (“Just saying” as our lovely American assistant would chime in!)

When you think about who you are you give yourself permission to reflect on the Big Picture:  Where am I headed?  What’s important to me?  What do I want for my life?  What is my life work?

Now, that’s pretty heady stuff because your answers form the core, the foundation, of how you are in the world, your way of being.  Your answers hint at how you face-up to the pressures, challenges, and demands in life.  It would be sad if life was just about pressures and challenges, the Burnout Queens believe wholeheartedly that life is about adventure, discovery, and change.  It goes without saying…

When you know who you are you can embrace the beauty, opportunities, and possibliities that arise in life to surprise and delight you.

If you have forgotten (or avoided) hitting the ‘refresh button’ on your self-definition chances are you’re not wearing matching socks.  You see, when your outside doesn’t ‘match’ your inside it causes no end of confusion, for you and for others.  You know where I’m going with this right, without consistency and congruency in your self-definition the ensuing confusion leads to mistakes about who you are, misunderstandings, and misjudgements!  There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that those of us who are highly sensitive, quirky, creative (or just dancing to our own melody) hate more than being misunderstood or misjudged.  It’s exhausting!  We end up explaining ourselves till everyone glazes over, and that is…well boring!  (If you get stuck in that ferris wheel of explaining yourself over and over, read our feature article ‘You Are the Jewel in Your Crown’ so you can get off that ride!)

My Darling, ‘boring’can never be included in the
‘Who Am I?’ of you!

Alright, so we have to talk knee highs again.  You know you don’t only figure out the ‘Who am I?’ agenda one time when you’re 13 and that’s that!  Even though I must say my 13 year old self had a pretty bold sense of style, it was the swinging 60s!  (Do you know in recent years I have actually seen some of my very own teenage outfits in fashion retrospectives in museums!  It certainly gives one pause…)  Anyway I digressed, back to the plot…

It’s essential to keep uncovering, rediscovering, and recreating your knowledge and understanding of yourself.
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Every stage of life, each new decade, brings many many opportunities to update your self-definition.  It doesn’t matter how ‘old’ you are!  We need to embrace them all, good and bad, because the truth about who you are changes from decade to decade based on these life experiences, how you understand things differently, and from your ever expanding perspective of the world, hey the universe!

Now maybe your self-definition will only require a few tweaks, or maybe you will want to do a whole new re-do!  Brand new answers to brand new questions!  Marvellous!  Fabulous!  Now that is completely Burnout Queen style!

You know as you let go of the old, outworn bits of you, those beyond their ‘best by’ date, you open-up space in your life to create new aspects of yourself.  You create room and energy for the new you to flourish.

If you want to stay inspired you need to stay fresh!
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It’s all you, my love, evolving, learning, changing, growing…you thriving and flourishing.  Yes, it is of paramount importance to keep your self-identity up to date!  If you don’t well, what can I say, that’s when you end up wearing knee socks at 40 (and, shhh, between you and me, not a good look!). 

Until Next Time…Grab Life by the Crown!

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P.S.  The BOQs would love to hear from you!  Leave your wisdom and comments in the box bel

Time To Pack-Up And Move On?

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You are brilliant, Darling!  We know it and you know it.  You sparkle in your own unique way.  But sadly, the brilliance of your brilliance isn’t always appreciated!  In fact, it is often misunderstood and sometimes, well sometimes, it just goes unnoticed!  Now that’s a royal pain!

Now you could just recline on a chaise lounge, despairing about why the world doesn’t understand you, or you could read our three simple answers to why you may need to pack-up your brilliance and move on!  Are you ready?

#1 – Creative, quirky, sensitive types can’t thrive in environments that don’t get us.

Sometimes the environments you choose to work or live in are unsupportive, plain and simple.  When you try to survive in environments that don’t appreciate your HSP nature you eventually begin to feel diminished or less than. Seriously, if this is the case, you need to have a good honest conversation with yourself.  Have you ended up in an environment (office, group of friends, relationship) where your brilliance isn’t appreciated, goes unnoticed, gets ignored, is made fun of, or put down?  Your surroundings can make you feel like you need to hide the best of you.  You know, an environment like this can actually get to the point of feeling hostile.  No, my loves, you are not imagining it.

So if you are in an environment where it feels like your intelligence, senses, and emotions are becoming dulled, then it’s time to take your brilliance where it can be freely expressed.  You deserve to find places in the world that nourish your sensitivity and creativity.

Seek places that are open to your strengths, talents, gifts, humour, love of beauty, and unique world view.

You need environments where you can be true to who you are.  You definitely want to spend your life in places that reflect your values and beliefs.  If you are to feel respected and honoured you need to know that others benefit from, enjoy, and value your uniqueness.

#2 – Hey, if they don’t get you, they don’t get you.

Sometimes people don’t appreciate your brilliance.  Actually, some people are unnerved by it or threatened by it!  Oh we know you may not believe that, but it’s true, you are often perceived as powerful whether you know it or not!

We know you are naturally inclined to keep trying to get your <insert here>  (boss, mother, father, partner, colleague, sister, teacher…) to ‘see’ your brilliance, to see things from your perspective, to accept your novel approach to things.  But seriously, what a waste of time and energy!  Constantly trying to explain yourself only tarnishes your brilliance.  “If they just understood me everything would be fine.”  They won’t.  So (excuse our bluntness darling) but time to…

Stop selling your soul.  Stop trying to get ‘them’ to see the errors of their ways.

When you continue to attempt to scale this wall you only increase your own stress.  You are never going to persuade them, prove to them, get them on-side, or ‘help’ them to see things from your point of view.  Sorry, but they don’t want to, they aren’t able to, they are simply not there with you!  And, you know what, that’s ok.

You have a choice to make, you can stay in that ‘old’ place of proving your genius or you can pack-up.  We just want you to know that as long as you stay stuck in that struggle you are a single pirouette away from creating your own burnout.

#3  –  Admit it!  You hide your brilliance.

Indeed, you sometimes go to royal lengths to hide your brilliance.  Well, my dears, it’s time to show-off your strengths, successes and achievements.  Now relax we’re not saying you need to get all diva-ish or braggy, not at all, we know that would make you uncomfortable.  You see, somewhere along the way you became more comfortable letting others see your less than powerful points.  But seriously, where does that get you?  Only to the place you fear the most; boredom, tedium, and dullness.  That is no place for a Burnout Queen!

Darling it’s high time you get your crown out and start polishing because you are ready to show the world just how much you can sparkle!  If you keep hiding who you are, you will eventually begin to feel diminished and you may even start believing that you are dull!  AND, this could simply never be the case!

You know, it’s perfectly alright to appreciate the times you are afraid to let your brilliance show.  You may temporarily feel afraid of what will be asked of you, afraid you are not ‘up to the job’, maybe afraid you have been kidding yourself about your brilliance all these years, that you are, well…oh let’s just say it, a fraud!

You know, it’s o.k. to be afraid as long as you don’t let that stop you.

What are you waiting for?  If you aren’t going to show the world how much you have to offer, who is?

It may take a little getting used to, but the next time someone says to you ‘How do you do it all?’  You simply answer, “Extremely well!”  When someone asks, ‘How are you today?  Your answer…

“Brilliant!”

It’s time to take your brilliance where you can let it shine!

Until Next Time…Grab Life by the Crown!

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P.S.  The BOQs would love to hear from you!  Leave your wisdom and comments in the box below.

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