The loss (and gain) that happens when we live with an adventurous, open heart. — I’m spending the week in Amsterdam, the place I have lived longest since leaving Australia twenty years ago. Walking its streets, memories lurk everywhere. Some make a particular space in my heart glow. Others give rise to bittersweet nostalgia, sending a shard of pain to that same place. The dozen…

How the acute pain of rejection is less damaging than the chronic pain of allowing my boundaries to be transgressed. — Last year, soon after ACL reconstruction surgery and just shy of my 43rd birthday, I wrote a piece on lying by omission. It was a topic close to my heart — I had been lied to by omission by someone repeatedly. I was angry. I can tell when I reread…

It’s not just your body and mind that need to restore. Your soul needs soothing, too. — We often think of nourishment in terms of what we eat. In healing from burnout, nourishment goes far further. Nourish means attending to your unique needs and doing what makes you feel soothed, enlivened and at ease. This means nourishing your body, mind and — yes — your soul. As…

How to start your journey out of burnout, and towards growth — Burnout can leave you feeling helpless and isolated. Reaching out to others and acknowledging what is happening is essential. In fact, it forms the first step in your healing journey: Talk. You cannot change what you deny or ignore. By talking about burnout, you reclaim your power. Being honest about…

These are some of the most common symptoms of burnout. How many are you experiencing right now? — Researchers use three dimensions to measure burnout: Exhaustion, cynicism and reduced efficacy. But what does burnout actually look like, in practice? The answer is not straightforward. That’s because the experience of burnout can look and feel very different from one person to the next. Burnout can be an invisible syndrome…

The most famous painting in the world might be the least viewed painting in Louvre. Last weekend I took myself on a romantic weekend to Paris. As a friend pointed out, the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself, so, why not? I stayed in a crappy…

I wouldn’t wish burnout on anyone. And yet, it can give rise to significant positive growth. — “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.” — Viktor Frankl I’m putting the final touches on my new book about healing and evolving after burnout and reflecting a lot about my own healing journey in the year or so after I quit…

How being aware of expectations can help us feel more content and resilient — Having expectations about how things will go is a natural human instinct: we are wired to want to know what’s coming. Expecting ourselves not to have expectations is a contradiction in terms — and a potentially harmful form of denial. Like emotions, expectations are a normal part of life. When…

Don’t wait until the ship has sailed. Get in early to create an optimally healthy company culture — As your idea grows into a living, breathing company, it’s easy to get caught up in growth, deadlines and investor-driven demands, and overlook the opportunities to ensure your company is sustainable and healthy. Thing is, the earlier you pay attention to the kind of culture you want your company to…