I have made many mistakes in my career that have given me valuable lessons, the most valuable being to always build with a vision of sustainability.

What I mean by this is when I build anything, it’s really important to know how I am going to sustain it. 

Building and sustaining are two completely different skills – I learned this the hard way.

Back in 2010 on top of a very busy day job, I decided I wanted to be a travel photographer and so I built everything I needed to be a travel photographer. I created a website where my fine art prints were sold, worked with a printing studio who created my fine art prints and a framing studio who framed them, bought loads of photography gear, bought a new laptop and editing software,

With all of the above in place I held exhibitions of my travel photography prints in the 4 major Irish airports, created business & greeting cards and took part in travel photography workshops in many fascinating locations around the world. 

Around the same time I also decided I wanted to be a writer and so in 2012 I launched my blog The Photographer’s Guide to Travel where I wrote about travel, photography and my adventures with both.  In 2017 I created another blog The Art of Positive Change where I wrote about all things positive change and in 2020 I started hosting webinars and selling online courses.

The amount of infrastructure I had to build to keep all of these plates spinning on top of a busy day job was insane, overwhelming and absolutely 100% unsustainable, a fact I could only learn with the clear vision of hindsight. 

🔥 Something had to give and it did, in early 2021 I suffered burnout.
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For those who haven’t experienced burnout, it’s not a physical tiredness that can be fixed with rest. Burnout is an emotional and mental shutdown of the mind, body and soul. Unable to think and unable to do anything, even the simplest of an every day task feels like a mountain to climb.
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In the following months I stopped all the entrepreneur work outside of my day job, I stopped writing, stopped using social media, stopped creating content and I removed myself from all online groups that I was a part of.
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🔥 I still felt burnt out.​
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And so I further cleared my plate.
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I stopped reading physical books, stopped listening to audiobooks & podcasts, stopped watching YouTube videos, I unsubscribed from the many email lists I had signed up to and I put all online courses that I was doing on hold.
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🔥 I still felt burnt out.​
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Then my attention turned to my day job where I was absolutely miserable. For many years my job had brought me great joy but Covid changed much of my role. These changes left me feeling like I was just someone checking things off a to do list.
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I was no longer using my brain or my skills and I was arguing with people more than I was supporting them.
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I left my day job and only then realised how much of my life I had dedicated to work.
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🔥 I still felt burnt out. ​

Since late 2021, I have dedicated my life to slowing down and eliminating the effects of burnout, to getting off the fast paced rollercoaster of life and enjoying a slower pace with less highs, less lows and less dramatic turns.
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A part of this journey is learning the lesson and committing to never, ever again building what I can’t sustain.

This is easier said than done for me, I have a tendency to overwork which I have to keep a very close eye on. 

⭐️ How do I only build what I can sustain?

I build with avoidance of burnout and sustainability as first priority goals.

⭐️ But what about everything I have already built?

I’ve had to deconstruct everything I spent the past 16 years building. This has been a painful process yet it is necessary if I want to sustain what I build in the future.

• Are you juggling too many plates?
• Are you overwhelmed by your to do list?
• Is what you are building sustainable in the long term?
• What can you remove to give you more time, space and sustainability? 

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Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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