Working in the charity sector feels like a never-ending list of to-dos. There is always more that can be done; more supporting, more campaigning, more fundraising, more developing.
This perspective, which permeates the sector, keeps us in ‘perpetually busy’ mode. We’re always on, always moving, always doing. And with that action we create amazing things; people get helped, organisations develop, money comes in.
But oftentimes, this approach comes at a cost. When we are perpetually busy and doing, we develop a sub-conscious belief that we have to be perpetually busy and doing. We must ‘do’ otherwise we are not helping enough, we are not doing our jobs well enough, we are not enough.
And when the sub-conscious mind starts believing that, we have trouble. Burn-out comes when we work so hard whilst holding the belief that if we don’t, we are failing and we haven’t done enough.
A key part of wellbeing however, is recognising and then changing these sub-conscious stories. It is possible to change this perspective, and realise it isn’t truthful.
What we can do is recognise, and even list, all the help and support we have actually delivered over the years. When we do this we begin to recognise how generous and creative and supportive and kind we have actually been. We begin to see that we have in fact been enormously helpful, and we’ve contributed a lot. When we start to take this perspective, and own this story, we put ourselves in a more empowered and positive perspective.
When we approach work knowing we have already done so much, it then becomes more of a positive and powerful choice to continue the work. We are not working to justify that we are worthy and enough, we are working because we want to.
Understanding our stories and perspectives, and knowing we can change them, is a key part of self-care and resiliency building. So my request to you this week is to write a list of all the people and situations you have helped, and at the bottom of that list, write yourself a new narrative about how kind, supportive, and helpful you really are.
With love, Hannah