The Quiet Burn with Lynn Blades

Lynn Blades episode: Minimal Brain Activity by Unheard Music Concepts (source: Free Music Archive) (CC BY)    www.lynnblades.com Lynn Blades, author of THE QUIET BURN: The Ambitious Woman’s Guide To Recognizing And Preventing Burnout, is the founder of Legacy Leadership, an executive leadership consultancy, and a dedicated DEI advocate. She has strived to cultivate a 21st-century leadership workforce that truly reflects the diversity of our society. RECOGNIZING AND PREVENTING BURNOUT Demanding Careers Should Not Overshadow Health And Well-Being Women face numerous challenges in their careers – dealing with sexist and demeaning work environments, juggling work and family obligations, struggling to achieve parity with their male colleagues – all of which require having the necessary physical and emotional capacity to maintain one’s self-esteem. Lynn Blades has spent decades advising women in Fortune 500 companies and independent businesses. An executive leadership coach, her message is clear: it’s time to rewrite the rules. In THE QUIET BURN: The Ambitious Woman’s Guide To Recognizing And Preventing Burnout, Blades offers practical tools to help women recognize and prevent burnout and empower them to reclaim their lives – such as the power of saying no, practicing guilt-free self-care, and silencing self-doubt. She provides insights, supported by case studies and exercises, that empower readers to: • Make better choices • Find their voice • Understand that they deserve the best   Blades’ clients comprise a diverse group, of primarily women, who are fatigued from being undervalued, unheard, burdened with excessive stress, and expected to effortlessly juggle everything. “My aspiration for this book is to herald a new chapter in your life, centered around the themes of self-respect, rejuvenation, reinvention, resilience, and self-love,” she says. When Blades first encounters clients, they are emotionally and physically exhausted. This applies to women who adeptly manage a six-figure household with the same finesse as a multi-million-dollar business yet still find themselves questioning their self-worth. All genders will benefit from THE QUIET BURN.  The book contains advice on living a fulfilling life, self-respect, effectively communicating needs, and recognizing the peril of ignoring personal well-being. Life involves compromises, but that should not compromise one’s physical and emotional health. While failures teach valuable lessons, sacrificing health is not a sustainable solution. Blades urges readers to take steps to discover where they stand on self-care, and includes a thought-provoking Self-Care Check-In. Caring about the right things involves prioritizing what truly matters, making deliberate choices aligned with values, and taking effective action. By eliminating what doesn’t matter and focusing on what is important, wasting time and energy on unimportant things can be avoided. This leads to a sense of fulfillment and reduces negative emotions like stress and anxiety. Identifying core values allows women to concentrate on family, friends, achievement, wisdom, kindness, or equity. She also stresses the importance and power of saying no. Oftentimes, saying yes creates unnecessary stress and anxiety. “Embracing your inner ‘no’ is about establishing healthy boundaries,” Blades writes. “When faced with an uncertain request, take a pause. Reflect on it to gain a broader perspective before committing.”  Throughout the book there are QR codes that lead to videos of Blades sharing additional information and advice.  Reflecting On The Power Of No is one of the impactful videos. Readers are encouraged to craft an action plan to boost self-awareness and identify rising stress in challenging moments before it overwhelms. Blades shares techniques that allow responding thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively: •          Consider moments when boundaries have been compromised by individuals or situations •          Think about how those compromises made you feel. Were you hurt, ashamed, embarrassed, angry? •          Considering the responses to the above questions, how could you have better handled the situation for a more favorable outcome   THE QUIET BURN is a wake-up call to genuine self-awareness, when women embrace their power, recognizing their value to society and their potential to bring about change. It points the way to a future where class, gender, and race no longer serve as barriers.  When women unite and collaborate, they can become a formidable force. Once they establish a strong foundation and stand together, they will be the agents of change they want to see in the world. Social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnblades/