Burnout Recovery podcast

Ep#190 Burnout Proof

• Dex Randall • Season 4 • Episode 190

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If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem immune to burnout, this episode is your roadmap. I’ll walk you through the 10 key attitudes and practices that protect you from chronic stress, overwork, and frustration — and show you how to develop them for yourself.

These aren’t quick tips; they’re the personal traits and daily practices that create lasting resilience. You’ll learn why each one matters, how to put it into action, and how they work together to help you perform at your best without sacrificing your wellbeing.

From self-awareness and stress management, through emotional resilience, time management, and emotional intelligence, this is your practical guide to transforming how you work and live.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why prevention and recovery share the same core attributes
  • How to identify the biggest personal levers you can pull to improve your wellbeing
  • Practical steps to develop each of the 10 attributes
  • How shifting your mindset transforms your workplace experience
  • Where to start if you’re currently burnt out

Resources mentioned in this episode:

  • Burnout Recovery Powertools series — Episodes 155 to 166
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven R. Covey

Listen now and learn how to build your personal burnout-proof foundation.

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[00:00:00] Hi everyone. My name's Dex Randall, and this is the Burnout Recovery Podcast where I teach professionals to recover from burnout and get back to passion and reward at work.

[00:00:22] Hello, my friends. Today on the podcast, I want to talk about the attributes of a person who does not suffer burnout, who is not susceptible to burnout. And you can take this as a signpost. If you have chronic stress or burnout, this is who you will become when you no longer have that chronic stress, anxiety, overwork, frustration.

[00:00:47] This is all on the table, there's no barrier to entry to achieve this work except your own will. So listen up. As always, today I will offer you practical tools to develop these attributes. I want you to succeed at work and enjoy your life, right? And I'm gonna guide you towards that goal.

[00:01:07] I've been in burnout myself, I've had the resulting heart attack, and for me this is reason enough to help you and others not to drop into that same big black hole.

[00:01:21] Before we jump in, I want to mention a podcast miniseries I did earlier this year called Burnout Recovery Powertools. I covered the 10 essential skills you need that are very protective against burnout and will support your thriving at work.

[00:01:38] If you'd like to listen to, and especially learn and practice, these 10 skills, start at podcast episode 155, which will introduce you to the series, giving the what, why, and how. Then the following 10 episodes, we'll deep dive into each of these skills, helping you build strength and power with each skill that you use.

[00:02:03] Results can come very fast when you do this, but you must DO, not simply listen and consume. You need to practice until your MO starts to shift because burnout recovery is a transformation.

[00:02:20] So that's the Powertools. They're covered in episodes 155 through to 166 of the Burnout Recovery podcast.

[00:02:31] I'm always here if you need help! Reach out via my website dexrandall.com. You're welcome to come and talk to me about your challenges, and I do offer a one-on-one guaranteed burnout recovery or prevention program, that sets you up for a resilient and rewarding future in your career. Remember, burnout is both preventable and curable at a personal level.

[00:02:59] So don't stay in it. Who'd want that?

[00:03:02] I will say that once you experience this transformation and overcome burnout for good, it opens the path to a much more powerful people-centric style of leadership. So don't be a roadblock. Boost genuine trust and connection -become the multiplier of your team's performance. Because this is a career sweet spot that many leaders never reach! They're too embroiled in executive demands and day-to-day management of teams and projects.

[00:03:36] Okay, that's the Powertools series, packed with practical exercises to overcome your difficulties.

[00:03:44] Today we'll introduce the top 10 attributes to Beat Burnout, where I'm gonna talk about these 10 essential attributes and practices that you need to thrive. Why they're important to cultivate, what they can do for you and how to reach them to perform at your best.

[00:04:06] Recovering from or preventing professional burnout involves a combination of skills, practices, and mindset shifts that together effect this transformation in who you are being at work. And that relieves much of the pressure and drag that you've been experiencing.

[00:04:26] So it stands to reason then, if you are in chronic stress, overwork, anxiety, frustration, demotivation, then something isn't right. So there needs to be a series of adjustments in order for you to resurface and feel at your best again.

[00:04:46] Ideally, we would all have a workplace rich in psychological safety, creative cultural diversity, empowered and humanist leadership. A space that respects and values our skills, contribution, and unique abilities. Sadly, this panacea exists for few, it's counterculture, even those large organizations that are consistent proponents of an emotionally intelligent, progressive, and supportive workplace -for example, Google- they still have their share of employees in burnout and are not immune from toxic management practices.

[00:05:30] It's tempting then to blame our boss or organization or even the whole industry -big tech, medicine, law, or whatever- for our plight. And whilst this might have some validity, trying to change any of those is a big undertaking, above most of our pay grades.

[00:05:49] If we're exhausted and pissed off right now, we need to save ourselves first before considering the wider problem.

[00:05:57] This is why I feel it's better to look at the part of our burnout experience that we can personally control. That's what I did in burnout. I analyzed my situation for anything I could take responsibility for within myself that was contributing to my own suffering.

[00:06:18] I thought I would find very little. Friends, I was quite wrong, and here's why. Our experience of life is not created by the people, events, and environment around us. It's created by our perception of all those things and how we think they will affect us. Our perceptions are colored by the beliefs that we hold about ourselves, about other people and life in general.

[00:06:50] For example, if we've been brought up to believe that we are not worth listening to, we'll find evidence of this throughout life. We'll likely be quite quiet, holding back our ideas in meetings, for example. Every time we're interrupted or talked over, we're gonna feel invalidated. Even though that interruption says more about the other person and their needs than it does about us.

[00:07:18] Each of us is aware of only a tiny fraction of what happens around us. because we only see what our belief system expects to see. We only interpret it in a way that confirms our existing beliefs. So this is confirmation bias. We only see the world as we think it is, and you can see this actually as very good news because it suggests the blame that we have for a world that confirms our worst fears is at least partially misplaced.

[00:07:59] And therefore it's within our control to interpret what happens differently to our benefit -to create a better experience for ourselves.

[00:08:09] Here's an example. I had a senior hospital physician client whose boss criticized her for not being compliant enough to her performance plan. She thought he was attacking her for no reason when she was doing her best.

[00:08:24] So she concluded that an aggressive staff member must have told lies to him about her work and her attitude. She felt it looked like she was gonna lose her job.

[00:08:38] She and her boss had a couple of rather tense meetings and email exchanges that confirmed her worst fears.

[00:08:46] However, a little bit down the track, she discovered that her boss had been on her side all along, but he was still angry with the system about his own performance plan, how badly he had been treated, and the intense pressure he was under to fire staff and refill their positions.

[00:09:07] If I had $1 for every workplace conflict my clients have been able to reframe and resolve, simply by questioning their own beliefs, it's the only work I'd ever need to do.

[00:09:18] Seeing through your own bias is one huge win that puts power back in your own hands. Not just to beat burnout, but to diffuse your fear, conflict and blame, and create a resurgence in your enjoyment and success at work.

[00:09:37] Let me talk to you now about the 10 attitudes and practices that you might adopt, or consider adopting, that will help you transcend burnout and make your life easier and more fulfilling.

[00:09:49] And number one is self-awareness. Understanding the signs, triggers, and underlying causes of burnout.

[00:09:56] Let's compare this with fitness trackers for a moment. Until we had these, many of us thought we understood our own patterns of exercise, strength, stress, sleep, nutrition, and so on. I'm a triathlete, I was one of those people. But once we get a tracker, it's like we've had cataracts all our lives and have suddenly just had eye surgery. Our bodily and mental landscape gains new depth and clarity. We can respond to accurate insights into how our bodies work and what they need to perform at their best.

[00:10:34] Self-awareness lets us see outside our existing beliefs and become curious, open to the new, and that's what will help us transform our experience here.

[00:10:46] If you're a biometrics junkie, stay tuned. I do have an upcoming offer that links real-time biometrics to burnout recovery techniques via AI. And if you're a data-driven executive with too much stress, you're gonna love this instant feedback recovery path.

[00:11:04] But let's come back to the skills we need for self-awareness now.

[00:11:09] First of all, we need emotional intelligence to recognize and name our feelings -frustration, fatigue, irritation, whatever. We also need to be able to identify physical symptoms of stress in our body, such as headaches or insomnia, and we need to track thought patterns and beliefs, in our work and in life, that are causing us exhaustion.

[00:11:35] We need to get more in touch with the self-awareness of our own bodies, minds and emotions. Some practices that help with this: journaling our daily thoughts and emotions and experiences is quite helpful to gain that insight. Also, regular check-ins to assess our energy levels and mood.

[00:11:57] Recognizing when our thoughts reflect unhelpful beliefs. This is a practice you can develop over time. And reflecting on boundaries and unmet needs.

[00:12:10] So that's attitude one: self-awareness, seeing clearly what's going wrong.

[00:12:17] Number two then is stress management -effectively coping with chronic stress to avoid overwhelm.

[00:12:23] I'm assuming here that what you're doing now is not completely working, so the skills needed are: Becoming familiar with our stress response patterns; Recognizing when stress is escalating. Again, this is where a tracker can help, linking real time stress to real time recovery.

[00:12:43] Implementing stress reduction techniques, the tested and true deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation or vagus nerve resets. And releasing unhelpful beliefs that intensify stress and adopting new ones for quick relief.

[00:13:02] The practices that support this mindfulness or meditation, always good for self-awareness, grounding and clarity.

[00:13:10] Regular activity to release tension such as exercise or listening to music, or time in nature. Managing time effectively. For example, saying no to non-essential tasks. Reframing the problem and what you think is happening to find the greatest leverage that's going to uplift your experience and results.

[00:13:35] That's number two. Stress management, the pillar of burnout recovery.

[00:13:41] Number three, rest and recovery -replenishing energy and prioritizing physical health.

[00:13:47] Most of us can't switch off from obsessive, anxious thinking, but we can of course learn how to do that. Calming our body and mind allows us to truly rest and recharge.

[00:14:01] So the skills needed: Listening to and honoring your body's signals for rest; scheduling downtime without guilt, for example, through setting boundaries, saying no; reducing perfectionism; breaking free of compulsive anxiety, this is a special skill all of its own; and learning how to turn down the noise enough to actually refresh.

[00:14:28] Practices that support this: creating constant sleep routines is a good start. Abstaining from compulsively checking work messages all evening, all night. This is a really indispensable ninja skill that changes your life, and I can teach you how to make this stick. Pausing for creative breaks during work to recharge. If t sounds implausible, I can show you why and how to do it. Your professional status will paradoxically then flourish as your energy is freed up to contribute at a higher level than previously. Using vacation time to fully disconnect from work, emphasis on fully. If you do not have this skill, it's a great time to learn it.

[00:15:14] Rest and recovery is non-negotiable to living a great life and to transcending your previous best at work. In any case, don't you just wish you could rest and recover?

[00:15:29] So what's stopping you? Fearful thoughts? Maybe self-doubt or restless mind? Whichever it is, your system can be retrained and you can relax and enjoy. You're at base capable of doing that.

[00:15:45] You might just have to give up your quest to be invincible and save the universe on the way, but your results will improve across the board.

[00:15:54] I was speaking to a startup founder last week who dropped into burnout three years ago. He told me that luckily he'd had the resources to quit his job, take his family off to Thailand for a five month total break, because that's how long it took him to recharge.

[00:16:12] So that's terrific because he's now back at the helm of an exciting new startup and protecting his wellbeing much better.

[00:16:21] I will say my one-on-one burnout coaching program does not require you to quit your job and recovery is guaranteed in three months. Talk to me at dexrandall.com if this is what you want.

[00:16:36] That's three, rest and recovery, a fundamental requirement of wellbeing that underpins a returns are thriving.

[00:16:44] Number four, boundaries and assertiveness. Reclaiming control over your time, energy, and resources. The skills needed for this are saying no with confidence, often lacking in burnout. Communicating needs effectively recognizing, and rejecting toxic work dynamics. So this is about setting healthy boundaries. If you are overworking now, you need to brush up on all three skills, I would suggest, and I can teach you quite simply how to do this. And again, your status at work will rise once you nail them.

[00:17:25] You are really setting yourself up then for better leadership too. I'm thinking of Stephen Covey's, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Here, which my coaching is really quite aligned with.

[00:17:37] The practices that will support this: setting limits on work hours and availability. For most people, this very deeply uproots old habit. It's not just window dressing. You can do it step by step with simple methods that I teach.

[00:17:54] Protecting personal time for family, hobbies, and self care. If you're burning out, you've probably neglected your friends and hobbies and possibly even despair of family time. But this too can be fixed and don't you think it's worth it?

[00:18:10] Defining what is and isn't acceptable in work relationships. because the only person who can uphold your standards is you. People behave to any level that you tolerate.

[00:18:22] So that's number four. Boundaries and assertiveness. When you become assertive, not aggressive, not adversarial, you lift self-respect. And probably receive more respect and you'll enjoy being around people more.

[00:18:39] Number five, emotional resilience: managing negative emotions and building mental and emotional strength.

[00:18:48] The skills needed, first of all, taking responsibility for your own feelings and conversely, relinquishing responsibility for other people's feelings, which you do not create. This is a little bit releasing people-pleasing tendencies. Reframing negative thoughts into constructive perspectives.

[00:19:10] I mentioned this and under number two, stress management. It's amazingly powerful. Handling criticism of setbacks without personalizing them. I find this counterculture move intensely energizing. There's nothing truly wrong with you. Never assume that there is.

[00:19:33] The practices that support this: we start with gratitude, journaling to focus on positives.

[00:19:39] Sounds a bit hackneyed, but neuroscientifically and effectively hormonally gratitude puts us in the best space to learn new habits and grow, by stimulating our reward pathways that help us embed new habits in memory. It's a strong supporter of long-term resilience and wellbeing. Gratitude improves mood, social bonds, and reduces depression and anxiety.

[00:20:07] If you use a gratitude journal, investing in positive belief and allowing your body to feel into that gratitude, your life can only evolve.

[00:20:16] Engaging in hobbies or creating outlets that spark joy. This is an advanced technique that you may have to do by rote at the beginning, like long dog walks, or musical moments, even if you don't feel much like it.

[00:20:30] Over time, joy compounds with the increasing permission you give it.

[00:20:35] Building a support system for encouragement and validation. Because people respect you for your skills, but they connect with you through your flaws. No man is an island. Let people in. Chances are that even if you're super grouchy right now, people still care about you and would help you.

[00:20:55] So that's number five, emotional resilience.

[00:20:59] Number six, self-compassion. Letting go of perfectionism and treating yourself kindly. Skills you need: recognizing self-critical thoughts and replacing them with supportive ones. It's another ninja skill that forms the core of your personal and professional flourishing.

[00:21:19] I strongly encourage all my clients towards this self-compassion as the heart of their burnout recovery. Accordingly, allowing room for mistakes and learning. Let go of trying to protect yourself with perfectionism, becuse has it worked?

[00:21:39] The practices that support this you can practice letting go of perfectionism and self-criticism.

[00:21:45] You can seek coaching for deeper self understanding and growth, and you can celebrate wins and your intrinsic worth rather than focusing on shortcomings.

[00:21:56] That's six, self-compassion. If you do nothing else, do this.

[00:22:01] Number seven, alignment with values and purpose. Rediscovering meaning in work and life. If you've lost your mojo and you feel disenchanted, every day feels like a year of torment, doesn't it?

[00:22:15] I know you have passion buried deep inside you! Realigning yourself with what truly matters to you will bring that passion forth again. This is where fulfillment and reward return.

[00:22:29] The skills needed are simply identifying core values and passions and aligning your goals with personal fulfillment.

[00:22:40] Practices that will support this: regularly reassessing your drivers' priorities and commitments to stay on track. Not deviating from your values. So that requires saying no sometimes. Seeking alignment with others who are a good values fit to you. And engaging in activities that inspire and energize you.

[00:23:05] That's number seven, alignment with values and purpose.

[00:23:10] Number eight, connection and support. Building a network of meaningful relationships.

[00:23:16] There is nothing more important than this. Humans are pack animals physically, mentally, emotionally, neurologically, we need each other. We are wired for connection. Statistically, you may know that lonely people live 10 years shorter lives than others, and they suffer more accidents and more illness.

[00:23:40] In case you are fearful of connection, or perhaps traumatized by previous connection, take steps to heal your wounds and become brave enough to reach out once again because you deserve this.

[00:23:56] The skills needed are seeking help without shame or guilt. Because guilt's a signpost that you think you've done something wrong and corrections can be made, then, and apologies given.

[00:24:08] But shame is the big, hidden secret of burnout. It's always redundant and it can be very gently dismantled.

[00:24:17] Fostering mutually supportive relationships. When you have acquired the attributes I've spoken about in this episode centered around honoring and caring for your true self, setting boundaries, sticking to your values, it really becomes easier to define what relationships would work well for you. And now you have deeper skills to make those relationships work from authenticity and care.

[00:24:46] The practices that support this: talking openly with friends, family, or colleagues about your struggles. Sometimes you need to be selective, but this practice pays huge dividends. Joining peer groups or support communities. Coaching can be a strong part of this as a non-judgmental and supportive space. Seeking mentorship or professional guidance, for example, from a coach or from a senior at work.

[00:25:17] Personally, I believe in you already. I would be firmly in your corner before you even know how to do that for yourself.

[00:25:25] That's number eight. Connection and support. Don't stint on it would be my suggestion.

[00:25:31] Number nine, time management and focus: creating structure and productivity whilst avoiding unnecessary stress.

[00:25:41] Obviously, it's a key area for those in burnout. Overwork and overwhelm are endemic, so the skills needed are many, but I would say prioritizing and executing tasks effectively. Doing what you say you will do. Learning to stop procrastinating and perfectionising. Saying no, and managing distractions and maintaining focus.

[00:26:06] There are so many skills actually involved in time management. It's a complex beast! But each one of the skills is simple and they compound into next level productivity and confidence that eventually will delight you and free up a lot of time and energy. When you rein in all the places where your time has been leaking, you can master overwork, overwhelm, self-blame, frustration, guilt, shame, irritation, restlessness, and a whole pack of other ills.

[00:26:38] The practice that will support this is using tools like time blocking or a task prioritization framework. There's a specific time management protocol that I teach to my clients that's proven extremely effective. Many clients are able to improve results out of hand while at the same time reducing their work to three or four days a week.

[00:26:58] The other thing is delegating or outsourcing where possible. And this is a skill that requires emotional intelligence and mentoring your team to take center stage so their unique talents can be deployed and developed in place of yours.

[00:27:14] That's number nine, time management of focus.

[00:27:18] And number 10. Here's the clincher, emotional intelligence, the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions as well as the emotions of others.

[00:27:30] Be cause humans as rational as we think we are, are often driven by emotions. Our memories become vivid by the sensations and emotions invoked as we recall them, whereas the facts of our memories are malleable and change over time. In burnout if we're a little bit shut down when we mask our emotions, what we're doing is also preventing genuine connection with others. So it comes at a cost.

[00:27:58] I see emotional intelligence as learning how to create trust and safety within one self and promote it to others. It's an invaluable skillset for any leader strongly correlated with high performance. Yet it's seen as weak for leaders to talk about or express emotions.

[00:28:22] The skills needed: self-awareness and self-management, we've covered earlier.

[00:28:26] Social awareness. This is about understanding the emotions, needs and concerns of others, and picking up on emotional cues. That's a learned skill.

[00:28:36] Relationship management. This is about developing and maintaining good relationships, communicating clearly, and managing conflict.

[00:28:47] Some of the practices that can support this are listening to and honoring other people, seeking to understand their emotions and perspectives as they speak rather than judging.

[00:29:01] Also, getting to know people and what matters to them before assigning them tasks, this applies to your team. Treating people well, thanking them for tasks well done, and showing them respect; and inspiring people with the why of your vision, not just the what. Emotional intelligence is very closely allied with psychological safety, since both of them foster the boldest, most creative performance in teams. And this is why emotional intelligence is very high on the hit list of hiring managers for leaders.

[00:29:41] So that's number 10, emotional intelligence. So today what I've done is I've reviewed the essential attitudes and practices that people not susceptible to burnout have, and that maybe you might aspire to if you feel that you are heading to burnout.

[00:29:58] All of these things are what I teach in my program to people who want to recover from burnout. I have made podcasts on every single one of these assets. So to dive deeper search in my podcast for the keyword that you're interested in, to learn more, you will find more practical tips to thrive and transcend your current barriers to unlimited success.

[00:30:22] I really would love for you to be empowered to choose emotional resilience so that you can enjoy yourself, do your best work, and be the most successful leader. And if you'd like to make that happen inside three months, come and talk to me at dexrandall.com. Thank you for listening today. Look after yourself.

[00:30:42] Catch you next time. 

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