The Normal 40 Podcast #77: The Heart That Heals Everyone But Itself - A Ramble with Dr. Jill Kruse
Most people meet their doctor in an exam room. I met mine at the edge of a breaking point she didn’t even know she’d been carrying for years.
Dr. Jill Kruse grew up wanting to save lives for one simple reason: she didn’t want to lose her mother. She entered medicine the way so many elite performers do — head down, high achieving, fueled by good intentions and impossible standards. She pushed. She excelled. She endured.
And then life stopped asking politely.
Call every other night. A newborn and a toddler at home. A tiny rural town held together by two doctors, two PAs, and a pager that never slept.She kept giving.The job kept taking.And one day, her husband said the quiet part out loud:
“You’re killing yourself slowly.”
That’s the moment every physician fears.That’s the moment every high performer recognizes.And that’s the moment this conversation turns from résumé to truth.
This episode is about what happens when the life you fought to build becomes the life that’s quietly breaking you. It’s about the courage to walk away from a calling without abandoning the purpose underneath it. It’s about burnout, identity, the stigma of asking for help, and the freedom that shows up when you finally decide the cost of staying is higher than the cost of change.
But more than anything, it’s about this:
The heart feeds itself first — and you need to start doing the same.
Dr. Kruse’s story isn’t about quitting medicine.It’s about choosing herself.And it’s a roadmap for any elite performer who has forgotten that they’re allowed to do the same.
IN THIS EPISODE:
--What really pushes a physician to the edge (it’s not what you think)
--The truth about burnout inside medicine — the part nobody talks about
--Why high achievers wait too long to ask for help
--What happens when you realize a career won’t love you back
--How to reclaim identity without burning your life down
--The power of coaching when counseling feels risky
--The heart-first lesson every elite performer needs to hear
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
->Burnout isn’t failure. It’s the body calling for honesty.
->You can love your work and still decide it’s costing you too much.
->Courage isn’t leaving. Courage is telling the truth.
->The life you want won’t appear while you’re drowning in the life you’ve outgrown.
->You deserve the same care you give everyone else.
WHAT’S NEXT?
If Jill’s story hits close to home (if you’re hiding the same exhaustion behind the same smile), this is your invitation to stop doing this alone.
Join the growing Normal 40 community to connect with like-minded individuals. Whether through a free Ramble, Lon's Insider group, or his bestselling book 'The Trade,' this episode is your call to action to start designing your next chapter.
Find it all right here: https://linktr.ee/lon.stroschein
Learn more about Dr. Jill Kruse here: http://www.flight-time-medical.com/
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