For many of professional workers, this season of shrinking sunlight, cooler temperatures, and rising pressure to deliver before the end of the year ramps up the pressure and grinds down feelings of motivation. If that describes you, continue reading to find the keys to getting out of that rut and breaking free from stagnation.

Read on: blog.WednesdayWin.com​

Read time: 6 minutes

Burn out happens to everyone working hard to achieve at a high level. It's important to first recognize that feeling and turn your mind to activities that will help you break out of that rut, recharge your motivation, and restore the positive feelings that come from making progress towards your priorities.

Here are four simple tactical actions you take today and beyond to break free.

1. Visualize success

You can change your outlook immediately by taking a moment to concentrate on success. Close your eyes and see yourself having reached your next level of achievement. What is around you? How does that make you feel? What is special about that situation.

• Focus on the full experience of what it feel like to be at that level
• You can create a vision board or write out a daily affirmation to help reinforce that feeling
• This helps by powering your subconscious mind to bring your experience up to match your imagination

Just as the physical act of smiling can help bring about greater feelings of happiness, visualizing your success will help align your mind with the right path.

2. Celebrate small wins

Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements. Build a chain of progress by recognizing each step along the way. It's a great way to maintain a positive outlook and stay engaged in your work.

• Each step up the mountain is as important as the final one
• Don't dismiss your progress so far
• Make reaching each incremental step a habit you won't break

It's easy to be self-critical when the weight of projects yet to be completed are hanging over us, but once we start to see each step as valuable, we can tackle them one by one and make progress.

3. Set clear goals

It's common to feel stuck in a rut in the absence of clear goals and priorities. Fix this by identifying clear, achievable goals. Take some time to reflect on what you want to accomplish in your career and life. Set the milestones for six weeks, six months, and six years.

• Work backwards from the first goal to create a plan to achieve it
• For the first step in the plan, break down all of the tasks you or others need to complete
• Schedule those tasks and commit to completing them as planned

Goals give structure to your priorities and are critical to remaining motivated and aligned with what's important to you.

4. Delegate and collaborate (and set boundaries, too)

Wherever possible, delegate tasks or leverage collaborations with colleagues to increase the total impact. Sharing responsibilities not only lightens your workload but also encourages teamwork and innovation. Delegation frees up your time for more meaningful and engaging activities.

Create clear boundaries between your work and your recharge time. Determine what works best for you in terms of work days, hours, and location and stick to them as closely as possible. Don't skip out on time away from work.

• Delegate and partner
• Work hard, but protect your other time
• Let this feed your celebration of wins, too

Focus on where you can make the biggest impact. Delegate or find help for the rest.

Action Summary

Break out of that slump:

• Start with a clear understanding of what success looks like for you in six weeks, six months, and six years
• Learn to celebrate that each day, each step towards your goal is equally worthy of celebration as reaching the final goal--every step contributes
• Set your goals and build your team and plan to reach those goals

Burnout happens when we lose sight of our goals and feel bogged down in low value work. Use these tools to reset your perspective and get reenergized for the adventure ahead.

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To your success,

Christopher

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