EAP 181: When You Can Not Perform (Guess What.... It‘s Okay)

Kimi has returned from her unplanned but very necessary sabbatical! And she talks on this episode about why she had to take some time away and how to know if you need to step away from something in your own life. This message has been very prevalent since the 2020 Summer Olympics (in July-August 2021) when Simone Biles chose not to compete in several gymnastics events due to mental health challenges and other things going on in her life.

Here are a few things to keep an eye out for in your life that will let you know that you need to take a break:

1. If you haven’t taken a break in a while – Kimi had been consistently posting one podcast episode per week for 3 years, and even though there were spurts of batch recording where she was building up a library of content to be posted on future dates, the pace of hosting a weekly podcast would take a toll on anyone. If you have been doing something for many months or years without rest, it could be time to press “pause”.
2. If you have lost your clarity or purpose – For Kimi, the stress of having to perform and plot the direction of the podcast had gotten to be too much. Taking a beat to reevaluate, practice mindfulness, and get grounded in why you started doing what you’re doing can bring back the clarity.
3. If your performance isn’t the same – Kimi’s goal with the Early Accountability Podcast is to create meaningful content that will connect with the audience and make their lives better. Getting to the point where she wasn’t sure if she was doing that anymore necessitated a sabbatical from podcasting. The same could be true for you – maybe you are burned out and you feel like you are just doing things to check them off your to-do list. Take some time to get back to where you want to be.
4. If you are feeling too much real or perceived pressure – A lot of times, this looks like feeling like you are going to disappoint someone. But living with this fear is not healthy in the short-term or the long-term and it can take a toll. Kimi learned that even while she was not posting new episodes over the past 2 months, people were still listening to older episodes because the content was valuable to them.

Topics Covered in this Episode:

• Knowing when to take a break
• Honoring your needs
• Giving yourself the space to move and breathe

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