Therapy for high-performing Professionals

 What is Job Burnout?

A Harvard Business Review article says, “when the conditions and demands you encounter at work — like workload, level of autonomy, and norms of interpersonal behavior — exceed your capacity to handle them, you’re at risk of burning out.”  

I disagree with this definition. You used to welcome these challenges and turned them into your growth. Taking more than you could handle has been the norm in the business, like your quarterly revenue goal. Have you ever signed up for “stretch goals” even when you are hitting the target?

Burnout means you have ignored your life to meet other people’s expectations, and now you are nearly or entirely drained. You were ok with this arrangement when you were in 20s, but now your mind and body are starting to say “NO” to your directions.

Any additional tasks or unfavorable factors like an under-performing team member can make you angry and irritable when you are drained. Sometimes a new role beyond your comfort zone can make you excessively anxious since you’ve been equated your life-worth to meeting expectations of others. To fill up the gas, you may have resorted to recreational drugs, alcohol, gambling, or sex. Or you may have taken up on healthier alternatives like intense workouts, traveling, and testosterone therapy. But the relief is short-lived, and you feel you are dragging your feet at work and home.