If there’s one subject I struggled with in high school and college, it was science. So, last week when I was writing about how to combat stress as a cheer gym owner, I wanted to know why we don’t always recognize stress. How are our brains and bodies wired in such a way that we overwork ourselves and don’t notice often until it’s far too late.
So I reached out to someone I consider an expert in our industry (and I bet you do too!): Jeff Benson, a sports performance consultant with Mind Body Cheer. With a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in counseling psychology (and a background in cheer and gymnastics), this guy knows his stuff. He’s a longtime friend of Next Gen and a guest speaker for us.
Three Stages of Burnout
When I sent Jeff my blog, “Beat the Burnout: Recognize Stress Before it Spirals,” he was eager to weigh in. Jeff says there are three stages to burnout:
- Staleness. You begin to feel a lack of excitement or enthusiasm for your daily tasks. Things feel monotonous, and your original passion that drove you to start the business begins to fade.
- Overextension. Due to staleness, and maybe procrastination, you start to push too hard, forcing yourself to finish tasks, while neglecting self-care and personal time.
- Burnout. Reaching the point of complete exhaustion, you begin to see all your responsibilities as overwhelming and likely feel resentful.
Boy, that sounds like a vicious cycle … but one I see a lot of gym owners fall into. It starts with silly (but important) repetitive tasks. After a night of coaching, followed by an hour of checking and submitting payroll, it’s now 10:30 p.m., and you find yourself vacuuming floors and taking out the trash before leaving the gym. Maybe you ask staff members for help, but your lack of systems and delegation makes it ineffective—and 90% of the time, you’re the one cleaning.
For a few weeks, it’s annoying, but you know it needs to be done, so you do it.
A few more weeks pass, and you begin to feel frustrated with your staff with every panel of the floor you vacuum with that ridiculous, tiny vacuum.
Annoyance turns into full blown resentment, and now, you’re ready to do a full overhaul of staff. It doesn’t matter that they’re great coaches, you’re over it. They aren’t helping at the gym, and you’re the only one who cares enough to do these tasks. No one will ever take it as seriously as you, and in the meantime, your family is frustrated at your long hours, and you haven’t seen a good night’s sleep in months.
I’m sure none of you can resonate with that, right?
I have done business coaching with gym owners in this industry for six years now, and I know that if it’s not vacuuming, it’s replying to emails. If it’s not taking out the trash, it’s making graphics for social media. Every single gym owner I’ve coached has experienced burnout to one extent or another. But why can’t we recognize when burnout is coming? Why aren’t we pausing at overextension and saying, “Hold on, I’ve got to sit down with the staff and review the systems. I’ve got to create a way to hold them accountable without following them around every night. I’ve got to solve this problem before I get angry”?
Why We Don’t Recognize Burnout Sooner
Jeff says it’s because humans often seek out high-stress situations due to behavior patterns! Imagine that. The very stress that overwhelms us is what our body eventually craves. If you’re not a science person like me, think of it like caffeine. If I drink water all day and then pick up an afternoon latte habit, eventually that latte isn’t going to be a pick-me-up anymore. Instead, I’ll be ordering a venti, then an extra shot, then—why not just follow it up with an energy drink an hour later? From what Jeff says, our bodies respond to cortisol (the stress hormone) similarly. We learn to overcome stressful situations, and as we get better at it, peaceful moments actually begin to feel boring. So, in true small-business owner fashion, we begin looking for problems until we have a reason to be stressed out again.
“Though our body wants to feel calm and relaxed, our society has taught us that we aren’t productive members of society unless we are stressed,” he said. “So often, we sabotage ourselves by staying busy, burning the candle at both ends, in order to feel proud of ourselves.”
For me, that’s absolutely right. If I start my day with a to-do list of ten things and check off all ten, I feel like I had an amazing, productive day at work. If I finish those things before the end of my workday, I rarely walk away and go grab a coffee or just sit outside and relax. Instead, I fill my to-do list with ten more things for tomorrow and get started.
“Our addictions to being busy helps us avoid the potential of being bored, which to someone who is used to the cycle of adrenaline and cortisol, is a relief,” said Jeff.
Imagine that. If I didn’t go looking for problems to solve, it’s likely that on those days I finish all my work, I might actually experience boredom 😂. At this stage in gym owner life, boredom feels like laziness. I believe we often convince ourselves that the hustle is the reason we’re successful.
Society teaches us that the harder you work, the more you succeed. But we also know that you should “work smarter, not harder.” These conflicting phrases tend to have us filling our days with “efficient” methods for getting more done.
How to Beat Burnout
So, how can we truly beat owner burnout? Jeff and I teamed up to provide his best scientific tips and my best practical tips:
Jeff says, “Our brains are wired for predictability. So changing any habit is difficult and will initially be met with resistance, but you can retrain your brain, eventually craving peace and relaxation.”
My best tip? Identify repeatable tasks. Write systems for these tasks, train your staff and create checklists to keep them accountable. When they forget, retrain them. Explain to your staff their role in the big picture and why the task is important to the success of the gym.
For more information on Jeff Benson and the amazing work he does with athletes and coaches, visit mindbodycheer.com. For more information on how the Next Gen Academy can help you systemize your gym and train your staff, visit nextgenowners.com/membership.
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding burnout: Recognizing the stages of burnout—staleness, overextension and burnout—can help gym owners take action before it’s too late.
- Cortisol and burnout: Learn how the stress hormone cortisol plays a role in burnout and how to retrain your brain to avoid it.
- Effective delegation: Creating systems and checklists can empower your staff to take on tasks, reducing your workload and stress levels.
Breaking the busy cycle: Society’s obsession with busyness can lead to burnout; it’s essential to allow yourself moments of boredom to maintain mental well-being.
