Your energy and well-being are worth investing in. Explore what recovery could look like for you: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Many people mistake burnout for personal failure, but the real issue is the quiet mismatch between the energy you actually have and the expectations you keep pushing yourself to meet.

Sarah Vosen gets to the core of why so many burned-out high achievers feel defeated: the math of your life stopped working long before you noticed it. When your energy drops but your expectations stay at their old setting, even simple days feel impossible. The conversation challenges listeners to ask what they believe they “should” be able to do and where those beliefs came from in the first place. How often are you measuring yourself against a past version of you? And what changes once you base your plans on your real capacity instead of the fantasy of unlimited output?

This episode is an invitation to rebuild self-trust by telling the truth about what you can actually give right now. Recovery begins when you stop assuming your worth hinges on productivity and start giving yourself permission to operate from reality. Sarah offers encouragement, clarity, and accessible next steps for anyone ready to release the shame of falling short and move toward days that feel doable again.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Understanding Burnout and Its Real Impact on High Achievers

02:55 How to Adjust Expectations for Better Burnout Recovery

05:45 Realistic Ways to Assess Your Energy, Time, and Capacity

09:13 Why Consistent Self-Care Supports Burnout Healing

11:54 How to Find the Right Support for Burnout Recovery

Links

If you’re ready to take the next step toward healing, you can explore 1:1 coaching with Sarah Vosen at https://www.bit.ly/unfriedcoach 

Download the Web of Causation Exercise to uncover the layers behind your burnout and begin creating your recovery plan: https://www.caitdonovan.com/freebie-web

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Your energy and well-being are worth investing in. Explore what recovery could look like for you: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

You don’t have to walk this road alone. https://caitdonovan.com/coaching connects you with Sarah Vosen, our Director of Coaching, who’s helped countless people reclaim their energy.

Fall can hit like a quiet emotional landslide as grief, guilt, and old heaviness rise to the surface and ask for release.

Sarah Vosen talks about why this season often feels heavier than we expect and how that weight points to emotion that never fully moved through the system. She highlights the way sadness, guilt, and that familiar tightness in the chest show up when the pace naturally shifts and the body finally has room to speak. What if those uncomfortable waves are your body reaching for relief instead of signaling something you did wrong? And how would your days shift if you treated that heaviness as guidance instead of something to outrun?

This episode offers a steady invitation back to release. Sarah focuses on the simple acts that help the body soften and recover its flow: tears that want to be felt, breaths that need more space, warmth when the cold settles in, hydration when everything feels dry, rest when your system begs for it, and the inner clarity that comes from paying attention to what you truly need. Fall isn’t a season for pushing harder; it’s a season for loosening your grip. Sarah gives listeners a grounded, compassionate framework for honoring that rhythm so they can move through this time with more ease and far less judgment.

Episode Breakdown:

00:02 Why Fall Triggers Grief, Guilt, and Emotional Burnout

03:10 How Chinese Medicine Explains Fall Emotions

06:55 How Unprocessed Emotions Create Seasonal Burnout

10:22 Deep Breathing Techniques for Emotional Release in Fall

13:41 Embracing Natural Cycles and Letting Go

Links

Want personalized support? Book an initial consult with Sarah and she’ll help you: 

• Name where your energy is leaking and what needs to stop.
• Explore whether a break, a shift, or a redesign is what your next move must be.
• Build the case to your HR or L&D department: Sarah provides a template letter you can customize (yes, she’s got a downloadable version on the website) and present so that you might get partial or full coverage for your coaching through organizational budgeting. 

Click here to book a session

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

You don’t have to walk this road alone. https://caitdonovan.com/coaching connects you with Sarah Vosen, our Director of Coaching, who’s helped countless people reclaim their energy.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout isn’t the end of your story. With Sarah Vosen’s guidance, recovery becomes not just possible—but sustainable. Learn more: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Burnout doesn’t end with a mindset shift—it begins when you finally allow grief, emptiness, and small sparks of joy to coexist without needing to fix any of them.

Author and speaker Cyndie Spiegel joins Cait to talk about what it means to live inside the gray area, the space where both pain and beauty can exist at once. She shares how walking away from a high-profile fashion career led her to teaching, writing, and discovering the idea of microjoys: brief, accessible moments of light that don’t erase hardship but remind us life still holds goodness. Together, they unpack how black-and-white thinking fuels burnout, why forced gratitude doesn’t work, and how simple awareness can shift everything.

What if healing starts with noticing what else is true? What might open up when you stop chasing “better” and start paying attention to what’s already here?

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Cyndie Spiegel’s Burnout Story in the Fashion Industry

08:35 Finding Purpose Through Yoga and Teaching

10:37 Writing A Year of Positive Thinking

16:08 The Birth of Microjoys

18:40 Finding Hope When Life Isn’t Okay

24:30 Living in the Gray: Holding Multiple Truths

32:54 Practicing Microjoys in Daily Life

39:21 Where to Find Cyndie Spiegel and Final Reflections

Connect with Cyndie Spiegel:

Cyndie’s Website

Follow Cyndie on Instagram

Connect with Cyndie on LinkedIn

Sign up to Cyndie’s Email List

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Burnout isn’t the end of your story. With Sarah Vosen’s guidance, recovery becomes not just possible—but sustainable. Learn more: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Healing happens faster with guidance. Give yourself permission to ask for and receive help: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Most people think they’ve failed at change when they’ve actually just hit the part where being human takes over.

Cait Donovan is taking a closer look at why behavior change is so hard to maintain and why relapse isn’t a sign of weakness but proof that your brain is doing exactly what it’s designed to do. She explains how old habits never fully disappear, they just sit quietly, waiting for a moment of stress or fatigue to reappear. Change takes effort, repetition, and compassion for the part of you that’s still learning.

Cait shares how progress depends on context and patience. A new habit might feel strong at home but crumble at work, and that’s normal. The real work isn’t about erasing the old pattern but building trust in your ability to return to the new one again and again. This episode is a reminder that being human is not the problem, it’s the process.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Understanding Why Behavior Change Feels Impossible

01:39 How the Brain Builds and Keeps Old Habits

04:10 Why New Behaviors Don’t Stick in Every Environment

06:20 Relapse as a Normal Part of Behavior Change

09:01 Final Takeaways: Being Human Is the Process

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Healing happens faster with guidance. Give yourself permission to ask for and receive help: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

You don’t have to carry burnout alone. The right support can help you breathe again—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse; sometimes it hides in the moments when you’re still performing, but your spark keeps flickering out, and that’s where this honest coaching session begins.

In this episode, Sarah Vosen sits down with Jennie, an attorney and mom unsure whether what she’s feeling qualifies as burnout. Together they unpack the World Health Organization’s markers of burnout—exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy—and what those look like in real life. Is it possible to feel functional yet fried? How do you know when your capacity is shrinking faster than you realize?

As Sarah guides Jennie through a clearer understanding of her patterns, practical steps begin to emerge: protecting space on the calendar, creating buffers between meetings, and rebuilding small habits that restore energy. The conversation also touches on the role of perimenopause in stress and recovery, giving Jennie a compassionate framework for why her old pace no longer fits.

The episode leaves listeners with a grounded reminder: burnout recovery isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing differently, one small boundary at a time.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 What Burnout Really Looks Like

04:10 Understanding the WHO Definition of Burnout

10:06 Small Doable Steps for Burnout Recovery

14:51 Setting Boundaries and Time Blocks That Stick

22:32 Learning to Control What You Can Control

25:14 Dropping Self-Judgment and Reclaiming Energy

34:54 The Connection Between Burnout and Perimenopause

39:36 Building a New Operating System for Sustainable Work

45:07 Grace, Compassion, and Real Recovery

Links

If you’re ready to take the next step toward healing, you can explore 1:1 coaching with Sarah Vosen at bit.ly/unfriedcoach 

Download the Web of Causation Exercise to uncover the layers behind your burnout and begin creating your recovery plan: https://www.caitdonovan.com/freebie-web

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

You don’t have to carry burnout alone. The right support can help you breathe again—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

You deserve to feel whole again. Sarah Vosen’s coaching can help you get there—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Admitting you’re burnt out can feel like failure, but as Heather learns in this live coaching session, it’s actually the first brave step toward freedom.

In this coaching conversation, she opens up about the shame of slowing down and the fear that rest will undo everything she’s worked for. For years, she’s equated effort with worth, believing that if she just pushed a little harder, she’d finally feel secure. Now, even basic motivation feels impossible, and the idea of taking a real break feels terrifying. Through grounded, compassionate coaching, Sarah Vosen helps Heather untangle the shame that keeps her stuck and recognize that burnout isn’t a reflection of weakness, it’s what happens when capacity runs out but expectations don’t.

The turning point comes when Heather admits she needs more time than she’s willing to allow herself. That moment of honesty marks the real beginning of recovery. This episode is a reminder that stepping back isn’t quitting; it’s choosing to rebuild your life at a pace that actually sustains you.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Fried: The Burnout Podcast

00:53 Live Coaching with Heather: Admitting Burnout

04:50 The Shame and Fear Behind Taking a Break

09:11 Capacity vs. Capability: The Core Burnout Distinction

15:17 When Burnout Becomes an Existential Crisis

20:24 Restoring Your Inner Ecosystem

22:24 Learning to Stop and Rest Without Guilt

25:07 Fear as a Symptom of Burnout

31:09 How Unconscious Coping Leads to Burnout

36:35 Taking the First Step Toward Recovery

41:01 Reframing Burnout as an Opportunity for Renewal

44:05 Reflections and Encouragement

Links

Sign up for our email newsletter and office hours invites 

Join our Facebook group

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

You deserve to feel whole again. Sarah Vosen’s coaching can help you get there—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout recovery isn’t about doing more—it’s about finding the right help. Begin here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Burnout convinces you that rest should be enough, and when it isn’t, you assume you’re broken.

In this #straightfromcait episode, Cait shares how a shoulder injury revealed a missing step in her own recovery process. Two months of full rest left her pain-free but not ready. When her physical therapist handed her one-pound weights and she could barely lift them, she realized the injury had healed, but her strength hadn’t returned.

That moment reframed everything. Most of us focus on the pause — the sleeping, the pulling back, the stopping. But recovery isn’t just the absence of strain. At some point, rest has to turn into rebuild. Gently. Slowly. Without ego. This isn’t about going back to who you were before burnout,  it’s about training for who you’re becoming.

If you’ve been wondering why life still feels heavier than it should, maybe nothing’s wrong with you at all. Maybe you’re not fragile,  just not rebuilt yet.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 What Burnout Recovery Gets Wrong About Rest

01:19 The Shoulder Injury That Sparked a Realization

02:22 Physical Therapy and the Wake-Up Call of Weakness

03:06 Rest vs. Rebuild in Burnout Recovery

07:12 Nutrition, Movement, and Mental Habits That Restore Capacity

09:09 Recovery as a Foundation, Not the Finish Line

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Burnout recovery isn’t about doing more—it’s about finding the right help. Begin here.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Sometimes the next step is simply asking for help. Sarah Vosen is here to guide you through it: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Burnout hides best inside people who love their work so much they don’t notice it draining the life out of them.

PGA coach and RGX founder Will Robins joins Cait to unpack how devotion to service can turn into slow-motion burnout, especially when you’re praised for being endlessly available. He shares how surviving the 2004 tsunami gave him purpose, but years later COVID thrust him into a different kind of survival mode, fielding nonstop crisis calls from golf pros worldwide. Passion became obligation, generosity became emotional labor, and saying yes became his default until resentment started to seep in. Together, he and Cait expose how burnout isn’t about workload—it’s about tension, expectations, and the belief that being needed equals being valuable.

They map a way back through honest boundaries, aligned priorities, and Will’s Scoring Method as a metaphor for life: stop swinging for perfection and focus on consistent, pressure-free plays. You'll hear practical language for saying no without guilt, a reframing of stress as a physical reaction rather than a personal failing, and a challenge to stop optimizing your recovery like another achievement project. If you're the “reliable one” who keeps muscling through, this episode invites you to build a life where people need you less, and love you more because of it.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Burnout and Purpose After Surviving the Tsunami

02:45 COVID Burnout and the Cost of Constant Service

08:04 Why High Performers Miss Burnout Signs

11:47 Burnout Culture in the Golf Industry and Beyond

17:31 Rebuilding Life with Faith, Health, and Family

21:02 Setting Boundaries Without Guilt

32:02 The Scoring Method for Life and Burnout

36:00 Mastering Emotional Regulation

Connect with Will Robins:

Will’s Website

Follow Will on Instagram

Connect with Will on LinkedIn

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Sometimes the next step is simply asking for help. Sarah Vosen is here to guide you through it: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Sometimes the bravest step is reaching out. Support is waiting for you here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Control shows up early in Christy’s story — first as protection, then as identity, and eventually as exhaustion. She has spent years anticipating other people’s needs, convinced that staying ahead of every outcome would keep things safe. Instead, it left her overextended and unsure how to take up space without earning it through service.

In this real-time coaching session, Sarah helps Christy notice the cost of constantly shaping herself around other people’s comfort. She isn’t confused about what’s wrong, she’s simply never been given permission to stop carrying so much.

The turning point comes when she names one commitment she quietly resents: a year-long carpool obligation she agreed to out of pressure rather than choice. Renegotiating that responsibility becomes the first act of repair. It’s not about convenience. It’s about finally allowing reciprocity.

This episode offers an honest look at the earliest stage of burnout recovery,  the moment you decide that exhaustion is no longer proof of goodness. One boundary. One ask. One hour of energy reclaimed.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Live Burnout Coaching with Sarah Vosen

01:15 Christy Realizes She’s Burned Out for the First Time

04:30 Control and Codependency as Burnout Fuel

09:00 Parenting Crisis and Emotional Breaking Point

16:00 The Tree of Life Exercise for Energy Awareness

23:45 Naming Resentment and the Carpool Boundary

29:00 Learning to Delegate Without Guilt

37:30 Choosing Discomfort That Leads to Recovery

40:00 Final Reflection: What Will You Prune from Your Life?

Links

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

Sometimes the bravest step is reaching out. Support is waiting for you here: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The right support changes everything. Our Director of Coaching, Sarah Vosen, combines expertise and compassion to walk beside you: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Burnout recovery gets complicated as Sarah sits down with Janine, an anonymous guest who is more than halfway through medical leave but still unable to rest. She loves her team and takes pride in her work, yet the thought of returning to the same boss and culture fills her with dread. Even time away hasn’t quieted the anxious loop of questions: Should she go back? Ask for a different role? Step into something lighter? Or leave altogether? And how do you listen to the body’s warning signals when the brain insists you “should” push through?

Through thoughtful coaching, Sarah helps Janine notice how her nervous system responds to each option and what those reactions reveal about her deeper truth. The turning point comes when Janine recognizes she isn’t looking for more information, she’s been waiting for permission to trust herself. One small next step, like reading a book without interruption, becomes more than rest. It’s an act of self-leadership.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on the messy middle of burnout recovery. There’s no perfect plan or quick fix - just the slow work of honoring signals, taking honest steps, and remembering that rest isn’t earned, it’s allowed.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Real-Time Burnout Coaching with Sarah Vosen

02:11 Janine’s Burnout Story and Medical Leave Struggles

04:40 Recognizing a Toxic Work Environment

07:27 Should I Return to Work or Walk Away?

08:15 Financial Concerns and Early Retirement

12:10 Anxiety About Returning to the Same Boss

20:04 High Achievers and the Pressure to Recover Quickly

24:52 The Trap of Maximizing Leave Time

31:11 Brain vs. Body: Who Do You Trust?

35:03 Learning to Trust Intuition and Body Signals

40:08 Creating Safety Through Small Choices

45:15 Choosing Restorative Activities Over Productivity

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait

Initial Call with Sarah

The right support changes everything. Our Director of Coaching, Sarah Vosen, combines expertise and compassion to walk beside you: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm