What a Home Repair Taught Me About Myself (and Burnout)
I had a realization last week. I was actually excited about doing a home repair with my dad.
I love spending time with him, but working with wood has never been my thing, so it seemed really odd for me to be this excited about it!
What’s even more strange is that it’s not even something I want to do.
The repair is something requested by the people who are planning to buy our house. There are two small wooden pieces that are damaged on the gable. It’s never been something that bothered me, but they want it repaired. Fair enough!
So we reached out to a contractor to get a quote for the repair. It came back at $400! For two 9-inch pieces of wood? I think not! Luckily, my dad came to the rescue.
Dad felt he could accomplish it for much less and he has 50 years experience in doing repairs on his property, so we decided to go that route.
But then he suggested I work on it with him. I mean, it’s never a bad idea to learn how to do these sorts of things, right? Plus, I’d get to use a miter saw. Sign. Me. Up.
I went out and bought the wood pieces we’d need, but they needed to be cut to the right size with a specific angle. Good thing we’ve got an original piece. We’ll use it as a template to cut the new ones to the right specs.
As I gathered everything we’d need to make this small repair, I was still trying to understand why I was so excited about this! Working with wood, or saws for that matter, is not in my wheelhouse. Know what is, though?
Analyzing a problem.
Pouring through research and gathering data.
Formulating a plan, troubleshooting, then pivoting where needed.
It’s exactly what I do in helping people overcome burnout.
First, I identify where the problems lie so I can help formulate a burnout management plan.
My THRIV™ burnout recovery model has five pillars, each of which has an impact on burnout:
Tend to Yourself
Harness Social Support
Recharge Through Detachment
Ignite Compassion Satisfaction
Vow to Honor Your Humanness
Through extensive research, I was able to outline ways the needs in each of these areas could be met. Then I developed strategies and provided tools to help implement them.
From there, we test to see what works (and what doesn’t) so we can find what helps people overcome burnout.
That’s pretty much what my team, and a bunch of teachers who have expressed interest in beta testing my Burnout Recovery Tool, are about to embark upon.
We’ll be implementing the tools and strategies outlined in my book, but it will be a bit different this time. We’ll do it in a group setting where everyone can work together and offer each other support. I am SO excited about it.
Understanding burnout and how to overcome it is like a puzzle, really. You find all these pieces and one by one, you figure out which ones fit where. When you’re done, you have a complete picture that fits together well.
I am still marveling at how a simple little home repair could give me such insight into how my brain works and who I am as a person. It helped me to see why I do what I do — and why I love it so much.
I think if we’re paying attention, we can see hints of things like this all through our lives. Tasks that seem menial can actually provide an inside look at how we operate as people.
Talk about fascinating!
If you’re interested in being a part of our beta testing group for my Burnout Recovery Tool, I’m still looking for amazing teachers like you to be a part of it.
All you’ve got to do is complete an application and we’ll be in touch.
I encourage you to pay attention to the things in your life that give you a peek at how your unique brain works and the feedback they provide about how you became who you are.
You never know what you might learn.
