Flow, Faff or Burnout?

OK so here’s a working model that I know this is going to appeal to business owners and Leaders who are ‘driving their own ship’ so to speak. Simplified, it’s a scale of motivation, achievement, capacity and goals.

In the centre is where that juicy, lovely FLOW state is just right. When you’re enthused, driven, full of purpose and meaning and creativity, and the effort is easy. When time passes swiftly and you are in the moment, doing what you do best and getting masses of satisfaction from it.

On the right is where the weight of the goal takes over and with lack of capacity, lack of self care, lack of the right supportive environments and structures - or challenging circumstance of people and place - burnout is inevitable.

On the left hand side is a self compassion overdose - give yourself a break - where then forward energy is stalled by the lack of need, of drive, of pushing toward the outcome - which leads to procrastination and inaction - or faffing (great word that). 

This visual thought bubble, noted down based on my recent experiences and exploration of where the Flow state lies, is a work in progress. Self motivation is different for all of us - we all have our own personal drivers, values and motivators - and we all have our own environmental factors to consider. And I am keen to hear your experiences. 

So what’s your environment like? Do you have a support network professionally and personally, for self reflection and encouragement? Or are you working in a silo? Do you give yourself a break, or do you work work work? Do you prioritise purpose over family? Or the other way round? Do your values lie harmoniously with your professional aspirations or is there a feeling of friction there? Do you procrastinate? Do you know the root cause as to why? Are you people focussed or task focussed? What are your satisfaction levels like in your work / family life like? How is your state of mind? How do you regulate your emotional compass? Does your inner critic take over the conversations in your head? What is the goal anyway? Do you even know?!

So many questions! So many of these questions come up in coaching conversations - where we navigate - safely, creatively - through the fascinating laws that govern what makes us human. 

How do you best explore these? 

#coachingjourneys 

#burnout 

#motivation 

#goals