living NOW

Do You Have a Vision of Your Life?

“Without a life vision, you are adrift at sea, shifting directions as the weather changes, and hoping and wishing you will land somewhere tropical with drinks sporting little umbrellas!”

If this sounds like you, you need to read our Feature Article of March 11 (Seeking the Big Picture | Life Vision Means Living Burnout Free )  http://theburnoutqueens.com/seeking-big-picture-life-vision-means-living-burnout-free).  We’ll help you take the exhaustion and guesswork out of trying to cultivate a life vision all on your own.

We have Four Ideas about Life Visioning to help you stay motivated instead of overwhelmed.  Consider them as you approach the process of defining your Life Vision.

And word to the wise:  Don’t make this difficult!  Just start wondering and thinking for now.

Idea: You need an idea of your destination. You do not have to know the actual end point. You do not need to know all the stops along the way in order to move forward. You need the dream, you need the will, and you need faith.

Idea: The life vision you have can, and probably will, change with your life stages. What you dreamt about having or achieving in your life from the vantage point of your early 20s may be very different than the life vision you have from the viewpoint of your 40s. Neither were off track.

Of course, we have two other ideas for your life vision that may help keep you on track with dreaming about what you want for your life.  They are in our Part 2 post tomorrow.

With Love,  The Burnout Queens xx

Unplugging from social media and ‘going human’ for a day!

Can you?  Would you dare?  Is it possible for you to leave social media alone for one day and ‘go human’?

Did I just hear an almighty gasp!?!

Ask yourself this….  Will my social media ‘friends’ who I have never met (and probably never will) care if I have no post, tweet, pin or media footprint online for one day?

The Burnout Queens see people out and about having a good time, but instead of experiencing and focusing on the time they are having, they are focused on recording the moment to quickly upload to their thousands of friends.  What is going on?  Before digital and instant sharing, we just had fun and then ‘shared’ the memories with others after we returned home…not during!   No wonder we aren’t quiet, reflective and truly connected any longer.

Here’s the challenge.  Get out of your tech-mode and step into life-mode for one day.  Speak to people instead of tweeting with them.  Walk with friends and enjoy their company.  Call and chat instead of sending an email.  If you are on your own sit in a café and watch others.  It just might spark a spontaneous chat with a fellow human, rather than your android (it even sounds strange writing this).

See you in 24 hours…we’re unplugging and going human!

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

Seeking Beauty

florian

“Oh I can’t afford beautiful things”…

How often I hear this from women who are in jobs they hate, barely making ends meet and thinking they won’t find beauty in their life until something changes.

Well, something can change and that something is how we seek beauty.

You don’t have to purchase anything to have beauty in your life.  Here’s one of the ways I seek beauty.

Stress instantly gets replaced by beauty when I walk into a beautiful florist shop.  Gorgeous flower displays in a shop window entice me in.  I just let the colours, smells and atmosphere start filling my brain with happiness.  It’s a beautiful thing.

As always, thank you Florian the Florist, Hove!  It’s always a delight to step inside your shop!

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

 

10 Years Stronger and loving it

strong-womanThe Realm’s weekly postcard with it’s assignment arrived in my inbox this past Sunday. It made me think about the question and how I would answer it, and so I posted in our private facebook page.

Then I thought, this is important, so I’m sharing it here as well.

 

The assignment for this week’s The Realm postcard asked our members to think not about their age, but about what or how age has changed them for the better over the last 10 years.  So here was my answer….

” 10 years on and I am stronger and more able to say NO to people and things that aren’t right for me.  How did I come to this?  After several ‘crazy and manipulative’ people in my life pre UK and here as well, I can clearly and quickly see the train wreck coming towards me, so I say NO and get out.  It may look like I’m a rude or unfriendly person, but having experienced prolonged relationships with friends, colleagues and family members who were not good for my health and mind, I have learned I have a choice to look after me.”

Here are my examples (and feel free to leave yours in the comments below)

  • If someone blames me for something they clearly did themselves…they are banished quickly (my new Burnout Queen rules)
  • If someone undermines, smears or belittles me and what I know in order to bolster their own inadequacies…they are banished immediately.
  • If someone wants to talk only and always about themselves, and never asks about me…they are given a few chances…and then they are banished forever!

Some people will judge this as b**chy (and believe you me they have and on several occasions convinced me I was) but I don’t mind because 10 years on, my heart is in the right place and I am firm about what I have learned the hard way.

Life post-burnout is ‘very’ different thankfully.

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

I Work Differently Now and Love It!

staycation time

Over the last months we have been working, working, working on new programmes, by choice…but have to say…working ‘overtime’ certainly doesn’t resemble the past.  Then it was 18 hour days; racing from office, to hospital, to university, to private practice, then home quickly to look after ill cats and aging parents.  It was madness but necessary and unavoidable.

On the contrary, these days work often starts with a quiet dog walk to the park, a breakfast looking out the roof terrace at the English Channel, a walk to the local for bread and dinner dessert, a play time with dogs, and afternoon tea break to clear the head.

Sounds too good to be true?  Sometimes it feels it!  After living a life of unrelenting stress and strain and driving ourselves into the ground (literally) this new life of enlightened balance  (aka burnout-free lifestyle) makes our hearts sing!

And that’s blissful!

Can you make a few changes to your usual routine to make life more enjoyable?

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

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