A deeply spiritual friend of mine recently asked me a simple question that has put me into a tizzy lately. All he asked was, What are you reading right now? I looked at him and said, You dont want to know. I was embarrassed about what it is that I have been reading because it has become somewhat of an addiction.

For the past year or so, I have been addicted to mysteries. I stay up into the night reading Mary Higgins Clark, Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and Sandra Brown. Yes, I know. These are widely diverse authors and I love them all. The good news is that Ive graduated from trashy novels.

There is nothing wrong with reading a good book. The authors write the books so we will read them. The problem here is that as a leader in my industry, I am expected to read books that apply to what Im doing. Thats part of how we grow. So when a fellow leader asks me what Im reading, Im embarrassed to say that its not whats expected of me.

This question, however, has put me back on track. I stopped reading self-improvement books and spiritual books a year or two ago because I was reading so much of those subjects that I got burned out. Also, the same information seemed to be circulated over and over in these books. That is why the burn out came on so quickly.

We tend to burn out on what we do constantly. Sometimes we move on to the next thing, and sometimes we find we cant take it anymore. We cant move forward, we cant move backward, we cant move anywhere. Its good to stop what were doing and do something completely different for awhile.

This is why corporate businesses have such a high rate of burn out. These corporate executives work 12 hours or more every day without taking a break. They often find themselves in burn-out mode, creating a miserable life for themselves and for their families. Its no wonder there is such a big drive to make changes. We should all follow their example.

The good thing about burn out is that it can create a big shift within us. For example, I know of several people who went through corporate burn out only to leave and start their own businesses. From what Ive heard, they are better off than before and extremely happy with what they are doing. So, burn out does have advantages.

For now, I feel lucky that my burn out is focused on books instead of lifestyle. Since having that conversation, I have started reading the Tao Te Ching, which is Eastern philosophy. It is one of the most fascinating books I have picked up in a long time. It resonates with me and thats whats important now.