After time spend in reflection—how am I doing (well-being) and how well did I do what I did?—I feel good as I know that I am valuing who I am and positioning myself to have fuel to fulfil my purpose. The next thing to do is to refocus. Refocusing is clarifying my purpose and gaining clarity on what are the

I used to hate Mondays. On Mondays three things I actively do to help me re-charge: Mondays for me is the day after my biggest day of work. If the Sunday service was great, I would crash after the adrenalin high. But if Sunday was not to my hopes, then on Monday I would feel low and depressed. Things are

SUCCESS and COMPARISION The demands of ministry are great. When the expectation of performance is constantly beyond our capacity, a feeling of failure grows. We start telling ourselves “I should be doing better”. Sometimes, it’s imposed by the expectations of others. Sometimes, it’s our cultural expectations of success. In this information age, we have great access to what and how others

Present but not really I am blessed to be part of one of the most connected movements. Deep in our culture is the core value of connection. But in my emotional sickness, while visibly present, I was not transparent or vulnerable. The words coming from my lips indicated that things were good all the time. But in reality, they were

How is the health of your key relationships? The level of our Well-Being is reflected in the health of our key relationships. Relationships are not a means to an end but are a source of life and vitality. We need deep connections to flourish. This is true for home and work life. “Cultivating key relationships where true, two-way intimacy occurs,

Learning to fill the tank My journey through burnout and recovery has remade me. I used to just go, run fast, and pay little or no attention to how I was doing. To recover from burnout, I had to learn to rest. For some reason, cultural—the pioneer spirit, a warped Christian perspective of self-emptying, or just plain low self-value, I

In my late teens, burnout described an adrenaline-fueled moment in a car. You floored the accelerator, redlined the motor, dropped the clutch, the wheels would spin, scream and smoke. The vehicle would have no momentum. Eventually though, the tires would grab and the vehicle launch forward. Often the vehicle was then out of control. This was dangerous driving.   Burnout

Once I thought it was weak people who burn out. I am ashamed of my ignorance. Now I understand that success is the prelude to burnout. Pace and Pressure A motor burns out through excessive use. People are the same. It is the ones who want to make a difference, those with drive and determination, that are prone to burnout.

I didn’t see it coming Something was wrong, and I thought I was sick physically. I didn’t wake up one morning and say, “I’m burnt out”. It was a process of realising something was not right and my GP saying, “Don, I think you are heading to burnout”. Thank you, Dr Don, for your diagnosis. Feeling tired and flat. At