Most of us have been told that burnout is caused by overwork and that the solution is to rest, take a break or slow down. Set some boundaries. But what if that's only part of the picture? What if the very thing that made you good at your job - your values, your drive, your commitment to never letting anyone down - is exactly what keeps burning you out? And what if rest, on its own, isn't enough to get you out?In this conversation with Nick Petrie, author, leadership researcher and burnout specialist, we go deeper than the usual burnout conversation. Nick has interviewed hundreds of leaders across high-stakes professions, and his findings challenge almost everything we think we know about why burnout happens and what recovery actually requires.We cover:Why high values alignment is a burnout risk, not a protection - and why caring deeply about your work can mean you have no brakeThe "outdated success formula" - the beliefs and behaviours that got you here, and why they stop working as the stakes get higherThe burnout curve: first, second, and third degree - and how to recognise which stage you're at before your body decides for youThe 1-1-1 mechanism: a simple, pre-scheduled way to build recovery into a life that otherwise never stopsWhat post-burnout growth actually looks like, and why the version of you on the other side of burnout can be more sustainable than the one before itThis episode is for you if the drive that makes you good at what you do is also the thing that makes it impossible to stop. This episode may help you understand why our ingrained programming - the one that says delivering, caring, and never letting people down is what makes us safe - is something we can actually look at and decide whether to keep.📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ 💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear itMentioned in this episode:🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold

Every doctor and high-achieving professional knows what it feels like to lie awake with a brain that refuses to stop - replaying a decision made that afternoon, running tomorrow's list at midnight, scanning ahead for what might go wrong. Our ingrained programming tells us that more thinking keeps us safe and keeps things running. But there is a cost to that, and our analytical brains (the very thing that makes us good at our jobs) may be the reason we can't rest.In this conversation with Giles Croft, former NHS surgeon and coach, we explore what happens when the brain's analytical, planning, threat-scanning part takes over completely - and what your right brain already knows how to do that most of us have never been properly introduced to.We cover:The difference between left-brain and right-brain consciousness, and why doctors and high achievers are trained to default to the analytical modeGiles's own experience of a TIA - and what the temporary loss of his left brain revealed about the default state that sits underneath all the thinkingWhy "just stop overthinking" is advice that doesn't reach the actual problemHow the brain "pre-lives" the future, and why this feels like vigilance but functions like anxietyWhat it actually feels like to step out of left-brain dominance - and the small, practical ways to do itWhy our default state is not stress - it only feels that way because we've been away from calm for a long timeThis episode is for you if you lie awake replaying a conversation with a colleague, a patient or a client; if you find yourself planning three weeks ahead on a Sunday evening, or even on holiday, your mind is running its usual commentary. What we discuss may help you understand what is really beneath all that noise, and whether the calm you're looking for has been there the whole time.📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/membersAbout Giles Croft:Giles is a former NHS surgeon and coach who works with individuals and organisations on the human experience of work. His firsthand encounter with a transient ischaemic attack gave him a unique, embodied understanding of how the brain's different modes of consciousness shape our wellbeing. He helps people understand how they are experiencing the world - and who they really are. Find Giles at https://www.gilespcroft.com/.Mentioned in this episode:🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

Boundaries aren't walls. They're fences. A wall keeps everyone out. A fence has a gate, and it's yours to open or close, if you're willing to hold it when someone pushes.That idea comes from this conversation with Dr Sarah Coope, recorded for the Your Coaching Journey podcast. Sarah talks about her own route into coaching, what twenty years of coaching doctors has taught her about self-worth, and why so many of us try to fix things that were never ours to fix.In this episode:How a magazine advert led Sarah to her first coaching session, and the moment she realised she had different values to the people around her"Fruit stapling" — Sarah's analogy for behaviour change that skips the real work underneathWhy boundaries are fences, not walls, and what actually gets in the way of holding themThe difference between being a rescuer and being a coach, and what it costs doctors to be the formerWhy Sarah tells every doctor thinking about a coaching qualification: "it starts with you"Sarah Coope is a former GP, leadership coach and mediator who leads the training behind the podcast. Helen Leathers is a Coach, Trainer and Facilitator for Your Coaching Journey - an organisation providing transformational coaching training for doctors. Find out more about their upcoming courses here and use the code FROGSPAWN to get 20% off a live coaching course.NOTE: We're affiliate partners with Your Coaching Journey, which means we get a small commission if you use our code. We wouldn't pass this on if we didn't think it was genuinely worth itMentioned in this episode:🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

There is one belief that keeps high achievers stuck in burnout long after they should be recovering - the belief that burning out means they failed.This is a live panel discussion from the Burnout Free Working Conference — an unscripted conversation about what burnout recovery actually requires, why the self-blame makes it impossible to start, and the single reframe that changes how you see every struggling colleague, including yourself.We cover:Why burnout is not a personal failing — and what the evidence actually says about where it startsThe clinical difference between burnout and depression, and why the label matters less than most people thinkWhy asking struggling colleagues to "reach out" puts the burden in exactly the wrong place - and what "reaching in" looks like insteadThe shift from "difficult colleague" to "colleague in difficulty" - and why that single reframe changes how you respondWhat the fear of saying no looks like versus what actually happens when you doWhy bearing witness, without trying to fix, is itself a genuine interventionWhat burnout recovery actually requires — and why it can't start until the self-blame doesThis episode is for you if…You're a high achiever in a high-stakes role who has started to wonder whether the exhaustion you're carrying is something more than tiredness - or whether the reason you can't seem to recover is that somewhere, underneath the fatigue, you've decided the burnout was your fault. This conversation will give you permission to put down the belief that you’ve been carrying, and the language to start again.About Dr Richard DugginsDr Richard Duggins is a consultant psychiatrist in medical psychotherapy and the author of Burnout Free Working. He has spent his career working with clinicians and high achievers in burnout - exploring not just the exhaustion, but the shame and self-blame that makes recovery so much harder. Get Richard’s book here: Burnout-Free Working: Your Expert Guide to Thriving in a Stressful Workplace.About Dr Chris TurnerDr Chris Turner is an emergency medicine consultant, co-founder of Civility Saves Lives, and a TEDx speaker whose work on culture, behaviour, and psychological safety in healthcare has reached hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Learn more about Chris’s work with Civility Saves Lives here: https://www.civilitysaveslives.com/📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear itMentioned in this episode:🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for DoctorsAm I Stressed, Overwhelmed... or Burning Out? Get honest with yourself — discover what’s really going on, and what to do next.

There's something most leaders do - we avoid the conversation that needs to be had. We care too much about the wrong things: how the other person will react, whether it will make things awkward, whether we'll be the one blamed if they go off sick. Our ingrained programming tells us that keeping the peace is the same as keeping the relationship, but it isn't.In this episode, Joe Weston is back for round two to explain why conflict avoidance - the silence, the corridor moaning, the feedback we give and immediately want to apologise for - is itself a form of conflict. And what it actually sounds like to hold someone accountable without becoming someone you don't like.We cover:Why avoiding difficult conversations feels kind but functions as a form of conflictThe difference between confrontation (which can deepen a relationship) and conflict (which breaks one)How to hold someone accountable without triggering their fight-flight-freeze responseWhy focusing on behaviour — not the person — changes everything, and exactly what to say insteadThe "difficult middle bit": what to do when someone gets defensive, and you want to back downWhy doctors, nurses, vets, and other professionals already have the skills for hard conversations — just not yet with their colleaguesHow small, intentional acts of relationship-building change the culture around accountability over timeThis episode is for you if... you're a senior manager, doctor, nurse, vet, dentist, or any high-achieving leader who has rehearsed the conversation in your head, convinced yourself it wasn't the right moment, and watched the problem get worse instead. You know something needs to be said. You just haven't found the version of yourself that can say it yet. This episode may help.📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear itMentioned in this episode:🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for DoctorsAm I Stressed, Overwhelmed... or Burning Out? Get honest with yourself — discover what’s really going on, and what to do next.

A doctor emailed me recently, she's been in medicine for 25 years, and the question she asked was one I've heard in a hundred different ways: "Am I a snowflake?"She felt a great deal of shame about finding things hard - something I see time and time again in high achievers. Like the feeling that not coping is proof of something wrong with you. A character flaw. A sign you've gone soft.But the data tells a different story. In a survey we did of over 600 health and social care professionals, nearly one in three worried about whether they or their team would cope with rising workloads. One in three. That's not a snowflake problem - that's a system problem.In this Quick Dip, I unpack why the shame about not coping is often more damaging than not coping itself. Why our ingrained programming tells us that we have to cope with everything, all the time, to feel good enough. And why protecting the appearance of coping - keeping the show on the road at all costs - will cost you more than any boundary ever could.We cover:• The "Am I a Snowflake?" question and what it really means• Why not coping is a sign of an empty tank, not a character flaw• The Superhero Delusion and how it keeps you trapped• Biscuit Boundaries and the Responsibility Trap• Why shame thrives when you believe you're the only one struggling• The stress curve and what it reveals about your limits• Why conflict feels more frightening than burnout for high achievers• The two stories of not coping - and which one costs you moreThis episode is for you if you've ever wondered whether you're the weak one. If you've been holding it together at work while feeling like you're falling apart underneath. If you've told yourself you just need to be more resilient, push harder, cope better - and it isn't working. You are not a snowflake. You never were.📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear itMentioned in this episode:🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors

When Aoife O'Brien is close to burnout, she doesn't want to stop. She wants to do more. One more task. One more thing to get through before she can stop. She says that's how she knows now - not the exhaustion, not the breaking point, but the acceleration. If you recognise that feeling, this conversation names what's actually happening. Not to add to your list. To give you a cleaner way to read what your own system is telling you.We cover:Why the urge to do more work is a signal, not a coping strategyImposter syndrome as a systemic trap - the beliefs you're swimming in so completely you don't know they're thereThe difference between burnout symptoms and burnout driversWhat happens when a leader decides to go home on time - and what that single act does to the people around themHow to start reading what your system is actually telling youThis episode is for you if you've been telling yourself you're coping fine - and some part of you knows that story is getting harder to believe. If you're a high achiever in a demanding role who has always mistaken acceleration for resilience. If you've never stopped to ask what the urge to just keep going is actually telling you.📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/Aoife can be found here:https://www.instagram.com/happieratwork.ie/ https://happieratwork.ie/happier-at-work-podcast/https://thrivingtalentbook.com/Mentioned in this episode:🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors🌞 [FREE DOWNLOAD] Summer Recharge Checklist for Doctors

You may have been counting down to summer all year, telling yourself that you just need to survive until your next holiday. You may have been looking forward to taking a pause and getting a chance to finally breathe.But when you get to your holiday, instead of feeling rested, you feel more exhausted, more overwhelmed, and more behind. And somewhere underneath the busyness, you might be thinking: what's wrong with me? Everyone else seems fine.Nothing is wrong with you - you just fell into the summer Urgency Trap - one of the seven Overwhelm Amplifiers that keeps high achievers stuck in the Responsibility Trap.In this episode, we break down exactly why summer increases pressure instead of relieving it, why you end up covering everyone else's work while your own recovery gets sacrificed, and the one practical shift that changes everything: time-blocking your rest as if it were as important as your most urgent patient or client.We cover:The Urgency Trap: how "urgent but not important" tasks hijack your recoveryThe long-term fix (the Responsibility Trap) vs. the quick fix you can start todayHow to time-block rest, recovery, and buffer slots into your diary - and treat them as non-negotiable📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/membersMentioned in this episode:🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

If you've always felt like everyone else got an unwritten handbook about how to behave at work - and you've had to figure it out yourself, one interaction at a time - this episode is for you.This week, Rachel’s in conversation with Kirstie Pickles: vet, autistic ADHD professional, and EDI advocate. Kirstie was diagnosed as an adult - after years of masking in a high-stakes clinical role, performing competence while running on empty underneath.We talk about:What masking really costs - not just after one hard day, but across a careerNeurodivergent burnout: why it is different from regular burnout, and why the usual advice doesn't workThe shame of late diagnosis - and what it means to finally have a name for itWhat colleagues and leaders can do to make workplaces work for everyoneYou don't need a diagnosis to recognise yourself here. A lot of us in high-achieving, high-pressure roles have neurodivergent traits we have never had a name for. We just learned to mask through it.Our ingrained programming tells us to keep performing, keep adapting, keep looking like we're coping fine. But that performance has a cost - and it will affect your next decision, and the one after that.Different is not defective.🎙️ Listen to the full podcast: http://youarenotafrog.com/episodes/324📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/🐸 Get more episodes and resources by joining FrogXtraMentioned in this episode:🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

Burnout in high stress jobs isn't always about doing too much; sometimes it's about a belief you were never taught to question.You finished your day, finished (most) of your tasks, and you still can't switch off. Most people assume that's a workload problem, but the reason people in demanding roles like medicine can't genuinely rest isn't about how much they've done - it's about what they've been conditioned to believe about rest itselfIn this episode, Rachel introduces the Superhero Delusion: the conviction that the rules about rest apply to other people. Not to you. She explores how that belief was built, why burnout recovery starts with understanding rest differently, and what sustainable work actually requires.We cover:Why you can't switch off - and why workload isn't the real reasonThe Superhero Delusion: the conviction that the rules about rest apply to other people, not youHow the belief that rest has to be earned gets installed - and who installed itWhat sustainable work actually requires (and it isn't more discipline)This episode is for you if you're the person who has to be on even when you're officially off. Who takes annual leave and spends the first two days mentally finishing the handover. Who lies awake replaying the list of things that didn't get done - and is still asking whether any amount of done would ever feel like enough.📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/Mentioned in this episode:🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training