Today, Cait reports live from The Burnout Panel. She joins Vanessa Zamy, Audrey Holst, Aileen Axtmayer, Dr. Sandra Lewis, and Dr. Sharon Grossman to talk about quiet quitting. These experts in the burnout field weigh in on what they believe is causing quiet quitting to be so rampant and the changes business leaders can make to help their employees feel included, safe, happy, and valued.    Quiet quitting is often a response to overwhelm and can be a coping mechanism for burnout. If your body does not feel safe in your work environment, you are likely going to start to disengage. It is also important to evaluate your current interests and values and see that they align with your role. When people choose to quiet-quit it tends to be due to no longer feeling aligned with their work. To get a handle on quiet quitting, first you need to regenerate your nervous system, so that it is not always on high alert for danger. In order for employees to feel valued, leaders must pay attention and create a safe, fun, and inclusive work environment. If employees start to feel undervalued, they will become resentful and more likely to engage in quiet quitting behaviors.    quiet quitting is not always a choice, sometimes it is a natural reaction to burnout. When it is not being used as a coping mechanism and is instead a conscious choice, it is important for leaders to really pay attention to the work environment. If employees are actively choosing to disengage, they likely feel resentment for some perceived unfairness and they may even feel completely out of alignment with the work they are doing. When employees and employers understand the causes behind quiet quitting, changes can be made to make a better work environment for all.    Quotes • “There are two questions that the body is always scanning for is, am I safe, and do I belong. And this combination of perfectionism with an individual and within an organization can create a bit of a survival situation where people are showing up to work, their bodies are feeling like they are walking into a tiger's cage every single day, their body is getting flooded with cortisol on an everyday basis. And that is bouncing off of coworkers, and it's creating a really tough environment, which is creating those people who are starting to disengage out of survival.” (2:12-2:42 | Audrey) • “When you can create space as an employer or as an employee to really examine these parts of yourself and understand where you're at with each of them, you can then use that framework to understand where your work might not be in alignment anymore, and what you can do to really shift and feel like your values, interests, personality and skills are aligned with the work that you're doing.” (5:29-5:51 | Aileen) • “Achievement is what will allow you to feel pleasure once you've put in the work.” (7:33-7:41 | Dr. Sharon) • “Resentment and quiet quitting have one major thing in common and that is a feeling or perception of unfairness.” (8:34-8:42 | Cait)  • “With support we can create conversations that allow resentment to be explored in a positive and beneficial way. Resentments turn into boundaries, and boundaries help protect us.” (9:17-9:28 | Cait) • “The first thing is to start with regenerating and rejuvenating our nervous system so that then we can start to hear our creativity again.” (11:15-11:21 | Dr. Sandra) • “Whether you're leading an entire business, or you're leading a team in a department, or you're about to become a leader, and you want to do it better than your current boss is, remember rewards, refreshments and recreation. Quiet quitting is preventable.” (13:51-14:04 | Vanessa) • “Quiet quitting is a coping mechanism for burnout when it is used not as a choice but as a natural reaction. So I think we have to separate choosing quiet quitting to protect yourself and quiet quitting because you're so burned out that you have no other choice and you're just trying to make it through your day and not get fired.” (14:48-15:09 | Cait)   Links Connect with The Burnout Panel: Aileen Axtmayer https://www.linkedin.com/in/aileenaxtmayer/ Cait Donovan https://www.linked.com/in/caitdonovan Sandra Lewis https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandraylewis/ Audrey Holst https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-holst/ Sharon Grossman https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongrossman/ Vanessa Zamy https://www.linkedin.com/in/zamyvanessa/   XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Today, Cait shares a podcast recommendation, an episode of Wellness While Walking Podcast, hosted by her friend Carolyn Cohen. Carolyn is a health coach that has designed her podcast as a way to inspire people to take the next step of their health journey. These episodes are 30 minutes long and are made to be listened to while taking a walk. There is even a handy beep at the halfway point in the episode to remind you to turn back around on your route. So, bundle up, put on some headphones, and take a stroll while learning wellness tips.    It may sound strange to think about wanting to increase stress, but there actually is good stress that can result in physical and mental health benefits. In the same way that too much of a good thing is bad and too much of a bad thing is still bad, there is a sweet spot somewhere in the middle for everything. People need a certain level of hormetic stressors to thrive. Hormetic stressors are intermittent stressors of a certain duration and strength that can have systemic benefits. Some examples of ways to increase hormetic stressors are through temperature like hot and cold therapies, intermittent fasting, and high intensity interval training. By increasing hormetic stress, you can have increased energy, improved health, and even slow the aging process.    Stress is not always a bad thing. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for an exciting podcast recommendation from Cait. Listen to hear an episode of Wellness While Walking Podcast hosted by Carolyn Cohen and learn about the ways certain stressors can actually be beneficial to your overall wellness.   Quotes  • “Sometimes we need to stress our systems for growth. And I'm not just talking about stress as we think of it, I'm talking about things like when we eat, what we eat, how we move, and other daily activities in our day. So tweaking them might give us more energy, improved health, and even could help slow aging.” (2:16-2:36 | Carolyn) • “The fact that adversity can be good is also a concept that rings true within health.” (7:37-7:42 | Carolyn) • “Stressing ourselves in one way likely has benefits across all our systems. So we can find the one thing that works for us and our health situation and our lifestyle and then it can often have systemic benefits.” (24:16-24:27 | Carolyn)  • “Biologically, the lack of acute stressors prevents the intermittent episodes of cellular “housecleaning” activities that slow aging. So we just have to keep in mind that taken to either extreme, the stressors are problematic, and so we need to be careful if we pursue any of these hormetic activities.” (25:29-25:48 | Carolyn) • “What I've always wanted to share here on the show is the question of nuance, just because a bit of something might be beneficial doesn't mean a whole lot better. And similarly, just because something is poison, or detrimental and extreme doesn't mean that the other extreme, there's none of this is optimal, either. There's nuance, there's dose to be considered. And sometimes that's not what we get from the headlines.” (27:00-27:22 | Carolyn)    Links Connect with Carolyn Cohen, Host of the Wellness While Walking Podcast https://wellnesswhilewalking.com/ XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

SPONSORS https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://bearaby.com Dr. Sharon Grossman is a clinical psychologist turned burnout coach, an author, a speaker, and host of the Decode Your Burnout podcast. When she was a psychology student, she attended a workshop about what it is like to work in private practice. The speaker talked a lot about how prevalent burnout is in the private practice world and this actually caused Dr. Sharon to shy away from going in that direction for many years. Eventually there was nowhere left to go but management, which is not something she was interested in pursuing, and Dr. Sharon had to consider opening up her own practice. She decided to build in ways to protect against burnout right from the start such as choosing an office location within walking distance of her gym. She moved from therapy to burnout coaching and prefers it as in her experience her coaching clients are more dedicated to doing the work required to really improve.  There are many factors that contribute to burnout and not everyone burns out from the same circumstances. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for a conversation with Dr. Sharon Grossman about decoding your burnout. Learn which burnout profile applies to you so that you can have a better understanding of the lifestyle changes you need to make to heal from and prevent burnout. Quotes • “The important thing is to really focus on what your needs are, and how do you get those needs met.” (12:03-12:08 | Dr. Sharon)  • “How is it that we're burning out, and we don't even have the words to describe it? We don't even have the right diagnosis, if you will. Which is important, because then you don't have the right treatment for the problem. So I kind of made it my mission to go out there and to educate the public about what burnout is and what to look out for so that people can identify it in themselves, so that they can get the appropriate kind of help or use the right kind of strategies and tools to get back to themselves.” (14:01-14:29 | Dr. Sharon) • “I remember as a therapist even just thinking my job is not to babysit people. I need to get them up and running so that they have social support, that they're out there doing what they need to do to take care of themselves, that they're not just showing up here for the next 12 years.” (23:23-23:39 | Dr. Sharon) • “Thinkers are focused on quality, because they're perfectionists. The doers are focused on quantities, like how much can I do, and it just never feels like it's enough. And so you're taking on another thing and another thing, and then eventually, you take on like the smallest little thing, and you break, because you just can't take anymore.” (30:57-31:21 | Dr. Sharon) Links https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://bearaby.com Connect with Dr. Sharon Grossman: https://drsharongrossman.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theburnoutdoc/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongrossman/ http://drsharongrossman.com/burnoutchecklist  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decode-your-burnout-formerly-optimize-your-life/id1548603864 XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

SPONSORS https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://bearaby.com It might seem odd to even consider seeing burnout as something that could potentially benefit a company. However, when burnout occurs frequently enough in the same workplace it can serve as a handy red flag. If you keep quiet while experiencing burnout, it will be more difficult for your employer to recognize and address a potential systemic issue. When multiple employees experience burnout it may be an indicator of a larger issue at play such as a problem with the system or workplace culture that needs to change. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait, host and burnout speaker, explains why companies should pay attention to burnout and how burnout data can help companies to heal culture issues in the workplace.    Your burnout may be a symptom of a larger systemic issue, and companies should pay closer attention when they have burnt out employees. Sometimes burnout is an individual experience, but there is also organizational burnout that impacts multiple employees at once. By being up front with your employer about your burnout, they can use that information to discern whether widespread organizational change needs to be made. Research shows that burnout and “quiet quitting” are costing U.S. companies trillions of dollars. Employees with burnout are more likely to visit the emergency room and have higher medical costs overall. Companies can save major money by working toward burnout proofing cultures.    Burnout is often experienced silently which causes leaders to be blissfully unaware of any larger systemic issues that may be at play. Speaking up about your burnout experience can lead to others being more willing to also speak up. The more employees that are impacted, the more likely it is that a company will make dramatic organizational changes which can lead to a healthier workplace for all.  Quotes: · “If burnout is a symptom of a larger system malfunction, and in this case, the system is society at large as the macrocosm and the microcosm is being community, company, neighborhood, family and finally self, then shouldn't companies be paying closer attention to it so that they can find out where the system is causing more wear and tear than necessary?” (2:29-2:53 | Cait) · “When a system is adding to the burnout of multiple people within short timeframes, something is wrong. It's really normal to have one person burnout in a company that seems to work for everyone else. So maybe this company is doing everything it can and is really supportive and is really okay with making as much change as possible to support people. But there is something about it, about the system, about the culture, about the work that doesn't agree with a particular person. That doesn't necessarily mean that the system has to continue to change. That means that this is not the right relationship.” (4:07-4:48 | Cait)  · “In order for burnout to be a useful red flag for companies, people who are burning out or who are already burnt, fried crispy, need to be able to tell someone what's going on. It is not possible to use a symptom to diagnose a problem if the symptom doesn't make itself known or the symptom is ignored.” (5:37-5:55 | Cait) · “I just want you to consider the fact that by letting your company know that you're burnt out, by telling your story, by talking to other people within your company that you're experiencing burnout, you might be a trigger that helps more people to speak up, that would help your company to work through something and make a change further down the road.” (10:04-10:28 | Cait) · “The cost of providing support for burnt out employees and teams is far outweighed by the costs of not addressing burnout in your companies.” (12:32-12:41 | Cait)    Links    https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393497/world-trillion-workplace-problem.aspx https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ariannahuffington_what-will-hr-focus-on-in-2023-activity-6999358051849777152-vmm7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.gallup.com/workplace/282659/employee-burnout-perspective-paper.aspx?thank-you-report-form=1 https://www.friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/post/straightfromcait-how-to-tell-people-about-your-burnout https://www.friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/post/newton-cheng-i-burned-out-in-corporate-and-stayed-this-is-how https://cuely.ai/fried https://bearaby.com XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

SPONSORS https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://bearaby.com Zenica Chatman is a life coach with a professional background in journalism and communications. While working as a communication strategist in what she initially excitedly thought of as her dream job, Zenica became the victim of workplace bullying by her manager. She felt like she was really crushing it at work, and yet her manager found ways to make even her strengths seem like a bad thing. She was continually put down and told that she was the weakest team member regardless of her attempts to make improvements. Looking back at her performance evaluations and skills assessments, Zenica soon realized that there was no factual basis for any of the bullying she received about her job performance. After doing some research, Zenica learned that 30% of American workers report being the victim of workplace bullying.    “The new job did not heal me from the trauma that I experienced in the old job. That same person who didn't have any confidence, who was taking an hour to send simple emails, she went right on into that next job. And so there was a lot of inner work that I had to do in order to get back to the person that's talking to you today,” shares Zenica Chatman, life coach. If you are being bullied at work, you are at a higher risk of burnout. Between working harder to try to stay ahead of the criticism, stress over being talked down to, and the fear surrounding the possibility of needing to change jobs, there are a lot of factors that tend to pile up and cause burnout. Workplace bullying destroys confidence and often does not have a satisfying resolution from the company. It is important to learn how to move forward and heal from workplace bullying in order to succeed at your next job.    Workplace bullying is unfortunately a common experience, even with remote workers. Bullies often convince you to believe lies about yourself, so it is important to stay clear on the facts. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for a conversation with Zenica Chatman about how to recover from workplace bullying, so that it does not lead to burnout.    Quotes · “I was in an environment where even my strengths now are being used against me.” (8:07-8:11 | Zenica) · “That was the summer that George Floyd was murdered. And so it sparked this whole conversation in the workplace about diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I was in all of these different social media groups and on all these different chats, and I was hearing the stories of other women of color, mostly black women, who were having identical situations to me. And that was very scary to me, that these women that I didn't know in different states in different industries, we're all describing exactly the same scenario. And that just prompted me to say, is this a thing? Is workplace bullying a thing? Is that real, did I make that up? And come to find out, no, I didn't make it up. Actually, 30% of American workers report being bullied.” (8:42-9:32 | Zenica)  · “I think particularly when you're a woman in the workplace, and when you're a person of color, you know when you're being mistreated, but we all will start to lie to ourselves because we don't want to be that person. We don't want to be that person of color that says, ‘I think I'm being discriminated against,’ for whatever reason.” (14:39-14:56 | Zenica) · “The new job did not heal me from the trauma that I experienced in the old job. That same person who didn't have any confidence, who was taking an hour to send simple emails, she went right on into that next job. And so there was a lot of inner work that I had to do in order to get back to the person that's talking to you today.” (24:05-24:29 | Zenica)  · “Once I saw on that StrengthsFinder that what they said was not true in black and white. They said I wasn't a good communicator, but my actual assessment says that I was. Went back through old assessments, communication was always at the top and never, ever, ever not been a great communicator. And I started to say, what other lies did they try to put in your spirit that are not true? And so I started to peel back all the lies and I got very clear about what was true.” (29:49-30:18 | Zenica) · “Those environments have a way of making you believe things about yourself that are not true. So what's the lie that your environment has tried to put on you that is absolutely not true? And then replace it with the actual truth.” (30:53-31:07 | Zenica) · “Usually, HR is not going to help you. So you have to learn how to validate the experience for yourself so that you can move forward without resolution from the company.” (31:56-32:09 | Zenica) · “Why am I going to kill myself for a job that if I die tomorrow, they won't even trouble themselves to call my mother and send her a card? Because now I have clarity on what is important to me, and I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything when I set boundaries for myself.” (56:10-56:37 | Zenica)   Links   https://cuely.ai/FRIED   https://bearaby.com   Connect with Zenica Chatman: Website: https://www.zenicachatman.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/z_chatman/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenapministry/?hl=en XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

It would be incredible if every time you were burned out, you could stop working and run off to rest in a magical Cinderella fantasyland where talking mice take care of all your problems. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for most of us. It is not always possible to stop working when you are burned out, and actually by staying, you may be doing yourself a favor in the long run. If you take a break from the toxic environment that was causing your burnout and then try to go back when you are feeling better, it is likely you will end up burned out all over again. This is because regardless of how well rested you may feel, you did not take the time to do the work required to change the behavior that caused you to become burned out originally. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait explains how to recover from burnout while still working and why it may actually be a good idea to continue working while healing from burnout in certain cases. If you are burned out and unable to leave your job even temporarily, there are still ways to work on burnout recovery. Determine which internal and external factors apply to you and start making small shifts in your life based on those results. This way you are making small, manageable changes and not taking too much away from your energy that it leaves you depleted at work. By making the necessary behavioral shifts while still in your work environment, you may have a more smooth transition into burnout recovery than if you had taken a break or left your job. Quotes · “If you removed yourself from a situation that was requiring you to act in certain ways, and you didn't have to practice acting in better ways and shifting your behavior to protect yourself better, then when you go back into that environment you might not be prepared even if you're rested.” (4:58-5:16 | Cait) · “If you can't take time off work, you might really be doing yourself a favor by staying and working through some sh*t on the fly.” (8:15-8:22 | Cait)  · “The trick here, once again, is to do the easiest thing first. Allow it to have impact, and then move to the next easiest thing on the list. If you fill out your list, and you're not sure how to tackle any of your items, choose one of them and ask the Facebook group for ways to shift that behavior.” (15:12-15:30 | Cait) · “Asking for help and asking for other people's perspectives is one of the main ways we build resilience. So don't go this alone. If you're not sure what the answer is for you, let's do it together.” (15:36-15:49 | Cait) · “You cannot long term stay in a toxic environment and heal fully from burnout. Your physical and mental health will continue to deteriorate…Your best bet is to do everything within your power within the situation and then use whatever energy you create by making those changes to formulate a graceful exit strategy.” (17:00-17:33 | Cait) · “You're not going to find motivation when you're burned out just by looking for it. You're going to create energy by caring for yourself differently and by shifting the way you interact with your environment.” (19:40-19:52 | Cait)   SPONSORS https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://womensmeditationnetwork.com/ https://bearaby.com   XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

SPONSORS https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://bearaby.com Becca Powers is an award winning fortune 500 high tech sales executive, founder and CEO of Powers Peak Potential, a best selling author and a speaker. With over 20 years of high level sales experience, she spent most of her life being an overachiever and unwittingly drove herself into major burnout. Becca’s burnout came after a particularly challenging sequence of 12 hour work days in a job where she was majorly overextending herself and unable to spend any time being there for her family. In hindsight, she recognizes that there were signs from her body mere months into the position telling her that it was not the right fit, but she dismissed those signs at the time. It took falling apart on the floor of her bathroom in a complete nervous breakdown after feeling like she was letting her children down for Becca to realize that change was overdue.    “Burnout ignites in feeling ‘undered’ and whether that's undervalued, underpaid, under-resourced, under-recognized, under-appreciated. I mean, you can put the under attached to it but it triggers our worth or it triggers deeper feelings of being unseen, unheard and feeling like we don't matter. And when that happens, we ‘over’,” shares Becca Powers. Becca grew up with hippie parents who were very involved in their band and party scene. She learned as a child that in order to gain her parent’s love and attention she needed to overachieve. This feeling unknowingly followed Becca into adulthood and caused her to overcommit at work which ultimately led to her feeling undervalued. The pattern of going over and above and then feeling the ‘unders’ is one that is very intrinsic to the burnout experience. The ‘overs’ and ‘unders’ can put you into a feedback loop that is difficult to extract yourself from.    When you find yourself feeling underappreciated, undervalued, or under-resourced, it is a sign that you need to implement healthy boundaries and take control back over your own energy. You do not have to overextend yourself constantly in order to have worth and it is okay to say no or ask for help. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for a conversation with Becca Powers about how the ‘unders’ lead to the ‘overs’ and what you can do to pull yourself out of that loop.  Quotes · “So many of us have the full plate and we don't really get to talk about it and we kind of be like, ‘Oh I'm okay’. Well, are you really? You got a full plate, it's okay not to be okay.” (4:53-5:03 | Becca) · “When I was broken on the bathroom floor, all of a sudden, I remembered that I was the CEO of my life… I remember thinking, ‘If I'm the CEO of my life, then I'm a lot more powerful in this situation than I thought’.” (7:45-8:09 | Becca) · “Is what I'm doing serving me or is it sabotaging me?” (9:54-9:56 | Becca) · “Burnout ignites in feeling undered and whether that's undervalued, underpaid, under resourced, under recognized under appreciated, I mean, you can put the under attached to it but it triggers our worth or it triggers deeper feelings of being unseen, unheard and feeling like we don't matter. And when that happens, we over.” (11:59-12:24 | Becca) · “For me to get the attention, love, and acceptance I wanted from my parents I had to overachieve. I had to do. I had to over a lot.” (15:19-15:29 | Becca) · “Burnout is a very external response to us seeking externally what we weren't able to either give ourselves internally or like you said to our childhood just didn't get. It's not programmed in us to know that we have the innate wisdom within to give ourselves everything that we need.” (20:16-20:37 | Becca) · “In hindsight, what I have learned is when I was surviving, my kids were surviving. And when I'm thriving, my kids are thriving.” (26:51-27:00 | Becca) · “By building boundaries, you can create space for other people's growth and success.” (34:25-34:31 | Cait) · “What is your role? And are the actions and responsibilities that you're doing supporting the role that you have and want in your life, whether it's at work or at home?” (38:19-38:31 | Becca)   Links   https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://womensmeditationnetwork.com/   Connect with Becca Powers https://www.instagram.com/beccapowers1313/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/beccapowers1313/ https://www.beccapowers.com/burnout XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Quiet quitting is not a new concept, but has gotten a lot of attention recently after the pandemic shook up the job market. The basic idea of quiet quitting is being disengaged from your work and this can often be mistaken for burnout. The key difference is that quiet quitting is intentional, whereas if you are burned out, you are likely to be disengaged as a result rather than as a choice. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait explains quiet quitting vs. loud quitting, and the way resentment fuels disengagement.    Resentment is the primary emotion that leads to quiet quitting. This could be resentment for how you are being treated at work, resentment for being forced back into the office, resentment over your job role not being clear enough, or any multitude of reasons. If you are disengaged because you really don’t feel like your current position is a good fit for you, it is best to loud quit rather than sticking around and growing more resentful. That resentment builds over time and can lead to burnout, so planning an exit strategy and leaving your job may be the best option for your long term mental health. If you need help working to transform your resentment and make a plan for moving forward, Cait has created the Resentment Journal specifically for that purpose which can be accessed from her website.   Sometimes your job or the company you are working for won’t be the best fit for you. It does not always mean that there is something inherently wrong with you or the company. In those situations, it is best to form an exit strategy and leave to find a better fit. In other cases, your company may be willing to work with you to help better meet your needs, and it may come down to having a conversation with your boss or an HR professional to see what can be done. Regardless of the reason causing you to disengage, it is always best to loud quit versus quiet quitting, because in the long run quiet quitting will increase resentment and damage your mental health.   Quotes • “There are going to be situations where you and a company are just not a good fit. And it doesn't mean that either of you are bad or good.” (4:31-4:41 | Cait) • “If something's not a fit, just loud quit, get out of here, go do something else.” (5:38-5:43 | Cait) • “When you are burnt out and you find yourself in a situation similar to quiet quitting, I want you to understand that that's likely a coping mechanism and not necessarily part of an actual decision that you're making.” (6:34-6:46 | Cait) • “Quiet quitting as a short term coping mechanism, acceptable. Quiet quitting as a long term plan for life will destroy your mental health.” (10:15-10:25 | Cait)  • “If we start building enough courage to speak up about our needs, we will find quite often that people are willing to meet them.” (11:47-12:00 | Cait) “The emotion that sits behind quiet quitting is resentment. And the answer to that is creating space for and transforming that resentment.” (13:51-14:07 | Cait)   Links    https://www.caitdonovan.com/resentment-journal   https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://womensmeditationnetwork.com/ XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Newton Cheng is the Director of Health and Performance at Google, a world champion powerlifter, and a father. Throughout his 14 year career at Google, he overworked himself due to people-pleasing tendencies and began getting misaligned from his priorities and values, leading Newton to take a mental health leave in January of 2022. In February of 2021 his symptoms of burnout, anxiety, and depression got to the point where he started to realize just how significant the toll on his mental health was. He found himself struggling to get out of bed and felt a lot of shame for how he was failing to show up the way he wanted to as a husband and father. However, it still took awhile for him to decide to go on leave, because it felt like giving up. When Newton returned to Google after his mental health leave, he decided to share his story and be very upfront about his experiences to help others who may be suffering alone.    “I was raised in a culture where we talked a lot about mental toughness and this felt like the opposite of that. But what I knew was I was not showing up the husband and father that I wanted to be, so something had to change,” shares Newton Cheng. When Newton started talking about his leave at work, he was a little surprised by how many of his co-workers chose to refer to it as a sabbatical. Mental health is still so stigmatized in today’s society that people can feel uncomfortable even just saying the words out loud. However, this does a disservice to everyone who is suffering in silence and who just needs someone to listen and understand what they are going through. Newton had gotten to the point where he was unable to get out of bed and dreading going to work, even though he loved his job and felt his work was important to him. He was not able to be the father he wanted to be or the husband he wanted to be, and the shame ate away at him. As he began to share his mental health struggles more, Newton found that many of his co-workers of all levels across the organization were suffering from similar symptoms of burnout and depression. Many people who burn out in these situations choose to quit their job completely, but Newton’s problem was not with the job, but rather with his approach and how he chose to structure his boundaries or lack of boundaries. Once he stepped back and reorganized his life to align better with his values and put boundaries in place that allowed him to spend more time with his family, Newton was able to break through his burnout and stay on at Google.    Burning out at work does not necessarily mean you have to change your job. Sometimes all you need is to take a step away and restructure how you are approaching your work so that it can align better with the lifestyle you want. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for a conversation with Newton Cheng about experiencing burnout in a corporate setting and how to move forward while keeping your job.    Quotes · “February 2021 was the first time I physically couldn't get out of bed. And I had read about this in terms of others experiences with mental health and depression, but I had never actually felt it. And it wasn't so much like a physical paralysis, it was overwhelming dread. So from there, I started seeing the employee assistance provider and he told me I was exhibiting early signs of burnout.” (7:18-7:42 | Newton) · “I was raised in a culture where we talked a lot about mental toughness, and this felt like the opposite of that. But what I knew was I was not showing up the husband and father that I wanted to be, so something had to change.” (10:13-10:30 | Newton) · “When I told people I was going on leave, people started calling it my sabbatical. And I kept reframing. I'm like, my ‘mental health leave’. And that was very interesting. I’m like, I think you're probably doing that out of respect, because you don't know my boundary there and I very much appreciate that, but I don't think that's helping anyone. It's not a sabbatical and people know it's not sabbatical. But if we call it a sabbatical, we're just reinforcing that we have to hide things.” (28:26-28:56 | Newton) · “If we don't name what's actually going on, we can't actually address it.” (29:18-29:21 | Newton) · “As I have shared my story, the people who have come to me privately to say, ‘I'm suffering too’, they are people like me. They are people junior to me in organizations, they're my peers, they are above me. They're all around us.” (55:22-55:40 | Newton)  · “If you are suffering and you're in a situation similar to me, you are not alone.” (55:49-55:53 | Newton) · “To leaders who are in a position like mine, change doesn't happen, transformation doesn't happen without true leadership. True leadership requires those of us with the privilege to take some risks, to try some things, maybe to take some things and fail. But we got to do it and we got to share what we learn. And that's how we're going to move forward.” (56:06-56:25 | Newton)   Links   https://cuely.ai/FRIED https://womensmeditationnetwork.com/   Connect with Newton Cheng: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newtoncheng/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/newtoncheng/   https://caitdonovan.com/resentment-journal https://www.friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/post/jim-young-ceo-dad-burnout-emotional-gold-digging-and-why-relationships-matter   Resource Newton Mentions: Byron Katie: https://thework.com/ XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait   https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Just keep going, it will change.” This is Elizabeth Collins’s burnout story, simplified into six words. The Cait-proclaimed Burnout Witch, Elizabeth now specializes in helping others recover from burnout. However, she was only able to truly thrive in this role after confronting her own feelings of not-enough-ness and developing the boundaries and coping skills she needed to regain a sense of balance in both body and brain.    Elizabeth is the owner and director of The East West Company, an integrative wellness practice specializing in burnout recovery coaching, functional medicine, acupuncture and more. Elizabeth explains that functional medicine is a crossover between biomedicine and Eastern medicine; it uses a wide range of testing to identify and address the root cause of a presenting issue. Because the incredible breadth of functional medicine testing can seem overwhelming to someone who is burnt out, Elizabeth suggests starting simple with a blood panel and a stool test. This approach helps individuals correct any initial imbalances, which sets them on a more manageable path towards burnout recovery.   Tune into this week’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast to hear more about the intersections between functional medicine and burnout. Learn about the ins and outs of leaky gut, why Elizabeth uses tarot cards to broaden her clients’ perspectives, and why feelings of gratitude and frustration can and should co-exist.   Quotes “I had ‘Big T’ trauma, so that very much set me up for a lifetime of perfectionism, a lifetime of not really understanding that I am worthy of love simply because I exist.” (04:00-04:10) “My burnout story was: ‘just keep going, it will change.’” (07:26-07:32)  “That happens to people who are chronic people pleasers, who are prone to burnout….It’s very easy for you to set aside what you like because you’re more concerned about what needs to happen now, and it’s like, but what you like is what needs to happen now!” (10:49-11:05) “[Functional medicine] is kind of like if biomedicine and Eastern medicine had a baby.” (15:14-15:17) “When we’re in burnout, it’s very difficult to see anything other  than what we’re focusing on, which is usually panic, stress and anxiety. And the benefit when I started reading my own tarot cards again was...oh, this card popped up and it means this. How does that relate to my current situation? What is it about this card that can give me the opportunity to stop focusing on the minutia and look at the bigger picture?” (31:28-31:55)  “Being able to address different aspects of your personality and speak to them directly like they’re individuals gives a sense of agency to the experience, and it really gives people the opportunity to fully integrate those personalities.” (36:28-36:42) “We are complicated enough individuals that we can feel very bad about something that we’re going through and still be very grateful for the good things that it gives us or the other good things in our life….They’re not mutually exclusive, and the idea that we have to inhabit one thing at any given time is unsustainable and unfair and will absolutely perpetuate burnout.” (38:00-38:28) “If you have symptoms or you are living a life that is in your experience suboptimal, but in the greater perspective not catastrophic....you are not crazy, and there is help.” (49:10-49:35)   Links https://insighttimer.com/  www.theeastwestco.com  www.instagram.com/theeastwestco  www.instagram.com/thevintagemystic    XOXO, C   If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait