Burnout.

It’s a dirty word.

No one loves it.

But it’s everywhere.

Some people carry their eyebags and tired bodies as if it’s a badge of honour.

I’m here to tell you that it shouldn’t be.

A month or so ago, I had the awesome opportunity to share my thoughts (alongside Clara Nah, Joy Ong and Vivien Shiao) on well-being and careers at a Thrive event by The Business Times at Tzu Chi Foundation and I wanted to highlight one thing:

Nothing in your career is worth destroying your mental health.

If work has started affecting your mental well-being, here are my tips:

1️⃣ Set boundaries at work

I.e. Know how and when to say no.

As an Asian, I know how easy it is to just keep saying yes to your parents, your boss and your senior colleagues.

But that ability to say no without burning bridges?

It’s a superpower that you need to have, and it all starts with one thing: Priorities.

Don’t just say no.

Instead, rephrase it to - “I’m happy to help out and take this on but I’m also currently working on XYZ, which of these tasks would you like me to focus on first?”


2️⃣ Come up with your own definition of success

We see it all the time today.

Long hours at work topped by moonlighting on your side hustle

Or trying to climb up the corporate ladder at breakneck speed

But hustling hard – be it for money or career progress – is just one form of success.

Success looks different for everyone.

It wasn’t until I hit burnout that I learned this hard lesson for myself.

There are many things to work towards – figure out what that means to you and go for it.

3️⃣ Rest is underrated

Rest sounds cliche especially now, with so many voices telling us to “rest” but you know what?

It’s important.

Using your phone constantly at 10% battery will eventually kill your phone.

Just like your phone needs to spend time charging back up to 100%, so do you.


4️⃣ You CAN have a good work/life balance

You read that right.

The key isn’t about finding pockets of time to escape from your career.


The key lies in finding a career that’s true to YOU.

A career you DON’T need to run away from.

That’s where true work/life balance comes in.

Your career is a huge part of your life, figure out a way to find the best one.

***

Hope the above helps!

It was an honour to be able to share this with the participants of Thrive by The Business Times

If you want to know more  About how I have helped high-achieving professionals from KPMG, DBS Bank, public healthcare and multiple law firms get better well-being in a career that they love, just DM me “CHANGE” so that we can get started.