This episode won a 2025 Signal Award for Driveway Moment Podcast - it "demands you keep listening until the end, whether in your driveway or at your door." Other winners in this category include Mel Robbins & The Moth Radio Hour.

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Dr. John Mlinarcik, a psychotherapist and coach with over 45 years of experience, joins me to explore my deeply personal experience navigating burnout. In our conversation, we address what burnout is, what causes it, the path to recovery, and perhaps most notably - what it feels like.

I open the episode sharing my realization that I had reached a state of burnout, also examining the periods immediately preceding and following it. Dr. John introduces the three main dimensions of the condition: exhaustion, disconnection, and being ineffective at work. We then discuss predisposing factors and potential solutions to addressing and avoiding burnout.

Dr. John concludes the discussion by highlighting the importance of normalizing the experience, recognizing burnout as common and highly relatable.

Alexis closes out the episode with a spoken word she wrote, "I am a doer."

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In this episode:

• [2:06] Negative connotations of burnout
• [8:13] Alexis’ first experience with burnout
• [11:44] "Doers" get burnt out
• [17:30] Recognizing the signs of burnout
• [30:12] Dr. John: background
• [35:01] What is burnout?
• [40:37] Predispositions to burnout
• [47:45] The power of mindset and choice
• [52:42] Treatment for burnout
• [1:06:11] Normalizing burnout
• [1:08:54] Break of Art: "I am a doer" (spoken word)

Find Dr. John:

• PCS Global

References:

• Alexis' poetry: I am a doer
• Wikipedia: What is Burnout
• Maslach Burnout Inventory: About | Self Test
• Brene Brown: The Importance of Vulnerability
• Article: Why do kids ask so many questions?
• Viktor Frankl: Man’s Search for Meaning
• Adam Grant: There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing
• Emily & Amelia Nagoski: Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle (not highlighted in the show, but a FANTASTIC read)

Share your reactions + ideas for future episodes!