“When life takes you down, it changes you. You’re not the same after,” says Dr. Susan Biali in her new book, The Resilient Life. “When I look back on my career, my most cherished accomplishments all came with significant stress.”
And yet, sometimes, that work-related stress can tip into burnout if we’re not careful—something particularly prominent these last few years. Susan is one of my longest-time friendtors (fifteen years and counting!), and in this long-overdue Pivot conversation, we talk about what personality traits make someone most prone to burnout, social overwhelm, the power of small doses of relaxation response activities, and more.
More About Susan: Dr. Susan Biali Haas is an award-winning medical doctor, internationally recognized for her expertise in mental health, stress management, burnout prevention, and resilience. Today we’re talking about her new book, The Resilient Life: Manage stress, prevent burnout, improve your physical and mental health, and live with more resilience.
In addition to her twenty years of primary care experience, she also coaches a broad range of clients — from senior executives to physicians and other health professionals — to take control of their mental and physical well-being. Dr. Susan’s popular Psychology Today blog has over 10 million views, and she has been featured in media such as the Today Show, Forbes, BBC World Service, Oprah.com, and others.
🌟3 Key Takeaways:
Even 10 to 20 min of mindful Relaxation Response activities can have a 24-hour positive impact on your mood and health.
When is burnout not burnout? Sometimes what we think is burnout is actually a psychological crash that feels very intense but can be worked through with extra rest, sleep, and other self-care. Real burnout is more serious and often needs the care of a professional to recover from.
Leverage your parasympathetic nervous system to counteract your stress response; take a few deep breaths and pay attention to how you feel afterward.
✅Do This Next: What do you need and want most? Create a social inventory of the different people in your life and interactions you want to have with them, and reflect on how those relationships are showing up or present in your life and if you are happy with that, or want to make changes.
📘Books:
🔗Resources:
Susan on the web, Instagram: @drsusanbiali, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
Articles: Susan’s Psychology Today column, Don’t Try to Reason with Unreasonable People, Create Free Time Within Your Overwhelmed Work Life
Podcast: The Jordan Harbinger Show
Research: Resilience Research Center led by Dr. Michael Unger
🎧Related Podcast Episodes:
60: How Emotionally Agile Are You? Strategies for Setbacks with Susan David
45: Post-Launch Pivot Point + Visit From the Furry Rest Monster
Free Time 063: On Burnout and Business Intuition with Azul Terronez of Authors Who Lead
Free Time 006: Going Pro on Podcasting with Jordan Harbinger
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