When we talk about burnout, the conversation is often focused on “the system.” We point to heavy workloads, or toxic work cultures, or leadership issues. These things do matter. But there’s another part of the equation that also matters: our own thoughts and mindsets.
That was the message from Dr. Roger Kapoor, author of Working Happy!: How to Survive Burnout and Find Your Work/Life Synergy in the Healthcare Industry, when he joined me on the Healthcare Plus Podcast. (Click here to listen.) He says sometimes we can have a great job and a decent work schedule and a good sense of purpose. But if our inner world is filled with doubt, fear, overthinking, resentment, or anxiety, none of that will matter. If our mind is swirling with garbage, that’s how we’re going to feel.
Many of us feed ourselves a steady mental diet of negativity. (At times I have been guilty of this.) We wouldn’t purposely eat spoiled food, but we consume mentally and emotionally toxic information day in and day out and then wonder why we’re feeling so bad.
Dr. Kapoor’s point is that burnout doesn’t come only from what’s happening on the outside, which we can’t control, but from what’s going on inside, which we can control. We can at least put up filters.
Our mind is meant to be our teammate, not our worst critic. But at times, it’s the loudest voice of judgment in the room. It replays grudges. It fixates on slights. It turns small frustrations into emotional crises. If we walk around all day with these toxic thoughts in our head, it will take a toll. PTO won’t fix it. Neither will any meditation app.
Another burnout trap is the idea of work/life balance. Dividing time equally between work and home sounds like a good idea but it sets us up for constant failure. Every win in one area feels like a loss in another. If we stay late at work, we feel guilty at home. If we take time for ourselves, we feel like we’re slacking.
Instead, Dr. Kapoor says we need to think in terms of work/life synergy. It’s not about balance, but integration. Your job, your family, your health, your passions should not be rival forces fighting for your energy. The question is, How do I build a life where my work and my life fuel each other, where I don’t have to choose between, for example, being a good professional and being a good parent? When we approach our lives with that mindset, burnout begins to kind of lift, and fulfillment takes root.
He tells a story about his six-year-old son who loves cars. When he got a puzzle of a shiny red sports car, he was so excited until he opened the box. He then picked up this one puzzle piece and said, “Daddy, this is not a car.” And Dr. Kapoor explained he needs to put every piece of the puzzle together to see the car. Every piece matters, even the oddly shaped ones that don’t make sense in the moment. Life works the same way. All the pieces come together to create a life that is beautiful and complete and reflects who we truly are.
My big takeaway from Dr. Kapoor’s message is that our thoughts matter. How we talk to ourselves matters. So does keeping the puzzle pieces in perspective and taking small steps to create a life that works for us. It’s good to know that while we can’t always change “the system” overnight, we can start bit by bit to try to change ourselves.
Click here to listen to the Healthcare Plus Podcast “How Mindset, Synergy, and Lifestyle Basics Help Healthcare Professionals Battle Burnout” with Quint Studer and Dr. Roger Kapoor.
