The Real Reason You Can't Switch Off (with Nick Petrie)

Do you lie awake replaying a decision you had to make? That work anxiety loop where you can't stop thinking about work even when you are home? Maybe you've told yourself burnout is just the occupational hazard of this job.

You've tried to put things in place — to leave on time, to say no more often — and you just can't seem to hold them. What if you are solving the wrong problem? It's not a work stress problem, but an identity one.

Our ingrained programming tells us we have to tie who we are to how we perform to feel good enough, so when work dips, we dip. That pattern will affect your next decision, and the one after that.

In this conversation we put clean language on what keeps you fused to work, and what real burnout recovery has to start with instead. I spoke to Nick Petrie, author of Burn Bright, about why the usual advice has not touched it for you, and what may help you carry it differently.

We cover:

• Why burnout can feel like an occupational hazard — and why you may be solving the wrong problem
• What happens when you fuse your identity with work — you don't have a job, you are the job
• What he calls the Karman Line — the deliberate slow down between work and home that stops you crash landing
• Uncontrolled re-entry — why you walk through your own front door still in work mode
• Rumination vs reflection — why a patient or client complaint stays with you when you are emotionally fused to it
• Perform mode vs grow mode — why staying too long in perform mode leaves you exhausted. And bored.
• How to get more comfortable disappointing people you care about — and why that matters for recovery

This episode is for you if...

You are a doctor, senior healthcare professional or high achiever in a leadership role - someone who has to have the conversation nobody else will, who has to make the call someone will disagree with, who lies awake replaying a decision you had to make.

If you have ever thought, what is wrong with me, why can I not cope, maybe I am not good enough — this episode is for you.

Nick Petrie is a leadership coach, Burnout Researcher and author of Burn Bright. In this interview he shares practical ideas from working with high performers on identity, boundaries, and getting out of perform mode.

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