Avoiding Burnout - "The Why" Behind "The What"

Over the years I have been trying to reconcile why people burnout. They lose their passion, vision, stamina, their drive for life and their joy. I believe and have seen that it ALL goes back to understanding "The Why" behind "The What" and not about how many hours you may or may not work any given week.  I have seen people who work a LOT of hours and are filled with fulfillment and motivation, but I have also seen those who do nothing on unemployment totally lifeless, without any ambition at all.




The common denominator I have noticed in those who are burned out seems to be they have totally been consumed with focusing on "The What". Things like: "I need to go to work now", "I have to take the kids to the park", "It is Sunday, time to go to church", etc. That my friends, is a life that will eventually be void of all passion.




The common denominator in those who are filled with life and not burning out is a focus on "The Why". This lifestyle is lived in a manner that says, "I may have 100 things to do today but I totally understand the reasons why I do them." They are statements that go along with your To Do List like: "I am spending time with my kids so that I can invest into them and train them so that I can effect people I will never meet through their lives." Not just, "It's 2:00 pm I have to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese." It's, "I am being patient and serving my wife (or husband) in ALL things because it's right, and because I am modeling how to be a godly spouse to my kids and because I know that we as parents do not reproduce what we teach, we reproduce what we are. And I want my children to live in a healthy environment and be successful in their marriages, so IT IS WORTH IT."




If you ever lose why you are doing something you will lose your passion. I challenge you to think about this the next time you are dreading doing something. I guarantee you you are merely thinking about what you are about to have to do and you have no grasp on why you should do it. Find the "why" behind the "what" and you will find your joy and desire to do it.

Truly my motivation, my "why", is that I understand that I am not "entitled" to anything, nor do I "own" anything.  And that God has called me to simply be a "manager" of ALL that He allows me to do and touch.  Psalm 24 says, "The earth is the Lord's and EVERYTHING in it." So that means that EVERYTHING you see, touch, taste and smell is God's and He, according to Matthew 24:45-51 will require an accounting for how we have handled His "stuff".  But the promise to those who manage well is, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much....." (Luke 16:10 NIV)

I ultimately massively desire God's trust, so, in EVERYTHING I do I commit to do it with excellence, passion, intensity, integrity and obedience to what I know.  This is my "why", because it is right and because it is my worship to the One who is the Creator of all and the One to whom I will give account.