Staff burnout rates at homeless shelters are high.
I have seen people burn out in a matter of months.
I have seen other people, though, happily work for decades.
From my experience, the biggest difference between the two is the source of their purpose:
- People who burn out derive their sense of purpose from “The Outcome.”
- People who DON’T burn out derive their sense of purpose from “The Effort.”
Thought Exercise: Addictions Counselor
Imagine that it is your job to help people with long-term drug addiction to find sobriety…
MOST of the factors of your clients’ success are out of your control, including:
- How strong is their genetic predisposition to addiction?
- How much childhood trauma are they trying to numb?
- How much damage have drugs or alcohol done to the “executive functioning” part of the brain (it governs will-power)?
The ONLY factor in someone else’s sobriety that is under your control is your own effort:
- Do you show up for every appointment ready to be fully present for the whole session?
- Do you take the extra time to create the atmosphere of trust that is essential?
- Do you continue to upgrade your knowledge as new research shows better ways to assist?
If you attach your own well-being to The Outcome of your clients two things happen:
- When they succeed, you feel absolutely amazing.
- When they fail, you feel absolutely dreadful.
If you feel miserable much of the time, you will grow cynical… one of the hallmarks of burnout.
If—on the other hand—you attach your own well-being to The Effort you put in, two things happen:
- Yes, you feel good for your clients when they succeed, and feel bad for your clients when they fail.
- More importantly, though, how you feel about yourself will be based on whether YOU did YOUR best, irrespective of the outcome.
Sometimes you do your best and your client still fails.
Sometimes you slack off and your client still succeeds.
In your work:
What are the things that are out of your control?
What are the things that are in your control?
The Rhythm of World Repair
If you want to make “world repair” your life’s work, you have to learn to feel its natural rhythm:
Every loss is temporary.
Every win is temporary.
Either way, what matters is that you get up the next morning and continue the work.
One Final Thought
When all the moments you will ever know have passed, and all the people you will ever love have grown quiet—in the perfect stillness of eternity—only two things will remain:
The spilled colors where you painted kindness onto the canvas of others’ lives.
The pinholes in the firmament where you threw rocks at the darkness to let the light in.
Take a moment to lick your wounds. Then pick up your paintbrush and a rock.
A fellow traveler,
Ryan
