Burnout is an Opportunity

Burnout is epidemic. Within and outside of medicine.

The pandemic has added to it.

Our cultural thoughts on having and doing more and striving and serving contribute.

Our broken systems of healthcare, mental healthcare, education, and family support also contribute.

Burnout is depressing and frustrating and feels heavy. It is easy to be angry and feel stuck and hard to see solutions and a way out.

And burnout is an opportunity.

An opportunity to pause and be present. And take stock of what really matters to you.

To discover. to learn, to grow.

And then to start taking steps to start living your one wild and precious life with intention.

In a way that is authentic to you and your personal values.

Sometimes only small shifts in perspective are needed. Other times big changes are needed.

The key is to shift and pivot with purposeful intention rather than from reactivity.

Then you end up in a place that you ultimately truly authentically want to be. Rather than somewhere that looks better than miserable.

Without burnout, many of us,

myself included,

might have continued to move forward on autopilot

doing what we thought we should do rather than what we were truly authentically meant to do.

Many people I work with would not have stepped into their own lane,

and started shining and sharing their gifts and talents and wisdom with the world were it not for burnout pushing their hand to get help.

And the world and their families and they would have missed out.

If you paused and were present and took stock,

what would you discover that you or your children and perhaps or the world are missing out on?

At some point, burnout forces you to make a change.

If you do the work on yourself in response to burnout,

the work to change your automatic, habitual thought patterns,

which are often fueled by scarcity, negativity bias, and catastrophizing-

magical things can result.

It’s not a quick and easy journey, but when you show up curious, spacious, and open, incredible things happen.

Everyone in your sphere of influence benefits.