I thought I was dying

People think that burnout comes from working really hard or too hard or working too long. And I don't actually think that's why burnout happens. I think burnout starts to happen when you lose control. And if you've played Tetris before, as the levels get harder and harder, the pieces start falling faster and faster. And when you mess up a move, it compounds very quickly because the pieces just start stacking on top of one another really fast. And that is what it's like when you start to feel out of control. You make a mistake, and One mistake becomes 2, becomes 4, becomes 16, and it multiplies fast. I knew that I needed a break because I coped with burnout. I ate too much, I drank too much. I didn't exercise very much. I didn't get much sleep. I wasn't a great husband. I wasn't paying attention to my family. And that all sort of culminated in this panic attack that I had in December of 2018. I didn't really know what was happening, and I thought I was dying. And that was the day that I knew that I needed to make a change. And I had a conversation with my bosses the following Monday. I ended up staying for another eight months and getting myself back into mental and physical shape.