FRIED. The Burnout Podcast

“Irrational fear is just a sign of depletion,” said Sarah Vosen in a recent conversation with co-host Cait Donovan. This profound insight became the foundation for today’s episode. According to Chinese medicine, the paralyzing anxiety that often accompanies burnout—leaving you disconnected from yourself and others, doubting your intuition, and retreating from the world—stems from a depletion of energy in the kidney system. Citing the book “Rooted in Spirit: The Heart of Chinese Medicine,” Cait explains that when the heart and kidney systems fail to connect and communicate, it leads to insecurity, hesitation, and a loss of perspective on life’s possibilities.So, what can we do about it? Since fear is a physical symptom of a deeper issue, the solution lies in the physical realm. Sarah and Cait discuss dietary changes, exercise, and environmental adjustments that can help restore kidney energy. They also delve into a specific visualization technique and even suggest the best fashion choices to support this healing process.Join the conversation to discover the surprising and common physical signs that may be linked to the kidney’s energetic system, along with a specific exercise that could bring you the relief you’ve been seeking.Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapplyQuotes“When you’re feeling irrational fear, it feels like it’s the biggest thing, top priority, it is coloring everything in your world. It’s a big deal.” (2:31 | Sarah Vosen)“It’s just a sign—not to minimize that it feels gigantic, but it’s just a sign—it’s just one of the ways that your body’s telling you, ‘I’m so depleted that I am terrified of everything on purpose. I’m telling you that I’m scared of everything because I want you to sit still. I want you to honor this fear and stop pushing yourself because you are dangerously depleted.’” (3:45 | Sarah Vosen) “This goes both ways: when this communication is disrupted, fear is the result. And also, when there is too much fear, a disruption of this communication can be the result.” (9:11 | Caitlin Donovan)“Your hesitation to take a step forward in any direction because you feel like it’s all wrong and you’re going to hurt yourself and you just don’t know. You can’t trust because you’re disconnected from your heart. Your heart is no longer leading you in the way that it used to. We didn’t even used to think about it, but a lot of times, you just thought, ‘Oh. That feels good. I’m going to do that.’ But when you’re not connected to your heart anymore and this fear is driving you, it actually just drives you straight into the ground.” (10:29 | Sarah Vosen) “Most people don’t necessarily know this but the heart sends more signals to the brain during the day than the brain sends to the heart—this is not Chinese medicine, this is Western research. So, your heart is sending more information to your brain than the other way around. So, your heart has a lot of influence over how you function on a day-to-day basis.” (11:19 | Caitlin Donovan)LinksConnect with Cait:Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcaitInitial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahvBurnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! https://bit.ly/unfryapplyPodcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“If you’re ready to recover, understand what’s going on with you, and get a life you love, let’s do this,” says Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, a leading expert on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia. The author of 12 books, including the best-selling “From Fatigued to Fantastic,” Dr. Teitelbaum joins the FRIED podcast to discuss the similarities between these conditions and burnout, including four key symptoms, and how they are distinct. He likens the hypothalamus—a crucial brain area controlling hormones, adrenaline, and thyroid function—to a circuit breaker that trips to prevent the body from “burning down.” He suggests that living inauthentically and ignoring our true needs can trigger these health issues, serving as crucial warnings that we need to realign our lives.Dr. Teitelbaum critiques the shortcomings of a profit-driven Western medical system that often fails to recognize these conditions, despite its claims of evidence-based practice. He and host Cait delve into the benefits of homeopathic and natural remedies, and discuss a common hormonal issue affecting a significant portion of the population.Dr. Teitelbaum also shares his personal struggle with chronic fatigue, which led him to drop out of medical school and briefly live on a park bench. His journey to becoming a healer in his own right is not only a testament to his resilience but also serves as a beacon of hope for anyone on their own path to recovery from burnout.Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapplyQuotes“Burnout includes the physiology of CFS and fibromyalgia, sometimes, but burnout, to me, is when you’re not being authentic. You’re doing stuff you don’t want to be doing—you’re doing what you should be doing, but you hate it, you’ve outgrown that.” (8:25 | Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum) “Do you see chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or long Covid as a more extreme place from burnout? Yes. It’s when your body’s giving you a symptom of burnout to say, ‘You’re on the wrong path; Cliff Ahead,’ and getting you to slow down and change direction. The cliff is chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or that part of long Covid. That’s when you go over the cliff because you didn’t listen to your psyche when it said, ‘Wrong Way.’” (12:04 | Caitlin Donovan and Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum) “People need to realize there’s not a single way to get to where you want to go. You can go north and south and get to the same place, you just need to turn west. There are all kinds of ways to get there. In medicine, we’re geared to, ‘What is the most profitable?’ The doctors are almost all really good people who think they’re doing the right thing. They say their catechisms every morning, they say, ‘Evidence-based medicine. Domini, Domini, Domini.’ And the drug reps are these cheerleaders.” (35:13 | Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum) “Steer with some simple things. Number one: how does that feel to you? Your brain is a computer, it’s a product of your programming… It has no clue who you are. Your feelings know who you are.” (43:45 | Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum)LinksConnect with Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum:https://endfatigue.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jacobteitelbaummd/ https://endfatigue.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/gifts/3-Steps-to-Happiness-Healing-Through-Joy.pdfConnect with Cait:Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcaitInitial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahvBurnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Sarah Vosen, a healing advocate and self-care coach, tackles the common struggle of resisting personal healing. She explains how change often feels uncomfortable, leading many to revert to old habits for temporary comfort. Sarah shares her journey of adopting healthy eating and changing her relationship with alcohol, emphasizing the need for patience and self-compassion. Delving into concepts like 'revenge procrastination,' she highlights the natural cycles of growth, reminding us that setbacks are a part of the healing journey.

“I’m giving you permission to give up,” says Courtney Clark, author of the recent book “Revisionary Thinking,” who joins the FRIED podcast to talk about the power of quitting. After being diagnosed with cancer four times starting at a very early age, she became acutely aware of the demand our culture makes on staying positive at all costs, creating a vacuum around anything even resembling a negative, or even more realistic thought. In workplace and career, this means we tend to stay on a career path past the time we realize it’s not working, convinced there is only one way to do things. Quitting doesn’t mean abandoning your dreams—or just lazing on the couch. Instead, Courtney encourages us to ‘supersize’ our dreams, to realize what you really want in the big picture, so that you can allow for more than one path to get there. And the more paths there are to get to our dreams the more chances we have to achieve them. Most of us have done this type of pivoting in our lives, perhaps without even realizing it. Courtney and Caitlin share their experiences in ‘supersizing’ in their career as well as in their personal lives. Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Quotes“We’ve very much romanticized the idea of powering through and putting on a happy face and I think part of the reason we like it, and we tell ourselves that story that other people are suffering’, Oh, they’re doing it with so much grace,’ we like that because, I believe, that it allows us to cling to this thought, this hope, that, if it were us, we’d be OK, too. ‘It’s bad but it’s not so bad.’ But the reality is then, that can lead friends, family, the support system to minimize.” (7:33 | Courtney Clark)“I believe we’ve created this culture where if you can’t find positivity, you’re bad and wrong. And if we could just kind of let that go, and maybe just allow two things to co-exist at the same time. You can have gratitude for something for where it got you and what you have because of it and also decide, ‘I don’t have to hold onto this forever.’” (12:23 | Courtney Clark)“There are a lot of people shouting and saying, ‘Change the system so that it’s what I wanted it to be.’ Instead of, ‘I’m going to quit the system and still help people or still engage with people in a way that’s more aligned.’”(18:17 | Caitlin Donovan)“A lot of times when we set what we think is a goal, we’ve really made a plan. And when we realize and we buy into the more ways you have to achieve something, the more achievable it is, then in order to build a lot of paths to something, you need to make a bigger goal. This is a strategy I call ‘supersizing’ your goal.” (23:14 | Courtney Clark) LinksConnect with Courtney Clark:https://www.courtneyclark.com/ https://www.instagram.com/courtney_l_clark/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneylclark/Connect with Cait:Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcaitInitial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahvBurnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Host Cait Donovan is back with another #straightfromcait episode, this time discussing the six factors which leave you most vulnerable to workplace burnout. Drawing from leading research, she will explain how you can evaluate these factors in order to make the best decisions for yourself going forward. These factors will be all too familiar to longtime FRIED listeners—or anyone going through burnout recovery. Cait discusses the many ways that values can misalign in the workplace as well as how to respond when you feel your contributions are being under appreciated. She’ll reveal just how many friends the average person needs to have in the workplace, according to research, and how to deal with a micromanaging boss. Tune in to today’s episode where you’ll also learn how to deal with a lack of autonomy and how to determine when your workload is unmanageable. Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Quotes“If you know these things, then you can start to make some changes, see where things can be shifted and where they can’t be shifted and then maybe make some better decisions moving forward in your workplace.” (1:44 | Caitlin Donovan)“If you have high levels of job strain and low levels of resources, that becomes an unbearable workload.” (2:28 | Caitlin Donovan) “There’s a ton of research that says that you need one solid friend in the workplace in order to feel like somebody’s got your back and to feel connected to your workplace.” (3:08 | Caitlin Donovan)“There’s only so much you can do when someone hasn’t learned how to trust the people that work for them. You can’t change that for them, that’s their own stuff that they’ve got to work through. The only control you have is whether or not you work under this person.” (5:18 | Caitlin Donovan) “If you’re feeling a lack of fairness, you need to know what it’s about in order to decide whether or not you can influence it.” (7:47 | Caitlin Donovan)LinksConnect with Cait:Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcaitInitial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahvBurnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Join Maggie Reyes, a master certified life coach, as she discusses navigating burnout in relationships. Learn how to communicate needs effectively, handle burnout impact on emotional connection, and prioritize self-care. Explore strategies for rebuilding connections post-burnout and finding balance in relationships.

“There is a perfect fit out there for you,” encourages host Cait Donovan in this episode of FRIED, where she and Sarah Vosen discuss the process of job searching while recovering from burnout. They guide you through a four-step framework to navigate this challenging process.The goal is to dig beneath the trauma and anxiety of burnout to where your instincts and intuition can guide you toward what you truly want. This is your chance to reacquaint yourself with your true values, not those imposed by family, friends, or society. You’ll learn how to access Cait’s complimentary worksheet and how to hold yourself accountable as you complete the exercise—ideally more than once.Though it can be scary to face the working world again while still healing, if you allow yourself to dream big, you’ll find your perfect alignment. Cait and Sarah are living examples of this journey.Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Quotes“This also sort of gives you an opportunity to tap back into your intuition, which you’ve probably lost connection with during burnout and you probably stopped trusting yourself. So, while it takes time to build trust with a new company and new bosses and new team members, it also, in burnout recovery, takes time to build trust with yourself. Can I make the right decision? What if I make the wrong decision?” (7:58 | Cait Donovan) “Anchor yourself in the belief that there is a well-aligned job out there that will allow you to earn money and keep your health and have colleagues and be joyful—not saying you’re not going to have a stressful day now and again, not saying you’re going to love every single person you work with, it’s not going to be a cult—but there is a perfect fit out there for you. We see this over and over and over again in situations where it really should not exist.” (11:47 | Cait Donovan) “Honestly, we’re these people, too. I mean, for real. It’s a little different when it’s an entrepreneurial thing because we’re making small adjustments and course corrections over time, but we have become better and better bosses and made decisions that fit each of us. We’re making decisions collectively and individually that are better and better for us and it’s working.” (13:03 | Sarah Vosen)LinksConnect with Cait:Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcaitInitial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahvBurnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! (https://bit.ly/unfryapply)Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Kristin Lis, a lawyer, shares her burnout recovery journey and the importance of aligning values. She discusses setting boundaries, embracing self-care, and transitioning to a new job. Kristin emphasizes the impact of core values on well-being and overcoming limiting narratives.

Explore the F.R.I.E.D. framework for burnout recovery, focusing on safety, reprioritization, exploring possibilities, and dedication. Learn about creating buffers in internal and external environments, recognizing BRFs and BPFs, and embracing growth through dedication.

Aria Johnson, TV personality and voice coach, shares her burnout recovery journey, highlighting societal pressures on women. She emphasizes the importance of self-care, asking for help, and letting go of perfectionism for peace. The podcast explores self-awareness, authenticity, and setting boundaries to avoid burnout.