- Now the term burnout is defined
as a state of mental and physical exhaustion
caused by one's professional life.
Burnout itself wasn't something
that was talked about until psychologist,
Dr. Herbert Freudenberger in 1974 noticed his volunteers
at a free clinic for drug addicts in New York City
were experiencing the same symptoms.
- There's actually observable changes
in areas of the brain, especially in the emotional centers
of the brain, usually called the limbic system,
but includes things like amygdala and cingulate gyrus
and anterior frontal cortex and whatever,
all these parts of the brain,
you can actually see changes in them using functional MRIs.
- Even though burnout can happen to anyone,
there are still career paths that are more likely
to lead to burnout.
My guess would be that this is happening
because the effort people have to put into those jobs
is a lot, and the reward may just not line up.
- I really was not doing that well
when I just couldn't concentrate at work.
Well, I mean, I felt anxious in general,
I mean, I guess in that time, I would describe it
as just stress, but it was like anxiety, too,
and so, I remember being at work, at a lunch with my manager
and we were doing this basic,
we had to calculate some some mileage thing,
it was so basic, and I just couldn't concentrate.
(laughing) I swear, she must've been looking at me,
thinking, what is wrong with you?
We're just doing some general math here.
- I have this analogy I use called Poker Chips,
that everybody wakes up
with a certain amount of poker chips.
- Yes. - And every time someone
does something that's mean, it costs you one.
- Or two. (laughing) - Yeah.
Or all of them. - Yes, that's right.
- Depending on how you're doing, right?
And so, if we can do things to wake up
with more poker chips, that means that we'll have more,
like thicker skin or-- - Well, it's just old-fashion,
it's old-fashion resiliency and regulation, right?
- Yes. - So sleep better,
eat better, exercise, take care of yourself.
- We're talking about like running in the red,
and running out of gas.
If someone is in the red, or even in the orange,
for a really long period of time,
what can that do to our system?
- Ah.
I mean, how much time do we have?
- [Narrator] (laughing) We got plenty.
- You know, it starts with just regular energy,
our relationships get more cut off,
we don't spend time with people,
so now, we're turning inward more,
we're internalizing, that's where the depression
starts to come in, you get short fuses first,
then depression, all that raises your heart rate
and your blood pressure and then--
- If we think we may be burning out,
or have been burnt out for a long, long time,
what do we do?
How do we heal?
Okay, let's get into some tools and tips
that you can start using today.
Obviously, everyone is gonna be different,
so take what you want and leave the rest.
Things don't change overnight.
I think it was Gary Vaynerchuk who said,
"Talking about pushups doesn't make you stronger."
Unfortunately, we're gonna have to do the hard work.
And that's what the homework throughout the series
has been for, a way to keep you focused,
and motivated for change, because we can all change.
Trust me, all it takes is us not liking where we are,
and having a goal of where we wanna be,
and then, making those tough daily choices
to work towards that goal.
And maybe you've tried the homework,
or maybe you've skipped it.
Wherever you're at, just know that you can get better.
Life can get better.
We just have to focus on where we wanna be.
So feel free to hop back through these videos,
and try out some of the tools and techniques
that resonated with you most.
Even one small change makes us better than we were
before we started this series,
so let's all work towards that,
and thank you so much for following along.
I hope you found this helpful.
I hope it gave you some tools and tips and things
to make your life better,
as we work together towards a healthy mind,
and a healthy body.
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