[0:00] just give yourself time to step away
[0:01] from work and do something else that
[0:03] doesn't involve work don't take a break
[0:05] go on the phone go on your phones grow
[0:07] on tick tock like completely separate
[0:09] the two create a personal life that's
[0:11] separate from your work life
[0:14] when anxiety stress and the pressure of
[0:17] a life comes on a content creator it can
[0:20] be the perfect storm for burn out we're
[0:23] going to be going deeper into this
[0:24] conversation and we've had several
[0:26] conversations like this here on the
[0:27] podcast because as a content creator
[0:30] there are certain signs when it's going
[0:32] to happen and today we're going to be
[0:34] sharing that with our friend modern
[0:36] millie who is our guest on the show my
[0:38] name is heather torres and you are
[0:40] listening to the think media podcast the
[0:42] number one podcast to help you grow your
[0:45] youtube channel and your influence on
[0:47] that youtube channel and turn that
[0:49] influence into a high impact and a high
[0:51] profit online business now burnout is
[0:54] something that i personally have
[0:56] experienced at different levels
[0:58] depending on the pressures of life and
[1:00] the seasons of life as a content creator
[1:02] and entrepreneur this is vital that we
[1:05] have these conversations that we see the
[1:07] signs that are happening so let's get
[1:09] into today's featured conversation with
[1:12] sean cannell and modern millie
[1:15] [Music]
[1:18] welcome back to the think media podcast
[1:20] i'm excited to have modern millie back
[1:23] instagram expert youtuber 160 000
[1:27] subscribers but i'm so passionate about
[1:29] this conversation because we're here at
[1:31] an event and we were talking at the
[1:32] speaker party and she's sharing a little
[1:34] bit about
[1:34] her burnout season and what's kind of
[1:36] crazy is i think at one point or another
[1:39] all of us as creators as entrepreneurs
[1:41] as business owners
[1:42] have felt the early onset of burnout we
[1:45] could be in burnout right now we may not
[1:47] know it and there was a season um where
[1:50] there was a proliferation of articles
[1:53] about youtubers burning out we're
[1:56] hearing about tick tock earth burning
[1:58] out and i do believe there's some unique
[2:00] pressures
[2:01] and some unique dynamics that actually
[2:03] really impact our community here at the
[2:05] think media podcast
[2:06] that we should be aware of and so
[2:08] eventually we're going to be talking
[2:09] about some three tips if you might feel
[2:11] like you're in burnout or you want to
[2:13] determine if you are we'll talk about
[2:14] some diagnostics and some tests we'll
[2:17] learn from this but i mean we got to
[2:18] dive right into the story yeah lead us
[2:20] through what happened what was happening
[2:21] before
[2:22] and and you found yourself in burnout
[2:24] what's the story right in 2020 it was
[2:27] the first time i experienced burnout and
[2:29] i just
[2:31] had major anxiety anytime i would open
[2:33] the instagram app or youtube app so i
[2:35] just took a few months off took a break
[2:37] and i was like wow i'm burnt out i can't
[2:39] what was happening up until that point
[2:40] how much
[2:41] hustle how much work were you doing what
[2:43] was your life and career like i
[2:47] was let go for my job
[2:49] was planning a wedding my dog was
[2:51] diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder
[2:53] disorder and they said she had 80
[2:55] mortality rates so she was probably
[2:57] going to pass she ended up living so
[2:59] i'll say she's fine now but it was just
[3:02] life was crazy i was posting every day
[3:03] to instagram
[3:05] and there was no really warning signs of
[3:08] hey you're going to be burnt out i
[3:09] didn't know i thought i was elite i
[3:11] thought i was above it and i was like i
[3:13] already have great boundaries set i'm
[3:15] fine and one day
[3:17] after getting let go finally my dog was
[3:19] like healthy
[3:20] and then we had to cancel our wedding
[3:22] once everything just lifted off my
[3:24] shoulders that's when it all set in and
[3:26] i was like i'm done
[3:27] i'm done so that was like the first
[3:29] burnout i ever experienced wow so then
[3:32] how many years leading up of content
[3:34] creation specifically and how many hours
[3:36] a week would you say you were working on
[3:37] in business and entrepreneurship it was
[3:39] really maybe one year into my journey it
[3:42] wasn't really long at all
[3:43] and
[3:45] i was trying to do it full-time so i was
[3:47] working maybe it was five months doing
[3:49] that full-time i had to get another job
[3:51] because i was like i should probably get
[3:53] a job to pay for a wedding shortly after
[3:55] covet hit and i got let go so just
[3:57] bouncing a lot just trying to juggle a
[3:59] lot of hours in work and with my passion
[4:01] so it hits what did it feel like what uh
[4:04] how did you know i mean and what were
[4:05] some of the symptoms and what was like
[4:07] so the first time which was 2020 i was
[4:10] just exhausted anytime i looked at my
[4:12] phone anxiety would increase right away
[4:14] i really had to distance myself from
[4:16] social media and then the second time
[4:18] which is the more recent time back 2021
[4:20] august i got really sick
[4:24] and it didn't really creep up on me i
[4:26] had just finished a course launch my
[4:27] first course launch ever
[4:29] and
[4:30] i came home from a new york retreat
[4:34] and i fainted
[4:36] wow randomly in the middle of about to
[4:38] record a youtube video
[4:39] you're alone i mean that sounds scary it
[4:41] was terrifying so i was sitting in front
[4:43] of the camera getting ready to record
[4:46] next thing i know i'm in my living room
[4:49] telling my husband i'm fainting and
[4:51] falling to the floor i blacked out
[4:53] everything in between
[4:55] and that was the
[4:56] scariest thing because it's like i don't
[4:58] know how i got here panic at my first
[5:01] panic attack happened right there of
[5:02] just like
[5:04] extreme anxiety can't breathe what's
[5:06] happening
[5:07] and
[5:08] from there it was maybe august 7th all
[5:11] the way through november i was getting
[5:13] sick i was having panic attacks like i
[5:15] had this mysterious illness i had 105
[5:18] degrees tested for everything
[5:20] and
[5:21] that fever would come and go for months
[5:24] wow
[5:25] and so
[5:25] i mean
[5:27] it's i'm so glad you're here today yeah
[5:29] and you're you've navigated through that
[5:32] season and i want to hear more details
[5:33] of the story but let's kind of share
[5:35] some of the tips you've learned in
[5:37] lessons that we could maybe encourage
[5:39] ourselves with the first one was was
[5:41] dope weight what do you mean by that
[5:44] i think
[5:47] i was
[5:48] i don't know i was waiting to feel
[5:49] burnout before i started taking the
[5:51] measures to protect myself and to really
[5:54] take care of myself so
[5:56] because i wasn't feeling
[5:58] oh i'm i'm fine i'm fine i don't need to
[6:01] take care of myself yet i'm fine
[6:04] that's the problem with entrepreneurs
[6:06] yeah is we're usually fine sure
[6:09] like we're fine with stress
[6:11] we
[6:11] thrive under pressure a lot of us thrive
[6:14] under that pressure of
[6:16] continuing to work and we like work we
[6:18] love what we do and so we think oh we
[6:20] love what we do
[6:22] so we can just do that and be fine yeah
[6:24] and that was my problem was
[6:26] well i love what i do i'm not feeling
[6:28] stressed like i don't think i'm feeling
[6:30] stressed my brain wasn't recognizing it
[6:32] my body felt it though wow and so that's
[6:35] why my body had to retaliate and be like
[6:37] nah milly we're gonna sit your butt down
[6:41] you might not feel it but your body's
[6:42] feeling it we're gonna let make you rest
[6:44] yeah so did you
[6:47] slow down your work pace
[6:49] what did you learn in
[6:52] as you at this point
[6:54] you're saying encouraging us don't wait
[6:56] do the things before this happens but it
[6:58] did happen to you yeah so what are the
[7:00] things that you started to do now
[7:04] you know the simple things starting with
[7:05] the simple things like drinking more
[7:06] water
[7:08] eating foods that nurture you
[7:10] incorporating movement the biggest thing
[7:12] that i've learned is to complete the
[7:15] stress cycle
[7:16] so usually we think
[7:18] when i complete the stress cycle i'm
[7:20] ticking off boxes on my to-do list so
[7:22] you have your to-do list and those
[7:24] things are giving you stress and then
[7:26] you're gonna check boxes and once you
[7:27] check that box woo stress is gone wrong
[7:30] you have the stressors and the stress
[7:33] the stressors is your list of to do and
[7:35] then you have the stress which is the
[7:37] physical response to the stressors that
[7:39] needs to be resolved and that is best
[7:41] resolved through movement so
[7:43] incorporating some sort of walking every
[7:45] day or maybe going to the gym going to
[7:47] the beach yoga something to get my body
[7:49] moving to resolve those stress responses
[7:52] that's been the biggest thing for me and
[7:54] then finally setting those boundaries
[7:58] hey we're gonna get back into our
[7:59] featured conversation with our guests
[8:01] but i wanted to let you know that we
[8:03] have a free master class happening right
[8:06] now to help you grow your youtube
[8:08] channel if you go to
[8:10] thinkmasterclass.com you can learn the
[8:12] secrets to success on how to win on
[8:15] youtube that's thinkmasterclass.com
[8:18] and if you're new to the show we want to
[8:20] welcome you and ask you to subscribe if
[8:22] you're watching on youtube you can hit
[8:24] that subscribe button or you can
[8:26] subscribe wherever you listen to this
[8:28] content on thanks for being a part of
[8:30] our community and let's get back into
[8:32] our featured conversation
[8:35] so don't wait to
[8:37] start taking care of your health don't
[8:38] wait to get moving when it's tempting to
[8:41] just grind all day and be in front of a
[8:42] screen all day and edit all day
[8:45] don't wait to really be aware of stress
[8:48] sirs and the stress and then you kind of
[8:50] touched on number two
[8:52] set boundaries so what have you learned
[8:53] what advice can you give us about
[8:55] setting boundaries to avoid burnout i've
[8:57] set some
[8:58] hard boundaries and it's still hard for
[9:00] me to stick to these
[9:01] but setting those boundaries of a start
[9:03] time and an end time for my work and
[9:05] this is what works for me people will
[9:07] have different types of boundaries for
[9:09] me
[9:10] my start time is 10 a.m
[9:12] my me time is before 10 a.m so that's my
[9:15] boundary of in my starting my day
[9:18] nurturing myself whatever that looks
[9:20] like 10 am i go to work and then i'm
[9:22] gonna work for four hours
[9:24] ten to two i'm working two is closing my
[9:27] laptop i'm done after two set that hard
[9:30] boundary even if i want to keep going
[9:32] and i could keep going because i love
[9:34] what i do stop
[9:36] go on a walk eat like eat food who would
[9:40] have thought and just give yourself time
[9:43] to step away from work and do something
[9:45] else that doesn't involve work don't
[9:47] take a break go on the phone go on your
[9:48] phones girl on tick tock like completely
[9:50] separate the two create a personal life
[9:53] that's separate from your work life it's
[9:55] really good so what boundaries think
[9:57] media podcasts do you need to set who do
[9:59] you need to communicate with maybe
[10:02] talking to a partner a loved one um
[10:04] talking to your calendar and setting
[10:06] some hard boundaries um that's such a
[10:09] great tip for navigating and overcoming
[10:11] burnout and then
[10:13] your next tip is check yourself what do
[10:16] you mean by that
[10:17] i mean
[10:19] setting boundaries
[10:21] it's part of it right you can set
[10:23] boundaries be like whoa i set boundaries
[10:25] and then you stick to those boundaries
[10:26] for a week
[10:27] but
[10:28] naturally you want to fall into those
[10:30] habits of like okay well i did a week i
[10:32] feel great
[10:33] now i'm gonna fall back into my pattern
[10:35] of working 10 hours a day
[10:37] so you have to constantly be checking
[10:40] yourself and being like am i sticking to
[10:42] these boundaries am i actually sticking
[10:44] to them for me sometimes i don't stick
[10:46] to them i have to check myself and be
[10:48] like no you need to stick to them you
[10:50] need time for yourself you need to spend
[10:53] time with your husband like you need to
[10:55] nurture the other relationships that are
[10:57] outside of work and prioritize your
[11:00] yourself your self-care the
[11:02] relationships that really value
[11:05] that you value outside of work so always
[11:08] every week being like could i do better
[11:10] did i
[11:11] like you say one percent better could i
[11:12] get one percent better with setting
[11:14] boundaries this week that's really
[11:16] strong this is so powerful millie you
[11:18] know one of the commitments my wife and
[11:19] i made this year was to really honor the
[11:22] sabbath in terms of like really
[11:26] disconnecting we read a book called the
[11:27] ruthless elimination of hurry and like
[11:30] really getting off our phone and really
[11:33] actually not shopping that day because
[11:34] there's other days to do it and so it's
[11:37] not like overly dogmatic but like really
[11:39] taking a day that's different that's set
[11:41] apart and you know we're people of faith
[11:42] so
[11:43] we believe god wove that into the fabric
[11:45] of the universe that we're to work six
[11:47] but rest on the seventh and what i've
[11:48] learned is that that is such a day
[11:51] of checking yourself it's a day of like
[11:53] realizing maybe how stressed out i was
[11:56] trying to slow down realizing that
[11:58] there's transitional emotional things
[12:01] you know realizing that there's also
[12:03] just margin now created to go on a walk
[12:05] and leave our phones at home and it's
[12:07] changed everything and i mean it kind of
[12:09] makes sense because it's if like we're
[12:11] breathing out for six days it's like a
[12:14] chance to catch our breath and breathe
[12:15] in
[12:16] on uh having a time to check ourselves
[12:18] so that's something we've been doing
[12:19] we've really been learning from and it's
[12:20] been so powerful yeah and when you think
[12:22] about the creation story itself what did
[12:25] god do on the seventh day
[12:27] rested and so making sure that we're
[12:30] having that time to rest because when
[12:33] you rest this is something that blew my
[12:35] mind
[12:36] when you rest you're able to show up
[12:39] even better and stronger and you have a
[12:43] more clear mind i was just on the grind
[12:45] of oh i need to show up every day i need
[12:47] to show up every day
[12:49] but that's not true because when you
[12:50] take the time off to rest
[12:52] when you then choose to show up
[12:55] that's when you're more fulfilled and
[12:56] you could show up even better more
[12:58] exuberant and clear-minded do your best
[13:00] work
[13:01] i heard james altersher say don't buy
[13:02] into the myth of not getting enough
[13:05] sleep ariana huffington wrote you know
[13:07] the sleep revolution she passed out and
[13:09] woke up in a puddle of blood because of
[13:11] pushing it so hard and so man check
[13:14] yourself before you wreck yourself
[13:16] as the great theologian ice cube said uh
[13:19] but certainly
[13:21] um
[13:22] uh this idea of navigating the road of
[13:24] burnout and as entrepreneurs type a
[13:26] driven
[13:27] check yourself is like the point because
[13:29] it's i can find that it's a month goes
[13:31] by and we're like wow that wasn't the
[13:32] best month but we can reset
[13:34] we get back to it so i hope you
[13:35] encourage think media podcast to
[13:38] to not be critical this definitely
[13:40] shouldn't lead to guilt check yourself
[13:42] for burnout but to get one percent
[13:44] better because we want to be we don't
[13:46] just want the 15 minutes of fame the
[13:48] short thing that social media's pressure
[13:50] and youtube's pressure is like oh i got
[13:52] to frantically grow as much as i can
[13:54] because it's like no i'm a lot more
[13:56] interested in being healthy and around 5
[13:58] 10
[13:59] 20 years from now than just 20 minutes
[14:02] of a viral video and so millie really
[14:04] appreciate you grateful you came on the
[14:05] podcast for people that want to check
[14:07] you out on youtube and instagram where
[14:09] can they find you my handle on instagram
[14:11] is at it's modern millie and then on
[14:14] youtube you can look up modern millie
[14:16] well i hope that that was an encouraging
[14:18] conversation to you and if you're in the
[14:21] comments on youtube i'd love to know
[14:23] have you experienced burnout before and
[14:25] what were some of the steps that you had
[14:27] to take to get yourself back to normal i
[14:30] know for me personally there's been
[14:32] several seasons where i've experienced
[14:35] being on the cusp of burnout
[14:37] particularly and you know for me it has
[14:40] come with being overwhelmed with too
[14:42] many decisions or overwhelmed with all
[14:45] of the expectations that one i've put on
[14:48] myself but that i've let others put on
[14:50] me as well so if you feel like you may
[14:53] be heading into that season you know
[14:55] we've had some crazy years over the past
[14:57] few years and as a content creator
[15:00] trying to stay on that hamster wheel of
[15:02] always producing content always showing
[15:04] up as your best always making mistakes
[15:07] and redoing it i can tell you that i've
[15:09] experienced those types of seasons and
[15:12] and in that one of the things that i've
[15:14] had to really remember
[15:16] is this phrase heather it's your race at
[15:19] your pace and that means that if i need
[15:22] to take some time for some self-care or
[15:24] if i need to take some time to really
[15:27] invest more time into my children or
[15:29] into my marriage that that is okay that
[15:32] we are multifaceted human beings and
[15:34] that this is a long race and so it needs
[15:38] to be your race at your pace and i want
[15:41] to encourage you that if you're feeling
[15:43] you know anxiety if you're feeling
[15:45] overwhelmed to just take a step back and
[15:47] really maybe reflect on the gratitude in
[15:50] your life and maybe reflect on when was
[15:52] the last time you really
[15:54] rested and for me personally that's the
[15:57] place i have to go and i have to really
[15:59] internalize a lot of those things
[16:01] because i still care what people think
[16:03] about me and because of that that means
[16:06] that i put extra pressure on myself to
[16:08] be a performer to show up as my best to
[16:12] have people like me and over the years
[16:15] as i'm approaching 40 eventually can i
[16:17] say that to you here on the podcast as
[16:20] i'm approaching 40 and have you know
[16:22] heading into the season of teenage years
[16:24] with my kids and i've been married for
[16:26] over 15 years and been doing this thing
[16:28] as content creation and digital
[16:30] marketing for the last decade i can tell
[16:33] you that it is a long game and i want to
[16:36] be here for it i want to know that this
[16:39] is something that i can sustain for the
[16:40] next 20 30 40 years so that i can make a
[16:44] big impact in the world and i hope that
[16:46] encourages you that over time i've just
[16:49] noticed that we think we can accomplish
[16:51] more in one year and we underestimate
[16:54] what we can actually accomplish in 10.
[16:56] so don't put the pressure on yourself to
[16:58] just make it happen right now remember
[17:01] that everything in seasons is okay thank
[17:04] you for being a part of what we're doing
[17:05] here on the podcast and if you've not
[17:07] rated or reviewed this show yet i want
[17:10] you to go over to itunes if you're not
[17:12] there and rate and review the show and
[17:14] you might be featured on an upcoming
[17:16] episode today's featured reviewer is j
[17:21] vine86 he says a must listen podcast for
[17:25] creators i've been following the think
[17:26] media crew for years if you aren't
[17:28] familiar with them make sure to give
[17:30] them a follow and listen for the best
[17:33] marketing tips well thank you so much
[17:34] for leaving that and i'm so excited that
[17:36] you've been following the crew here at
[17:38] think media and it's awesome to be able
[17:41] to read your reviews on the show well if
[17:43] you didn't catch our other episode with
[17:45] modern millie i'll make sure to link
[17:47] that down in the show notes below or if
[17:49] you're watching on youtube in the
[17:50] description if you want to go back and
[17:52] listen to the part one of this
[17:54] conversation that sean cannell and
[17:56] modern millie had thank you for being a
[17:58] part of what we're doing and we'll catch
[17:59] you in the next episode
[18:04] [Music]