I'm sure everyone experiences burnout in some form or fashion at different times in their lives. At the moment, I find myself in major mortgage burnout.
Don't get me wrong - I love what I do and really couldn't imagine doing anything else. Well, except for nothing. Which is where I find myself currently. I'd really just rather be doing absolutely nothing. Of course, I'd find things to do, such as playing golf, or reading a book, or organizing some things at home. But instead, here I sit at my office and I'm writing this. So, I'm AT work, but most certainly not working.
I think that all Loan Officers in my field fall victim to the roller-coaster effect. I read a mortgage broker's blog recently and he had this to say about it: "The roller-coaster effect comes into play when one's income soars and then dips. Their emotions follow suit. They go from feeling invincible when their pipeline is big and they fund everything out and they get a big check - to desperate, angry and depressed when they realize their pipeline is dry. They lose faith in their ability to earn a steady income and become less effective as their attitude deteriorates. They are constantly stressed out and irritated and feel like their career is out of control. They become skeptical that the system works, and may even question why they got into commission based sales in the first place."
While I don't necessarily experience the extremes of emotion that this guy obviously does, I can certainly relate. My business is slower right now, and it's a very complicated and challenging time in my industry (who HASN'T heard about the "mortgage mess"??). But next month, who knows? I could have 10 referrals from past customers or friends and I'm back on top. This is the challenging part of my career, for sure.
The beautiful part of what I do (other than getting to help people with some of the most important financial decisions they will ever make) is that I get to make my own schedule and work as much or as little as I please. I generally take about 5 weeks off per year. If I feel like going home to take a nap, I just go. There are no expectations of me, no "quotas", nothing. I can make as much or as little as I want to. And I LOVE that flexibility. But the downside is that I have absolutely no idea what my paycheck will be two months from now. As of today, it is nada. Zippo. But there's always, tomorrow, and I don't know what's around the bend. There is ALWAYS something around the bend.
I'll push through my burnout. I WILL get past it. In the meantime, I might be reading a few more books than normal, or going to hit some golf balls in the middle of the day for no good reason.
Don't get me wrong - I love what I do and really couldn't imagine doing anything else. Well, except for nothing. Which is where I find myself currently. I'd really just rather be doing absolutely nothing. Of course, I'd find things to do, such as playing golf, or reading a book, or organizing some things at home. But instead, here I sit at my office and I'm writing this. So, I'm AT work, but most certainly not working.
I think that all Loan Officers in my field fall victim to the roller-coaster effect. I read a mortgage broker's blog recently and he had this to say about it: "The roller-coaster effect comes into play when one's income soars and then dips. Their emotions follow suit. They go from feeling invincible when their pipeline is big and they fund everything out and they get a big check - to desperate, angry and depressed when they realize their pipeline is dry. They lose faith in their ability to earn a steady income and become less effective as their attitude deteriorates. They are constantly stressed out and irritated and feel like their career is out of control. They become skeptical that the system works, and may even question why they got into commission based sales in the first place."
While I don't necessarily experience the extremes of emotion that this guy obviously does, I can certainly relate. My business is slower right now, and it's a very complicated and challenging time in my industry (who HASN'T heard about the "mortgage mess"??). But next month, who knows? I could have 10 referrals from past customers or friends and I'm back on top. This is the challenging part of my career, for sure.
The beautiful part of what I do (other than getting to help people with some of the most important financial decisions they will ever make) is that I get to make my own schedule and work as much or as little as I please. I generally take about 5 weeks off per year. If I feel like going home to take a nap, I just go. There are no expectations of me, no "quotas", nothing. I can make as much or as little as I want to. And I LOVE that flexibility. But the downside is that I have absolutely no idea what my paycheck will be two months from now. As of today, it is nada. Zippo. But there's always, tomorrow, and I don't know what's around the bend. There is ALWAYS something around the bend.
I'll push through my burnout. I WILL get past it. In the meantime, I might be reading a few more books than normal, or going to hit some golf balls in the middle of the day for no good reason.
3 comments:
you can call me if you ever want to hang out in the middle of the day. :)
Deja vu.
I didn't know you were feeling this way :(
I hope things pick up for you soon at work.
(I'll probably be available for lots of golf/biking/cooking/reading/powerwalking in June).
I know I'm supposed to encourage pushing past the burnout, but I'm not going to. I say, embrace the burnout. It won't last. Life is short. Go hit a few golf balls, read a few books (I can recommend some), and visit your nephews. :)
Love you.
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