It is incredibly common in this day and age to be rewarded for continuously putting out effort. There are countless social media influencers suggesting that what we should be doing is nonstop effort at all times. In fact, many would suggest that, by not constantly putting out content or effort, we are running the risk of losing our audience, or our focus and will to succeed. In this episode I challenge that notion by suggesting that sometimes, as humans, the best thing that we can do for ourselves moving forward is to take a break. Taking a break does not mean you are weak. In fact, it means quite the opposite, in my opinion. Taking a break means that you are in touch with yourself enough to recognize that your consistent effort has turned negative and that your output is no longer helping you succeed. Taking a break means that you understand that in order to succeed in the long term, you must pace yourself.

Now this is very hard for me and I’m sure it’s hard for many of you. How many of us growing up were commended for our hard work? In fact Hardwork is the hallmark of what makes someone good at what they do typically. And I am in no way suggesting that hard work is not the way to get where you want to go. I believe that hard work is the key component that gets us from point A to point B. However, in this episode, I am merely suggesting that in order to continuously put our best effort out there, sometimes we need to take a break and go within.

Recently I took a little break from the podcast to rejuvenate myself and it was the best thing I could’ve done. I was tired, overworked, and wasn’t really appreciating the stuff that I was creating. Those are all touchstones for me that help me realize that what I need more than anything is downtime. I hope that you all can relate to and appreciate today’s episode. Please feel free to reach out to me to talk about this concept. I’d love to talk with more of you about mental health in the trades and how it is our own responsibilities to maintain our mental sharpness and flexibility.

In this episode, I also talk about the upcoming NECA Convention in Austin, TX. Who’s going? We’d love to meet you in person!

Enjoy the episode!

#NECA #NECAconvention #NECAaustin2022 #burnout #mentalhealth #mentalheathinthetrades #bluecollarmentalhealth #takebreaks #lessismore #selfcare