If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes: How to Avoid the Burnout Cliff

You may think you're fine. You're still performing well at work, still the one people rely on, yet you know something's off.

In this episode - a replay of one of my most important conversations from 2025, I share the question that changed how I think about burnout: What are you borrowing from your life to keep your work looking fine? For many of us, our ingrained programming tells us we have to please everyone all the time to feel good enough, so we protect our work and borrow energy from the rest of our life to do it. We look totally fine on the outside. Inside, the walls are standing but there's nothing left.

I’m chatting with Dr Richard Duggins NHS Psychiatrist and Author of ‘Burnout Free Working’ about why high achievers stay high-performing right up util they burn out, what radiators and drains have to do with it, and what Richard calls the burnout cliff - where one small trigger takes you by surprise. If you go back into the same way of working, carrying the same load in the same way, it will affect your next decision, and the one after that.

This is about burnout not as a personal failing, but as a change in the balance of your energy.

We cover:

Why your performance can stay high while the rest of your life shrinksBorrowing energy from home, fun, and rest to protect workRadiators and drains - work intensity, home pressures and cultureThe burnout cliff and the plateau before itEarly signs - poor sleep, irritability, detachment, loss of joyWhat may help you carry it differently without going back over the edge

This episode is for you if... you are a high achiever in a leadership role who has to have the conversation nobody else will, has to make the call someone disagrees with, and lies awake replaying a decision you had to make. A doctor or professional who looks capable to everyone else but feels depleted when you get home.

You do not need to collapse to prove you were struggling.

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Burnout Self-Assessment Toolkit: https://youarenotafrog.com/toolkit/

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