This isn’t for effect. And maybe don’t try this at home.
We are all familiar with two kinds of burn outs. One is what happens when you spend too much time in overdrive, and the other is reserved for muscle cars and angsty teenagers. But whichever burnout you’re experiencing, the most impressive way to exit is a peel-out.
Total miles sailed
2017: 7 K
2018: 14 K
2019 (so far): 4 K
We started 2017 with a completely new plan and strategy. The “New Year – New You” mentality put a belief and drive in us to go full throttle to make the new boat and new business work. This involved undertaking my first double-handed passage, which ended up being a Transatlantic, right into my first professional racing season (and I was the co-skipper) while starting up a new sailing center in the center of Manhattan.
The year ended with me in the hospital, and my fast-paced lifestyle came to a halt. When my body had just nearly given out on me, I was lucky enough to have a couple of weeks in the Bahamas to relax and recuperate. I started 2018, ready to shift back into gear.
My response to the 2017 burnout? Taking on an even more intense racing schedule in 2018, inclusive of 2 Transatlantics, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, and a double-crossing of the Mediterranean that had me questioning a lot of life decisions. By the end of 2018, I hadn’t landed myself back in the hospital, but I had certainly experienced another burnout. Again, at that point I had the opportunity to relax in the Caribbean for a little bit to recuperate, but the real recovery came with our decisions for 2019.
Both “recovery” times I had were clearly just temporary. In 2019, I had to make a few hard decisions that would ensure I wouldn’t burn out again. One of those decisions was to not race across the Atlantic again this year. It was hard to accept a 6-month period without events just to preserve ourselves, the boat, and the business from the stresses of another 2 Transatlantics (cause if you go across, you gotta come back).
But when we arrived in NYC a month ago, I wouldn’t have been able to even fathom going across again. So how can I preserve the power of life in the fast lane without eventually leading to burnout?
I stole this simple 5-Step “How to do a burnout” from Google because it inspires a very real metaphor for how to harness the energy that causes a burn out, and spin it in the right direction. Here, I’ve annotated the steps quite a bit, and added Step 6 to help transform a burn-out into a peel-out… and exit in style.
Step 1: Be prepared to break your car. This is my favorite “Step 1” ever, because it’s so true. If you’re playing with fire, be prepared to get burned. Understand that people who burnout are not weak, but that you need to be strong to recover from one. Those who burnout are usually over-achievers, and people who set high goals for themselves. Basically, first accept that the burnout is caused by the lifestyle you normally feed off of, but at some point it became too much on your plate. So either the plate breaks, you eat too much food, or you push that shit off your plate.
Step 2: Pull the emergency break. A bad burnout is caused by braking too little, too late. Seek the signs of the burnout, and when seen: hold the break down, don’t breakdown. Don’t be afraid to stop and assess, but keep your next move in mind.
Step 3: Put the car in first gear. Burnouts only happen when you’re in overdrive, so shift down a few gears to exit gracefully. Keep it in low gear, and don’t shift out until you’re ready to go.
Step 4: Hold down the brake pedal, but not too hard. To peel-out of a burnout, you can’t be at a complete stop. The wheels need to keep spinning; you need to keep that kinetic energy going. Do things that give yourself a break, while also getting ready for your next move.
Step 5: Mash the gas pedal till the tires start to spin. Ready, set, GO!! It make not happen right away, and it may feel like your wheels are just spinning in place. But commit to it, and you’ll start making headway again soon enough.
and…
Step 6: Hold fast in the direction you want to go. Make sure you’re revving in the right direction!! If you’re looking to peel-out from a burnout, you need to set an intention and hold onto it. This can be a new direction, new speed, new rules… whatever guides you into a graceful exit and growth.
So what’s our 2019 peel-out? Adjusting our 2020 schedule and establishing a new Offshore Race Team program. Next year we will still do 2 Transatlantics, but only one will be a race. We will allow ourselves more down time and train more people to take on responsibilities, so we don’t need to take them all on ourselves.
The time we’ve taken over the past month to hold the break down, shift into a low gear while mashing the gas pedal, has allowed us to transform a burnout into a peel-out. The tires have been spinning, and we are ready to start the show, because before we know it… we’ll be outta here!!