How I overcame Burnout, 50+ Opportunities and More

Hey there,

“I am feeling a little burnt out. I am struggling to manage school, part time work, volunteering and all of my social commitments”.

This has been a recurring theme I have been hearing on the 15-min chats I have been having every Friday with people in our community.

I get it. I have been there before. In 2021, I felt a sense of burnout after I moved to Canada (or at least that’s what I thought).

This week, I do a deep dive on burnout and a tangible framework I learnt from an executive leadership coach that has been a game changer for me since last year.

p.s: I was told a lot of our emails are ending up in spam. Do you mind checking your spam inbox as well and replying “Hi, Ziyaan” to ensure you get all my emails.

What to Expect This Week:

• Deep Dive: 3 P’s to avoid burnout

• Opportunities: NATO Summit, Barron Prize and more

read time: 5 mins

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How to avoid burnout with 3 P’s

I feel like burnout is such a buzzword these days. It’s a word that’s casually thrown around. I wonder if this is because everyone feels a certain level of it or because we just misunderstand it.

In 2021, I felt a level of it too. I couldn’t get out of bed, would not show up to class or meetings, and found all possible ways to distract myself.

At the time, I thought it was because I overworked myself and sacrificed my wellbeing.

But after I attended a panel and heard Farhan Thawar (Head of Engineering@Shopify) speaking on burnout, it changed my thought process about it.

He talked about how burnout is less to do with your wellbeing and more to do with how connected you feel to the WHY of what you’re doing and the purpose behind it (read about how to find your purpose here).

That makes so much more sense - I realise at the time, I wasn’t feeling as inspired by the purpose of the work we were doing.

But on a day-to-day basis, how do you actually avoid burning out?

A framework that has really been useful for me is the 3 P’s to anchor yourself.

I was introduced to this framework when I did a course designed after a Harvard Business School course taught by Adel Gamar (an executive leadership coach). 

Here it goes:

1. Practices

   What are the day-to-day activities you can do no matter what you have happening to feel anchored.

   
   This can be things like working out, meditation, prayers, journalling, etc.
   
   For me - going to the gym 3 times/ week or journalling makes me feel
   anchored.
   

2. Places

   What are the physical places that are accessible to you everyday every time you want to feel anchored.

   
   This can be a corner/ room in your house, the gym, a nearby park, etc.
   
   For me: going to the mosque once/week makes me feel anchored.
   

3. People
   Who are the people in your life that unconditionally have your best interests in mind (consciously and subconsciously).

   
   Most people don’t have those people. The people in their life are there out of convenience or because of the benefits of being associated with the person.

   
   Think about who those people are for you.

   
   For me: it’s my family and best friends.

I have been applying the 3 P’s for over a year now and I found it to be so grounding in all of the chaos and ups and downs of life.

Following the 3 P’s on a daily basis is such a simple and tangible way to make sure you avoid getting burnt and prfioritize your wellbeing.

But curious to learn from you. What are your 3 P’s? How do you take care of your wellbeing? Have you felt burnout before? How did you overcome it? I make sure I reply to every email from the community and would love to hear your thoughts?

Opportunities This Week

In addition to these, here’s the living document of 50+ Youth Leadership Opportunities.

My friend, as you may have seen on my Instagram post, the last 3 months have been a wild ride. I finish school in 2 weeks and the pressure of going full time is getting to me. I not only have to find a way to pay myself but also a team - things are getting real, aha.

But having your support and building this community together with you gives me comfort. We are only getting started and have scratched the surface of the potential. I feel so grateful for your support and excited to be on this journey together.

Hope you have an amazing rest of your week,

With love,

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One of the goals of Leaders of Today is to ensure we democratise access to opportunities. But in order for us to do this, we all have to come together ⭕️ Keeping this in mind, I would love for you to forward this with your network. Whether it’s your friends, classmates or colleagues. And to reward you, I will take out 15 mins of my time to have a 1-1 meeting with you for every 5 people that you refer.