The Legge Up Podcast

Introduction

Welcome back to the third episode of our Educator Series. I have Lindsay Morhart back with us today and I’m excited to dive back into this conversation we’ve been having about educator burnout, and the evolving role of parents in the system.

The Changing Role of Parents

Before delving into educator burnout, Lindsay and I discuss the evolving role of parents in the education system over the years. We both reflect on the involvement of our parents being minimal, unless a teacher-initiated contact. Despite teachers spending most of a child’s day with them, their opinion has decreased in parents’ eyes, and behaviors often show that they don’t think what the teacher says is important or accurate, leading to more stress on the teacher’s end.

Parenting Challenges

Tevi and Lindsay candidly discuss the challenges parents face today, highlighting the fear of letting kids fail despite the importance. Tevi admits her guilt in this aspect, and both emphasize the need for children to experience failure as part of learning and growth. The conversation also touches on the societal shift where parents often blame teachers for their child’s struggles.

Building Resilience in Kids

Lindsay advocates for encouraging kids to sit with their emotions and learn from failures. They discuss the societal trend of recording and sharing mistakes of others for attention and likes, impacting both children and adults negatively. The hosts emphasize the importance of allowing kids to fail, fostering resilience – not the bounce back definition, but being ok with sitting with the emotions - and learning from mistakes.

Humanizing Teachers

Lindsay stresses the importance for teachers to be authentic with their students’ parents. Parents need to recognize that teachers are human too, dealing with their own families and challenges, while also helping grow and educate our children. Communicating from shared experiences helps build understanding and support for both educators and parents.

Recognizing Burnout in Educators

We delve into signs of burnout among educators, including noticeable changes in body language, energy, and the emergence of cynicism. Lindsay emphasizes the need for leaders to create positive culture within schools, fostering an environment for fun and support. “I can’t work in a place that’s not fun. If I’m not laughing, I am not surviving,” Lindsay shares. We talk about tools for learning the strengths of our team and utilizing them to support a healthy culture.

Supporting Burned-Out Educators

We discuss the importance of feeling heard, seen, and valued in the workplace, touching on the challenges educators face, sharing personal experiences, and encouraging admins to be attentive to the red flags indicating burnout. Touching on what causes a culture of one-upping, which leaves team members constantly striving to outdo, rather than settling into their strengths and thriving there.

Encouraging Vulnerability

Lindsay and I underscore the value of vulnerability, both for parents and educators. Sharing personal stories, Lindsay advocates for seeking help when needed, emphasizing the importance of mental health resources available to parents, families, and teachers. She offers valuable advice for educators feeling burned out, emphasizing the significance of acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay. “I feel so lucky that I was able to recognize when my emotions were irrational.”

Conclusion

I know so many people are going to glean so many nuggets of value from the experiences she shares and the wisdom she imparts. Thank you for listening and thank you to Linds for joining us. We’ll talk again soon, and as always, don’t forget to live your lives lit! 🔥

StrengthsFinder 2.0 | EN - Gallup

Free Personality Test | 16Personalities

Introduction

Today we’re diving into a crucial topic; burnout among kids, teachers and schools. Joining me is Cali Boyle, a close friend, a dedicated educator, and mother. As a grade one teacher with a four-year-old son, she brings a unique perspective to the challenges facing teachers, students, and parents alike as they navigate the pressures of the classroom.

Challenges Faced by Teachers

Cali does not claim to be an expert in this area, but as a working parent and educator, she has firsthand knowledge of how modern-day stressors are affecting teachers. She shares that education tends to attract people who care a lot, have very high standards for themselves, and love learning, which pushes them to keep up with all the latest information and learning strategies. Couple that with all the daily stressors at work, and teachers all over the world are struggling to find the joy that led them to teaching.

Impact On Children

Burnout in the parents is perpetuating into our kids and we don’t even realize it. This shows up in behavioral issues, which often manifest in the classroom setting. It’s a perpetual cycle. Children don’t have enough time in nature; for exercise; unstructured play; time to just be kids; to be creative and be bored, all of which help kids to regulate themselves.

Strategies for Well-Being

Cali discusses the practices she adopts for her well-being, as well as the strategies she implements in her classroom. Meditation, hypnotherapy, affirmations, and tapping form a part of her routine both for herself and her students. If we’re not careful we’ll create a generation of children who are burned out by the time they’re 20. Cultivating strategies for ourselves as parents and educators, but also teaching these strategies to our students is important.

Recognizing Burnout in Kids

Recognizing burnout in kids is crucial. What often shows up in the classroom are signs such as tiredness, irritability, anxiety, and relationship issues. These can indicate a deeper problem in a child that needs to be addressed. Look for ways to build routine around simple connection – reading a book together before bed instead of an audiobook or chatting in the car instead of turning on a podcast. Fostering connection will go a long way in helping a child regulate.

Practical Tips for Parents and Educators

As an educator, Cali recommends setting hard limits for yourself when it comes to when/where you choose to work. Prioritize eating well, sleeping well, and finding time for play and creativity. As parents and educations, it’s important to practice what you preach. Get to know yourself, how you function, what recharges and what drains you, and get to know your kids like this too.

Conclusion

When our nervous system is dysregulated, we will dysregulate our kids’ nervous systems as well. It’s important to be conscious of yourself and how you’re showing up for your kids. If you’re cynical and not finding joy in the things you used to, it’s time to stop yourself and look into getting the support you need so you can keep it from transferring to your kids.

Be sure to check out the resources Cali recommended for parents and educators as you work toward keeping you and your children from burnout, and as always, let’s live our lives lit! 🔥

Do Schools Kill Creativity? - Ted Talk by Ken Robinson

Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators by Alena Aguilar

Podcast – Sold A Story

Science of Reading-What I Should Have Learned in College | Facebook

The Zones of Regulation | A Curriculum For Emotional Regulation

Introduction

Welcome to the Educator Series! In this episode, Tevi sits down with her dear friend, Lindsay Morhart, a seasoned educator and administrator with 22 years of teaching experience. Lindsay sheds light on the challenges faced by educators, especially in the context of burnout and the ever-evolving landscape of education.

The Current Struggles

Lindsay begins by sharing her journey from teaching to administration, and the inherent difficulties faced in her current role. Working in a school dealing with the aftermath of intergenerational trauma from residential schools, Lindsay emphasizes the daunting responsibilities educators in her region shoulder. Teachers, she notes, are not feeling adequately supported within the existing system.

Teacher Burnout Realities

Perhaps, at the root of burnout in teachers, is the guilt teachers carry in knowing that they simply can’t do everything and be everything they need to be for each student. Lindsay highlights real stories of teachers feeling undervalued and unsupported, leading to emotional breakdowns. The weight of responsibility often spills over into their personal lives, creating more guilt as they see how it is affecting their families.

Setting Boundaries

Tevi and Lindsay stress the importance of educators setting boundaries at school to prevent burnout. Teachers must recognize their limitations and shed the “saviour complex” to avoid the weight of unrealistic expectations. Lindsay advocates for a shift in perspective, urging educators to meet students where they’re at when they can, without shouldering the burden of saving everyone. Teachers are trained educators, not trauma experts. It’s important for them to remember that.

The Value Exchange

Education has undergone substantial changes over the years, creating challenges for teachers to keep up. Tevi talks about the importance of the “value exchange” - the ability to articulate how one’s actions add value to a system or environment. When leaders push change without also articulating the value exchange well, people are left hanging with an inability to see how what they’re doing matters. Both hosts discuss the common feeling of being pushed toward change simply for the sake of change, often without a clear understanding of the reason behind it, or the value it brings.

Government Priorities

Lindsay raises valid concerns about government priorities, criticizing the current focus on superficial issues like flagpoles, poppies, and pronoun policies, rather than addressing the real challenges being faced daily by educators. Funding issues, and how the funding is distributed, further exacerbates the problem, leaving teachers without the necessary support to handle complex student needs.

Supporting Burned-Out Educators

Tevi and Lindsay explore ways society can recognize and support teachers to protect them from burnout. “If we don’t take care of the people who are taking care of our children every day, the future is going to be grim,” Tevi states. Lindsay advocates for parents to band together, attend rallies, and collectively use their voices to pressure the government for necessary changes. The importance of understanding and appreciating the challenges faced by teachers is underscored.

Conclusion

This episode was just a sliver of the issues teachers are facing. There is a lot more to talk about, and we will dig into this more in the next few episodes in our Educator Series. We can’t stress enough the urgency of recognizing and addressing these challenges before they escalate further, and we look forward to continuing the conversation. Stay tuned for further episodes in our Educator Series, and until then, live your life lit. 🔥

Introduction

Welcome back to the Burnout Lab. We are all about living our lives lit – especially in 2024. In the first episode of this calendar year, I shared a little bit about burnout and my aspirations for this podcast and all the exciting things we have planned for the year. Today we want to talk about some of the stats around burnout and what we’re seeing in regard to burnout in women.

Breaking the Stigma

As a podcaster, I've received so much encouragement from people who didn’t know they weren't the only one out there struggling with burnout. This proves the importance of sharing our stories openly. Let’s get comfortable with sharing our stories out loud, even if it’s only one or two people. This is the only way we will break the stigma around mental health.

A Humorous Diversion

I am not a professional. I have experienced burnout myself, and I rely on professionals to help me navigate it. So, if you’re looking for professional advice, this is not the place. However, if you’re looking for some humor, you may want to check out my previous episode, F-Bombs, Kibbles, and Meds, Oh My! We probably had all the wrong advice, but we share real experiences of being human with you.

Women and Burnout

50% of female employees and 53% of managers said they were burned out at work. That’s half the work force! If you’re an executive or a leader in an organization and you are not doing anything to combat burnout, get off your ass and start doing something! Nearly 40% of women actively seeking new employment cite burnout as the primary reason. Our systems are built on patriarchy, but the 9-5 was not build for women, especially not for working moms.

The Invisible Mental Load

Emily and Amelia Nagoski’s book, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, provides valuable insight into navigation the challenges of burnout, and I highly recommend it. Drawing from personal experience, as a mom with three kids, the juggling act of morning routines, work, and post work responsibilities often falls disproportionately to women. When we consider this load, it’s no wonder women are burned out. We can’t do it all, and we shouldn’t want to do it all.

Tevi’s Burnout Experience

I share my experience with burnout and highlight the symptoms that manifested as I was deep in it, and what my cycle of burnout looked like. These are things to watch for in yourself if you’re wondering whether you’re burned out or headed in that direction. Burnout’s common causes – workload, overwork, lack of control, unreasonable demands, and discriminatory behaviors, lack of flexibility – are on the agenda for exploration in upcoming episodes.

Conclusion

We have lots to unpack this year. There are more statistics and more facts to come regarding women and burnout, so stay tuned – like, subscribe, join the community on social media. Lots more great content to come, so until next time, live your life lit! 🔥

Introduction

Welcome back to the Burnout Lab. Today, we’re diving deep into the realm of burnout with the incredible Brandi Andrews, the owner and heart behind Key Connections in Lethbridge, Alberta. She’s bringing a very experienced and clinical perspective around burnout to the show with lots of rich information to share with us.

Brandi’s Universe

Brandi, the multi-hyphenate wonder – mom, daughter, sister, friend, auntie, niece, co-parent, supervisor, and colleague shares her excitement to be with us, as well as what drives her in life to achieve all she has accomplished. A registered clinical social worker since 2002, she co-directs Key Connections, where coworkers are grateful for her authenticity, as well as her drive to create balance and intent for those around her.

Burnout Unveiled

Brandi breaks down burnout from her perspective, unveiling its complex layers beyond the workplace. Burnout isn’t just job-related; it’s a state of suffering. It’s a heavy weight on the soul, where hopelessness and helplessness dominate thoughts and feelings. Instead of dodging those uncomfortable feelings, Brandi urges us to sit with them, acknowledge them, and, most importantly, feel them authentically.

Protectors

Brandi reveals the concept of protectors, those inner coping mechanisms designed to protect us from pain and turmoil. It is emphasized that as humans, we need to acknowledge that we have no bad parts. All parts of us exist for a reason. When we acknowledge this, we can have compassion and curiosity toward those parts.

Breaking Free from Protector Mode

Brandi’s prescription involves digging deep into the root emotions, acknowledging thoughts, and sitting with our vulnerabilities. Unprocessed stress lingers in our nervous system, so Brandi advocates for daily restorative practices to nurture our mental health. “We take care of our teeth on a daily basis, so how the hell are we not taking care of our mind with such intensity? Our mind runs the show, so how are we not giving our mind the same attention as our teeth?”

Processing Trauma and the Power of Breath

As I share the lingering symptoms I have experienced from a recent trauma, Brandi stresses the need to process even the little traumas, or “Little ‘t’s” and advocates for mindfulness and deep breathing as powerful tools for mental and emotional shifts in those moments, but also in the moments we are feeling calm and relaxed. Practicing these things throughout the day around even the little decisions will give us better success in implementing them during times of stress.

Recognizing Burnout

In the throes of burnout, recognizing stressors becomes challenging. As Brandi and I chat, I come to the realization that I can schedule daily pauses right into my Google calendar as a way to force myself to stop and ask where I am operating from in that exact moment. Am I operating from a place of authenticity, or am I working from my hyper-productive protector mode? Daily pauses, and implementing a body scan to identify tension points, can be a helpful self-awareness routine.

Closing

Thank you, Brandi, for sharing your wisdom with us. It was so helpful! To all our listeners, may you find your find your path to authenticity and living from your true self. Until next time, don’t forget to pause for some deep breathing, and as always, live your life lit! 🔥

Key Connections

A skilled therapist can really support you in determining the root of what is causing internal stress. At Key Connections, they have different techniques based on the level of trauma individuals have faced. With a team of 40, each team member comes with a different skillset, so there is help for every individual.

Key Connection therapists are available online, or for in-person sessions. If you are battling burnout, or simply want help in creating daily practices to prevent it, contact the intake coordinator, Tracy, at Key Connections with any questions you might have.

Introduction

Welcome back, Burnout Lab Community! Can you believe it’s 2024? As we step into this New Year, let’s shake off the burnout blues and dive into a fresh, fun, and fabulous mindset. It’s time for us to re-write the script on well-being and recognize burnout for what it is – a wakeup call. A call to take action and embrace self-care like we never have before. 2024 is the year that I - and I hope to inspire you too as well - plan to live life lit! 🔥

Exciting Upcoming Series

We have some exciting things planned for 2024: An Educator Series, an Athlete Series, and even a deep dive into Mental Wellness for Men leading into June. I’m also looking into dissecting how the patriarchy is creating burnout. It’s going to be good, so get ready for insightful discussions and fresh perspectives.

Burnout: A Universal Experience

Celebrity status does not make you immune to burnout. Financial abundance does not make you immune to burnout. Regardless of status, we have to learn to let ourselves feel our feelings and connect with our true selves.

Balancing Information Consumption

Stay informed on current events, but do not overconsume the distressing news that is happening in the world. I urge you to set boundaries, filter your media intake, and seek balance between awareness and mental well-being. Learn what’s distressing you and what’s making you laugh, and don’t be afraid to mute and avoid those who are causing you distress.

2024 Resilience and Self-Care

Let’s redefine resilience – yes, we want to bounce back, but not quickly. Take time to move through it, feel the emotions you’ve been avoiding, and connect with your true self. Take a breath and stay calm and happy a little longer. Regardless of societal pressures, prioritize mental well-being. Introduce some self-care strategies such as scheduling pauses into your day, or setting physical boundaries between work and home, especially if you work from home.

Seeking Support

If you’re feeling like you don’t have the support you need, keep looking for it. I found a great psychologist who helped me, a great family doctor, my psychiatrist, and online resources. I read this great book, Burnout – Breaking the Cycle, which I highly recommend, and podcasts like this one. These can be lifelines. Find your support network and know that you are not alone.

Lots on the table for 2024. I’m really looking forward to working with the community and would love to connect with you, my listeners. Feel free to reach out and let me know what you’d like to hear from me. Let’s get ready for a fulfilling and joyful year ahead! - let’s get ready to live life lit. 🔥

Introduction

Welcome back to another episode of the Burnout Lab. Today we have the amazing Jennifer McCarthy on the show – a former interior designed turned thriving entrepreneur at the helm of Teacup Tiny Homes. Jen’s journey through personal loss, entrepreneurship, and burnout is nothing short of inspiring. Let’s dive into her story and discover all the wisdom and insight she has for us!

Jen’s Journey

Jen’s journey began at the age of 19 within residential construction and evolved through various roles within that industry. In 2016 Jen took the bold leap of faith into the realm of entrepreneurship, an adventure that coincided with the news of her second child on the way, just before Teacup Tiny Homes made its official debut. In 2021, a profound loss reshaped her life and acted as a pivoting point, significantly reshaping her daily life and overall outlook. As a highly ambitious person, Jen was struck with relief when someone was bold enough to tell her that she was burnt out. “I was always running, chasing, and pushing,” she shares, “Hearing that I was burned out was like a sigh, because I finally knew that there were people who knew how to fix what I was feeling.”

The Dark Side of Hustle Culture

Jen challenges the idea of hustle culture, advocating instead for balance and self-care. She unravels the science behind burnout – chasing those needed dopamine hits – and suggests instead the high value of getting enough sleep. Burnout can creep in when you are in the thick of the worst of times, but also in the best of times when you are fully aligned with who you are but are simply not making space for rest and what that means for you.

Navigating Change and Making Small Pivots

Change is constant, and embracing it is part of being human. Jen and I both share our experiences of breaking through walls of fear to find freedom and embrace changes. We discuss the importance of recognizing when your current path no longer aligns with who you are and making small, intentional changes toward alignment. Not everyone is able to leave their current job, but you can fill your cup in other ways.

Slowing Down and Embracing the Journey

Jen advocates for slowing down in decision-making, emphasizing the value of patience. We encourage listeners to focus more on the present and avoid ‘shoulding’ themselves. We explore the idea that answers will come to you when they’re supposed to, and that nothing you are meant to have will pass you by. It will all be worked out when it needs to be.

Conclusion

Thank you, Jen, for sharing your journey and wisdom with us. This conversation has been enlightening, and we can’t wait to have you back so we can dive deeper into The Life Audit Method. Until next time, don’t forget to live your life lit! 🔥

Connect with Jen

In this podcast, Jen shares with us her Life Audit Method, an online training program used to analyze and assess every portion of your life, from your finances to your job, and even your family and kids. This program was created as Jen learned how to cope and heal from burnout and includes a spiritual component that looks at what you are thinking as well as what you are projecting into the universe. You can learn more about The Life Audit Method by following Jen on Instagram, @therealjennymccarthy, or following @lifeauditmethod where the course can be found.

Introduction

Welcome back to another episode. I’m thrilled to welcome my very special guest, Jen Aquila, who is not only a dynamic human being but also an active mom and a pillar in our local community. Jen is here to chat with us today about strategies for preventing burnout by making intentional choices around the structure of your life and sharing with us how she lives life on her own terms.

Jen’s Journey

Jen takes us on her journey from being an elementary school teacher to embracing the life of entrepreneurship. A true mompreneur, she shares her experiences in finding balance between family and work. Jen’s story is a testament to taking risks, aligning with passions, and making intentional choices that pay off in the long run.

Embracing Changing Passions

Jen drops some truth bombs about how her passions have evolved throughout her life. Her story encourages us not to feel guilty when what we once loved no longer lights us up anymore, and to follow through on the things that we are strongly drawn to. “What really lit me up is that I wanted to stay home,” says Jen, emphasizing the importance of being self-aware and really staying in tune with our passions.

Entrepreneural Boundaries

Building a business as an entrepreneur can cause us to unintentionally work around the clock, as Jen shares. Learning to draw boundaries is key. She sheds light on how her network marketing journey has allowed her to make money without working around the clock and burning out, challenging us to think beyond the 9-5 grind.

Embracing Change and Overcoming Fear

The world changes; everything changes, and that's ok. Jen shares with us her journey from photography to her current online business model and how she had to address the fear of what others think, as well as the fear that she would be “wasting” her years of education and training. Jen shares her best advice for those scared to take the risk and step away from their current jobs and encourages us to think less about how we look or sound and more about how what we are sharing could help those who are listening.

Empathy and Helping Others

As a podcaster, I have received so much encouragement from people who didn’t know they weren’t the only ones struggling with burnout. They have finally felt seen and understood, and it has been so amazing to hear from them. I never would have known the help I could bring if I hadn’t been willing to take the risk of putting myself out there, and the only way I got past that fear was thinking about how it would help others; how I could be for someone else what I needed in my lowest moments.

Conclusion

I am thankful for the insight Jen has provided us in this podcast as we have both shared the risks we have taken to better ourselves and our lives. If you’re feeling inspired, don’t forget to subscribe, comment, and share the podcast. Until next time, live your life lit!🔥

Connect with Jen

https://www.instagram.com/jen.aquila/

Introduction

Welcome to another episode of The Burnout Lab. Today we have a fantastic guest, April Hicke, a recovering corporate ladder climber, as well as co-founder and chief growth officer at Toast. April shares her experiences with burnout, from corporate challenges to the entrepreneurial world, and her passion for empowering women in the tech industry.

April’s Journey

April highlights two significant burnout periods in her life. Discovering that existing systems weren’t built for women, especially working moms, led her to leave her corporate career and branch out on her own. I strongly believe that we need more women led startups in the world to drive systemic change. The more startups we have, the more change we can create to ease the burden on the women coming after us.

Entrepreneurial Boundaries

As an entrepreneur, April shares her insights into setting and maintaining boundaries, a task that falls solely on the individual. Recognizing signs of burnout within yourself, such as anger or irritability as April shares, becomes crucial. In her book, Drop the Ball, Tiffany Dufu emphasizes the importance of making a list of all the little things that are on our plate, and then seeing how many of these we can delegate to create some space for oneself.

Unique Challenges for Working Moms

There is a unique challenge to working moms that we call the invisible mother load. It’s this constant mental tally of family responsibilities, the burden of these micro-decisions, and the fact that nobody can take that mental load off us that adds layers to burnout for working moms. April shares with us her personal tips for coping.

Men Should Join the Conversation

We need more work from men to carry the load and jump into the conversation surrounding working moms and burnout. April and I discuss the fact that nothing will ever change in our current systems if men don't jump in and learn about these things. At the end of the day, men still dominate these spaces, specifically for women in tech, so they need to know what’s happening on the other side.

The Power of Me Too

“There’s a lot of power in simply saying ‘Me too.’” - April

I completely agree with April’s statement. So many people have messaged me and said they have felt so seen in these podcasts. They didn’t know other people felt this way, and they have been so encouraged. I’m overwhelmed by the responses and grateful for the opportunity to help people feel seen and known where they’re at.

Conclusion

A huge thank you to April for making time in her extremely busy schedule to be here and share her tips and tricks, and her stories with us. Being honest with each other, and authentic with how we show up is one of the most important things we can do.

If you found this helpful, don’t forget to subscribe, comment, or share the podcast, and be sure to follow April and head on over to Toast so you can stay up to speed on all the wonderful things they are doing.

Until next time, remember to live your life lit! 🔥

Connect with Toast

Website: https://www.trytoast.ca/

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/trytoast

Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu: https://www.amazon.ca/Drop-Ball-Achieving-More-Doing/dp/1250071739

Introduction

Today we have one of my nearest and dearest friends with us, Courtney Mihalicz. Courtney works as a communications manager, and is married with two kids, ages 8 and 10. As someone who has struggled through burnout herself, she is excited to be a part of this platform that will help others feel seen and understood in their struggle.

Together, we’re diving deep into the depths of burnout; we share stories of burnout and stories of resilience. We share the real and authentic things that happen as women when we are feeling burned out, and when we are diagnosed with clinical burnout.

Untangling Identity

Courtney reflects on the intertwining of identity and job roles, especially in relation to working mothers. She didn’t know who she was away from her job. It’s second nature for working mothers to introduce themselves first by the job they hold rather than their true identity as defined outside of their career. Courtney shares with us her own personal experience of losing her identity, and the journey she took to reclaim her life.

Silent Struggles

Opening up about her silent struggle, Courtney shares with us how she was faking it with most of her family and close friends – what should have been her safest place in the world – putting on a brave face while trying to hide her burnout. We reflect on the struggle of holding our pain inside for fear of burdening others who may be feeling the same pain inside and stress the importance of finding a professional who is trained to handle the weight of our struggles.

Seeking Help

The stigma around mental health and seeking support needs to be broken. “I’m as proud of myself for going to get help as I am for any of my performance in my job that year,” Courtney states. After sharing a personal story reflecting on how deep into burnout she had fallen, she emphasizes that professional help is what truly saved her.

Medication and Mental Health

We falsely compare our mental well-being with a broken leg at times, thinking we can throw a cast on it, give it some time to heal, and then be good to go again. Mental health is not like that, and we need to stop treating it that way. Courtney shares how her meds have helped her and how she is no longer in a rush to stop taking them.

Strategies for Untangling Identity

Focus on the things that are still going to be a part of your world after you retire; your kids and your family. Learn to stay in your lane and worry only about the things you can manage, and don’t be afraid to offload tasks that other people can do. “Work is just one tiny piece of me, and it’s not the most important piece,” Courtney shares.

Conclusion

In closing, I challenge you to engage in open conversations about burnout, recognizing that it is a shared experience. By sharing our stories, we can collectively work towards better mental health and resilience. We can evolve together. We can live our lives lit! 🔥