Rising from the Ashes: How Introverts in Healthcare Can Leverage Burnout for Personal Transformation
Use Your Burnout as a Catalyst for
Positive Transformation
Like most difficult times in life, when you're going through burnout, it can feel like the "yuck" will never end. It's hard to see how any good can come out of something so uncomfortable and disempowering.
The good news is that change is inevitable. Sometimes, change is unwelcome, but as you move through burnout, change becomes the light at the end of the tunnel.
Believe it or not, you can use your burnout as a catalyst for positive transformation in your life.
I know because I've done it, and I've met many colleagues who've done the same.
If you feel like you've just barrel-rolled to the bottom of the mountain, I'd like to share some thoughts on how to use your burnout as fuel to feel better again.
Use Burnout as Your Trail Marker
Awareness is essential any time you want to change your trajectory. That's why you find those giant signs at the trailhead featuring maps marked with a "You Are Here" pin.
Awareness is also the first way to make burnout work for you. A difficult time can prompt deep introspection, especially for introverts. It can force you to face the reality of your limitations and needs.
If you're willing to shift your perception of burnout, it can become a valuable tool for assessing where you are and where you want to go.
There are 12 stages of burnout. Each stage has unique characteristics that can tell you about yourself and what you might need to start feeling better. (For lots of detail, you can read about them here.)
For example, depending on where you land on the burnout scale, you might find that you've neglected your physical well-being, abandoned your boundaries, or allowed medicine to dictate your self-worth.
I don't point this out to make you feel worse. Instead, I'm asking you to take notice with gentle self-compassion. There's no blame here. We're simply trying to create an understanding of the root of your dissatisfaction.
Finding Self-Compassion Along The Way
If you've just cocked your head to the side and thought, "What is this 'self-compassion' you speak of?", you've discovered another gift from burnout.
Consider your years of rigorous medical training. Were you ever taught about self-compassion?
I wasn't.
Simply stated, self-compassion is turning inward the understanding, support, and encouragement we typically reserve for our patients, colleagues, friends, and family.
If you're like I was, the idea of self-compassion can seem awkward at first. After all, you've been bred to be staunch and strong.
Burnout reminds you that you are a human with human needs. It whispers in your ear that your self-imposed requirements of perfection are laughable.
Burnout asks you to be kind to yourself even as it tries to pull you down. Self-compassion is what softens the landing.
Trade Selflessness for Self-Care
Once you learn the trick of being kind to yourself, you begin to see all the little (and big) ways you've neglected yourself.
You've now reached the point on the metaphorical map where the main trail diverges into several smaller paths. Because each of us has different needs for self-care depending on our burnout journey, the path or paths that are best for us will vary.
These smaller paths can run alongside each other or crisscross back and forth. You’ll know what you need by using the awareness and self-compassion you've found along the way.
Physical Self-Care - After being taught to regularly ignore your physical needs for the benefit of others, you may find you've forgotten to listen to your body. Support yourself through attention to quality nutrition, exercise, or sleep hygiene. You may even need to temporarily set down your role as caregiver and become the patient.
Mental Self-Care - Mental exhaustion is just as debilitating as physical fatigue. It's not a mark of failure. Open yourself to learning relaxation techniques, such as mindfulness or breathwork. Engage your mind in a new way through creativity and play. Shift your mindset through simple gratitude practices.
Emotional Self-Care - In the quest to be "professional" you may have developed the habit of suppressing your emotions. Learn to feel again. Get to know how emotions show up in your body and how to process those sensations so they help you rather than harm you. Just as you learn to honor negative emotions, get comfortable with indulging in positive emotions.
Social Self-Care - Notice if you've allowed yourself to slip into isolation. Rebuild existing relationships and foster new connections. Seek out community and support to surround yourself with others who encourage and uplift you. Learn the difference between giving out of guilt and giving as a form of self-renewal.
Spiritual Self-Care - Develop your sense of connection to something greater than yourself, however that looks for you. Spending time in prayer, meditation, or nature can feed your soul.
Financial Self-Care - Many moderate and high earners get trapped by the proverbial “golden handcuffs”. Pay attention to the times you’re trading your time, freedom, or relationships for money. Become deliberate about your finances and decide how you can acquire and spend money in ways that truly support your well-being.
Self-care doesn’t look the same for everyone.
When you give yourself the support your mind, body, and soul are calling for, you naturally feel more expansive and alive. That vibrancy increases your ability to transform the lessons of burnout into a positive force for designing the life you want.
When your self-care paths merge, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Enjoying the View On the Other Side of Burnout
Let your increased awareness, self-compassion, and willingness to support yourself empower you to move toward what you want, rather than trying to escape what you don’t want.
You may be surprised how much self-discovery and growth you've experienced on your path through burnout.
In addition to developing awareness, self-compassion, and a deep respect for self-care, moving through burnout can empower you to:
Improve Boundaries - Your self-care practice may highlight the need for firmer boundaries. As you learn to prioritize, delegate, and communicate your needs, you can better protect your energy. You'll discover that your well-being is more about proactively advocating for yourself rather than defending against outside influences.
Discover Strengths - It may feel like burnout highlights your weaknesses. However, through awareness and self-exploration, you can start focusing on your strengths. Instead of that nagging sense of "not enough" nipping at your heels, you start to see the talents and gifts you have to offer. You recognize your current role in medicine is only one way you bring value to the world.
Redefine Success - Our educational system and capitalistic society tend to provide narrow definitions of success. Burnout nudges you to formulate your own definition. Being at the "top" or having the "most" may or may not be in your best interest. You get to decide how you want to define success across all aspects of your life.
Shift Priorities - Burnout encourages you to look at the broader picture and reassess what really matters to you. It helps you decide to whom and what you most want to give your energy and inspires you to get creative in allocating your time and efforts to serve your purpose. You may find yourself becoming more attuned to the value of simplicity.
Increase Resilience - Challenges you encounter along the way prepare you for the next hurdle in life. Either through intentional learning or trial and error, hardship teaches us new coping mechanisms for the future. It's important to remember that your resilience and increased adaptability aren't for the benefit of others. Use them for your self-protection and let them help you function with greater agility in your life .
Create Stronger Support Systems - Burnout can emphasize when you've been lax at nurturing supportive relationships. It can remind you how important it is to master the skill of receiving. The isolation of burnout provides a convincing motivator to actively reach out to others and create a net of mutual support, whether it's locally or virtually.
Reignite Your Growth Mindset - You've always known you could improve your capabilities and develop your talents by applying yourself. Still, your frustration in medicine may have lulled you into thinking you're stuck and unable to initiate change. When you take action to overcome burnout, you reactivate that part of you that seeks out possibility and takes advantage of opportunities as they arise. When you combine this with intention, you can map out your post-burnout plan with greater ease.
I'll never suggest burnout is "good". But I do want to reassure you that your burnout experience isn't for naught. You have what it takes to pass through burnout and become better for it. Like a forest after a fire, you can experience a flourishing life again.
At first glance, we can only see the destruction wreaked by fire. Look beyond that, we'll find that fire burns away suffocating clutter and debris, gives new plants access to enriched life-giving soil, and provides the ideal conditions for new seeds to grow.
The same is true for you. Burnout doesn't have to destroy you.
Through the culmination of awareness, self-compassion, and self-care, you can release what hasn't been serving you, cultivate the conditions that help you thrive, and plant the seeds of the life you want to live.
Are you in need of strategies to recharge your energy as an introvert in healthcare?
Create calm in the middle of your busy day with my free Mindful Minutes Toolkit.
You can access it for free here.
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Learn more about working with me here.
Charity is a physician burnout coach helping introverts in healthcare escape feelings of apathy, irritability, and resentment brought on by the increasing demands and decreasing rewards of medicine.
She uses her 20 years of experience in clinical medicine combined with coaching to help introverts discover ways to be diligent, thoughtful clinicians while prioritizing their needs and protecting their energy. She wants you to know you don’t have to feel guilty for wanting a thriving life inside and outside of medicine.