Raise Your Hand if You're Tired Too

Here’s a question I get all the time now:

“How can I keep my staff motivated and engaged when I’m exhausted myself? I can’t keep trying to fake it -- that’s even more exhausting. And if I talk about it, I’m afraid I’ll open a can of worms and it will turn into a whine-session.” 

Don’t Try and Put On a Show 

Start out by being honest with yourself and those around you. When you try to hide what you are feeling by faking the opposite energy, you are being inauthentic and it confuses people. Intuitively people don’t trust inauthentic energy.

Focus on Self-Care

After you acknowledge what you are feeling in a fact-based way, be clear about what action you are going to take for self-care.

“I’m pretty wiped out today. So I’m going to focus on my priorities, stay hydrated, and take a meditation break at lunch. And tonight, I’m going to relax and go to bed early.” 

When you share how you’re feeling, it prevents stories from being created about what's really happening with you, such as:

“I think Beth is annoyed at me. Did you notice that she wasn’t very chatty before the meeting?”

Model the Behavior You Want to See

When you role model how you are going to take action to care for yourself, you are helping others focus on self-care and identify ways they too can take action instead of complaining or feeling helpless.

When you're feeling drained and physically exhausted, you don't have to power through it.

Follow the Checklist

• Be aware and honest about what is happening.

• Communicate it in a fact-based way without whining or acting helpless.

• Take positive action to take care of yourself.

In other words, demonstrate the behavior you want to see in others.