Reclaiming your Vibrancy
Are you vibrant? Do you wake up filled with energy and enthusiasm for the day ahead? Do you feel bright and strong of mind, body, and spirit? Are you filled with zest, spirit, verve and sparkle?
I hope you answered a resounding yes but I fear many of you didn’t. I’ve been thinking about vibrancy a lot lately for a couple of reasons. First, I lost mine and have been on a three year journey to reclaim it. More about that later. Secondly, as an executive coach for women leaders, I speak with hundreds of women yearly who are at risk of losing theirs.
I first came across the term burnout about 40 years ago when I was working as a social worker with high-risk youth. Herbert Freudenberger, a German born psychologist, identified the condition in the 1970’s and defined it as the “state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by one’s professional life”. At that time, burnout was primarily believed to be a risk for people working in the “helping professions”: therapists, doctors, nurses and social workers. Years later as I moved into a role as an OD consultant for corporations, conversations about burnout were replaced with conversations about change fatigue, survivor guilt and employee engagement. Recently, I’ve found the term burnout popping up in the literature again as the World Health Organization has upgraded burnout in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, from a workplace phenomenon to a bonafide workplace syndrome. The expanded ICD definition includes feelings of energy depletion, reduced professional efficacy, and work related negativism and cynicism.
Let me be frank, I’m not a fan of the ICD or labels in general. I believe labels are inadequate in capturing the complexity of the human condition and can limit our belief about what’s possible. But what the past 40+ years working with individuals and organizations have taught me, is that regardless of what we label it, our workplace environs and the belief we hold about ourselves, can put out our sparkle, smother our spirit, and dull our brilliance.
Personally, I hit a low point in my career about 4 years ago. After a 40+ year professional career where I worked hard to get to the top of my profession, gave all I had to the organizations for whom I worked, including refusing to take a break during 2 bouts with breast cancer, I was feeling apathetic, lethargic and questioning of both my competence and confidence. Burned out – likely. Void of vibrancy – most definitely.
So, I have been on a 3-year journey to reclaim my pizzazz, get back my vim and vigor, as my mother would have said, and reclaim my sparkle so I can share it with the women with whom I work. Here’s what I know now.
You can’t take your vibrancy for granted. It needs to be appreciated, cared for, and fostered. Here are some tips on how.
1. Rest and Reflect. Whether it be 5 minutes a day, a 3 month sabbatical or a week-end retreat, take time to stop the endless business of your life and be still. As David Whyte, OD guru and poet, so eloquently claims in his poem What to Remember When Waking “What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough for the vitality hidden in your sleep”.
2. Play and Create. When was the last time you engaged in an activity for the sheer joy of it? When was the last time you danced, skipped, finger painted, sang….with zero judgment? At the core of our vibrancy is a playful spirit and our human-right to create. When we tap down our playfulness and creativity we smother our brilliance.
3. Let go of Fear and Reconnect with Purpose. How much of what you do or how you do it is driven by fear? Fear of loss of approval, a job, money, security, title? As professed by the sage and poet, Rumi, I encourage you to “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.”
If reclaiming your vibrancy is appealing, join us for a 3-day women’s retreat hosted by AlignWise Consulting and the Expressive Arts Institute of San Diego. We will meet in the pastoral countryside in central Serbia where we will be nurtured by the spirit of Dodala, the Slavic goddess of rain, as we allow our vibrancy to bloom.