My cup is empty ...I was done.

For those who are following my posts, I'd like to share with you an Australian (UNSW) book that has been an incredible help to me. I am truly grateful for what I have learned about my health and how to move forward.

Burnout: A guide to identifying burnout and pathways to recovery (2021) by Gordon Parker, Gabriela Tavella and Kerrie Eyers.

"The first complete guide to burnout, based on groundbreaking new research. It shows how you can tell whether you really have burnout, and helps you shape a strategy for recovery that will work for you. Are you always exhausted? Unable to feel for others or for life's pleasures? Find it hard to concentrate and take in what you read? You may have burnout.

The book reframes burnout as more than exhaustion: a syndrome of emotional fatigue, reduced empathy, and waning professional efficacy, often layered with spiritual or compassion fatigue and cynicism. It tracks how perfectionism, work overload, high impact stress, and a sense of calling fuel depletion, while recognition, meaningful work, and supportive environments may (but not always) buffer it. 

Burnout seems to be higher in those who view their work as a career and highest in those whose work is at the level of a calling. The book shares the personal voice of many highly accomplished professionals who have experienced burnout: a cup emptied, a sabbatical turning point, and the realisation that recovery is a long, holistic journey. Some of those interviewed in the book described their journey of recovery, amongst other things, as having “fashioned a new identity, a new way of viewing and appreciating life”.

Burnout signals renewal, not failure, if addressed with help. You can resolve burnout - most come through the flames restored into a better shape, more resilient than they were during their pre-burnout life. 

This book presents evidence-based steps for recovery emphasising mindful living, boundaries, decluttering, social connection, engaging with nature, sleep, exercise, and a shift from self-criticism, and perfectionism to sustainable purpose. For those experiencing significant burnout be ready for the long haul of working on yourself, perhaps readying yourself for a lifelong journey of recovery - as one case-study presents: "it took almost 4 years to restore myself to have boundless energy and to find balance, harmony, peace, emotionally and mentally."

As I read this book I strongly resonated with these statements in particular…

“ My cup is empty.“ “I was done “

“When severe, burnout is like the conductor has lost control of the orchestra.”

"The obvious cause of burnout is work overload – too much, too complex, too urgent, or too awful."

"Burnout is a signal for the need for renewal. I needed to learn to help and heal myself."

As many of you know from reading my blogs and posts this is exactly what I am aiming to do at present. Thanks to this book (and others), I am making progress.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. It's confronting in parts, research based, interesting, compelling and generally an easy read. Highly recommended for anyone who is trying to make sense of their physical and mental health after a long and hardworking year.