{*Did you know you can write on Elephant? Here’s how—big changes: How to Write & Make Money or at least Be of Benefit on Elephant. ~ Waylon}

~

The heat of the sun bled through my shirt, seeping into my skin and creating wet droplets running down my spine.

I was in a meeting with my team, discussing ideas for a live-action skit for the upcoming division meeting. There were five of us, plus my manager, each excited to share their “fresh take” on a website redesign.

The minutes ticked by. I could hear the clock each time the hand moved. My coworkers smiled at each other, discussing each idea in-depth before moving on to the next person. As my turn approached—my mind went blank. I had nothing to share. I was embarrassed, confused, and exhausted.

Why couldn’t I come up with an idea—any idea? It didn’t even have to be good. At that moment, I knew something was off. I had worked hard to get this job and show up to the best of my ability every day, and for the easiest assignment, I felt like I was failing. My creative brain had deserted me. I questioned, what was happening?

Burnout, according to the World Health Organization, is a workplace issue that is created by chronic stress that has not been successfully managed. Symptoms include exhaustion, cynicism toward your workplace, and reduced ability to do the job you once thrived in.

Establishing a regular connection with your soul is the most rewarding path to escape burnout and rediscover optimal wellness. This can bring relief, peace, and renewed energy that lasts longer than your tan.

Here are three ways to reconnect to your soul.

1. Create feelings of awe with a spiritual practice.

Connecting to something greater than yourself can help you regulate your nervous system. Feelings of awe created during a spiritual practice shift your body from a stress response to a rest response, which will help you recover naturally from burnout and prevent it from happening again.

Choose your spiritual practice based on your interests and lifestyle. It could be daily journaling, reading ancient texts, a daily tarot card pull, meditation, yoga, mindful eating, or even a walk in nature.

I encourage you to find an activity that helps you feel relaxed, content, and more present with yourself. If you have tried meditation in the past but found it difficult or not enjoyable, try a different form of meditation or a different way to connect.

The only requirement for a spiritual practice is that your chosen activity should create space for the wisdom of your soul to speak to you honestly about where you are in life and where you can go next. It should reaffirm all the good you have chosen to let into your life.

2. Discover your soul’s purpose.

Your soul’s purpose is a combination of gifts, talents, and passions that can be used in many ways. It’s less of a job title and more of a job description.

For example, empathy may be your natural gift, but you may also have a passion for numbers. One way this could look is that you work in financial services counseling people on credit. Another way to look at these gifts could be writing books to educate people on the best way to build wealth. See how they are the same but also different? This is how your purpose works. You have natural gifts and passions, but how you decide to put them to work is your choice.

Unless you have continually pushed away your soul’s calling, you may already be in alignment with who you are. It’s most likely just not a conscious awareness. Bringing your soul’s essence and purpose into your conscious mind is the most important part of living an aligned life because it allows you to make daily choices that create abundance and ease.

The best way to do this is to contemplate it during your spiritual practice or talk to someone who specializes in helping people discover their soul purpose.

3. Step away from toxic relationships and build stronger boundaries.

Unbalanced and toxic relationships may impact your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. These relationships can look like gossiping coworkers, demanding bosses, a partner who gaslights you, or even an overly anxious parent.

Trust your intuition about what situations are helping you become the best version of yourself and which ones are not. Then, plan how you want to create stronger boundaries, learn to say no, or walk away when that situation is no longer serving you.

Removing toxic people from your environment will help you step more fully into your soul’s purpose and start to attract those who can help you succeed on your journey. Sometimes, we need to remove what is not in our highest good before we can find what is.

Burnout is a symptom of being out of alignment with who you are. Let your soul guide you back to where you need to be.

~

{Please consider Boosting our authors’ articles in their first week to help them win Elephant’s Ecosystem so they can get paid and write more.}