Emotional Fatigue Eats Leaders Alive

Dan Rockwell

11 months ago

Emotional fatigue consumes your passion. Physical exhaustion is obvious. Emotional burnout defeats you before you see it.

Feelings get tired just like muscles.

You’re not tired because you did too much. You’re exhausted because you feel too much for too long.

The Elijah Effect

A story in the Hebrew Scriptures illustrates emotional fatigue. Elijah stood alone. Confronted corruption. Called down fire and won.

You don’t always fall after failure. Elijah crumbled after success. Eventually he fled, collapsed under a bush, and asked to die.

Success doesn’t protect you from emotional fatigue. Sometimes you’re like the dog who caught the car.

What Emotional Fatigue Feels Like:

Daily duties feel burdensome.
Motivation turns to numbness or frustration.
Empathy escapes you.
Withdrawal turns to neglect.

Psychologists call it empathy fatigue or decision fatigue. Research is clear. You run dry when you pour out more than you pour in.

3 Ways to Restore Emotional Energy

Emotional fatigue creeps in unnoticed. Eventually small issues pollute all of life.

#1. Reflect on causes.

Trying to control things you can’t control.
Focusing on problems.
Rejecting imperfect progress.
Living in the land of wish. You wish you had better managers, for example. Wishful thinking creates dissatisfaction.

Saying, “I’m emotionally tired,” is the first step to solving it.

#2. Encourage yourself.

Self-talk impacts emotions. Tell yourself to notice some good stuff. Avoid telling yourself you shouldn’t feel bad. Say the good. Reject negative self-judgments.

Tell yourself to focus on next time. Plan responses to difficult situations before they arrive. Cheer yourself on: “You got this.” What good does beating yourself down do?