My Burnout Story & The Science Behind The Solutions

The moment I realised I was in trouble, a near collapse while hosting a glittering gala ball was a frightening wakeup call to the long-term mental and physical ramifications of unchecked clinical burnout syndrome. In this lesson, Sophie explains how to carry out a stress audit which can be your first step to beating burnout.

I started my deep dive into burnout to discover it can lead to serious health consequences. A number of studies show ongoing stress can lead to increased consumption of fast foods, alcohol, and sugar. This negatively impacts the very part of your executive brain function, which controls your desire for such things. In today's lesson, I outline the first of my science-based three-step daily rituals which have helped me overcome burnout.

Self-worth isn’t measured by how much you do for others, but ironically, people who suffer burnout often don’t get that. That’s why I developed a Calm, Connect, and Change program designed to help me regain control of my autonomic nervous system. In this lesson, I explain how science shows consistent, small changes can lead to big improvements in your well-being and help make you a better person, partner, or parent.

There’s a substantial body of research that shows how and why our relationship with nature can impact our cognitive function and enhance our positive feelings. But what really blew me away was how little time you need to spend outdoors to have a big impact on your mind and body. In this lesson, I explain why the second step in my three-step program, Connect, works and how little effort it takes.

Meditation is more than just calming the mind. Science shows definitively that meditation actually changes your brain for the better. One study I found shows the cortical thickness of the prefrontal cortex increases in people who meditate.” In this lesson, Sophie reveals techniques for improving what is sometimes referred to as our eighth sense: Interoception. You may know it as mindfulness, and it provides us with the ability to be aware of our own mental and emotional processes.

Part of my journey out of burnout required me to become more self-aware about what was really going on in my life. I’d been feeling so crappy and tired for so long that I thought this was just how normal felt. In this lesson, learn why science says smiling is good for your brain, the importance of saying no, and why having quality relationships is more important than quantity.

I have uncovered a huge number of evidence-based research findings in this journey, but maybe one of the most important is that it’s the little messages that we tell ourselves about ourselves that are often the biggest barriers to change. That’s because neurons associated with negative thoughts or actions start to wire together to make the process of believing those falsehoods more efficient and easier to access quickly. In this final lesson, I explain how to dismantle the negative beliefs and stories we all unconsciously carry as the final step to making lasting positive change.