ME: Hi, how are you?
FRIEND: Crazy busy.
ME: Hey, how are things at work?
FORMER COWORKER: You know the same, crazy busy.
Are you busy or crazy busy?
There is a difference – check out where you fall:
What rings true for you?
Do you laugh or feel signs of pride at the signs of being crazy busy?
If yes, this message is for you.
I used to be crazy busy. Cray cray.
I was the one who didn’t pee because I was too busy.
I couldn’t go to your silly lunch party.
I could barely make time for you even if you had an appointment.
That person (yes, pretty much an arsehole and my husband would agree) was too busy of you.
I was also too busy to take care of myself. Too busy for my friends. Too busy period.
That person I describe seems like a lifetime ago but it was only 7 years ago.
Through my humbling experience with burnout + chronic stress, I was forced to stop because I became ill.
But I didn’t want to stop even though I had to.
I learned 2 big lessons that shifted me away from being crazy busy forever.
LISTEN, HONOR, & RESPOND TO MY BODY
Where do you live?
No, not what city, where do you live within yourself?
How much time do you live in your head?
How often do you live in your body?
Most of my clients tell me they live from the neck up.
One of my clients told me she lives from the eyes up…pretty intense.
My body gave me warning signs all the time.
Headaches, chest pain, weight gain, dizziness…but I chose not to honor or respond.
I knew I would be fine because I had always been fine.
I could plow through anything. Just watch.
I’ll show you how I can pile it on without one complaint.
But that eventually didn’t work and I ended up getting very sick and had to take two medical leaves – one for 6 weeks and another for 7 months – to heal.
In the process, I learned how to listen and honor my body.
But I didn’t like it.
During my first gentle yoga class, I felt like my entire body was on fire.
I hated feeling. I hated sensing. Ugh!
But my old ways of operating weren’t working and I knew I had to change.
Once I was willing to pay attention to my body, I became aware of how stress, negative emotions, over-working, and too much striving negatively affected my body.
Developing body awareness is a skill.
If you want to be free of burnout + chronic stress, developing body awareness is a required skill.
It can be learned.
The body provides sensation and the mind provides the meaning.
I learned how to detect subtle effects of fatigue in my body posture.
I learned how to notice the first sign of constriction in my chest so I could adjust my activities before having significant chest pain.
I learned to honor the first scratch in my throat before I got another full blown sinus infection.
Developing body awareness helped me shift away from a life of being crazy busy to sustainable productivity.
And in the process, I gained self-mastery over my body’s stress response.
Pretty sweet.
Second big lesson…
I AM NOT THAT IMPORTANT
I am not that important.
And I have to break it to you…neither are you.
In our self-esteem crazed society, that may seem like blasphemy.
But an increased sense of self-importance will keep you on the crazy busy train for a lonnnnnng time.
Crazy busy happened to me because I needed to fill up my time for several reasons.
Your reasons may be different but definitely worth some self-reflection, especially if you feel a sense of pride and justification from being crazy busy.
I thought I was completely justified and took great pride in how over-extended I was.
Now I know this is insanity and creates self-harm.
I needed to be crazy busy because:
- I didn’t want to deal with what was causing my anxiety
- I gained most of my self-worth from accomplishments instead of an innate sense of being
- I was addicted to adrenaline and work
- I thought self-sacrifice meant I was doing a good job
- I wanted to be distracted from my feelings and sensations
But when I was forced to stop and take a leave of absence ONE WEEK BEFORE A $5M PROGRAM LAUNCH I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR, I realized how NOT important I was.
Work went on. Launch went on. Life went on.
Without me.
I wasn’t that important.
It was humbling.
It was ego-deflating.
It was liberating.
This realization increased my wisdom and maturity as a business woman.
I could prioritize better.
I didn’t have to do everything myself.
But most importantly, I was able to FEEL FREEDOM in my inner world.
I did not have to contain everything.
I learned my true nature – one of compassion, fun, and intelligence – was enough.
I am enough.
You are enough.
Mindfulness teaches we are meant to be human beings, not human doings.
Do you want to be sustainably productive or do you want to be crazy busy?
Friend, it’s up to you.
Sign up below for your free video series to stop being crazy busy – 6 videos delivered to you over 3 weeks to be less rushed + more effective.
The end result? You can enjoy your life, even with a demanding career
