Consultants often feel the pressure to please clients and be perfectionists, which can lead to burnout. The speaker experienced chronic migraines and realized the need to change their relationship with work. The fear of losing their sense of emotional stability and safety was overwhelming. Society teaches us to define our self-worth through work, leaving us feeling reluctant to step back. To overcome this, it is important to do self-reflection and understand why we find safety in overworking or being the best. By identifying our cognitive schemas and challenging them, we can break free from the cycle of burnout.
For some of us it’s easy to lose ourselves in our work. But a lack of boundaries between your personal and work life is something mental wellness educator Gloria Chan Packer would warn you twice about. Gloria speaks about the perils of gaining your sense of self-worth from your job, discusses her experience with burnout and stress and shares empowering insights on how to shift our perspectives to create – and maintain – a healthy distance. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts