Conquering Burnout | A Guide to Thriving in High-Pressure Roles

Welcome to today's episode of Beyond Diagnosis. Burnout is on the increase and has become a worldwide problem traditionally associated with high-pressure careers, and yet it's very little known about how someone who is dealing with a long-term health condition or any other form of anxiety or emotional problem can actually have burnout as well. So if you are feeling that you've hit rock bottom and need solid actionable steps to start feeling some joy and vitality again, then we've got you covered. Hello and welcome to Beyond Diagnosis, a podcast to raise your awareness, decisions, and voice for alternative practices so you can take back control of your health. I'm Rita De Michele, your host, a mindset and empowerment and the founder of the Onus platform. Join me each week so you can create the health of your dreams. Michelle Gordon, known as the Healthy Happy Nurse, is a registered nurse, wellness and life coach, and NLP practitioner who has successfully overcome her own burnout. Welcome, Michelle. It's so good to have you on the show.

Thank you. Thanks for having me, Rita. It's nice, so nice to be here.

Oh, it's so good. This is such an important topic because it is kind of becoming a little bit of a pandemic, isn't it? Like, you see it everywhere. You see it in the news, you see it on the internet, you hear people talking about how burnt out they are, how unhappy they are. So it's really, uh, I think it's fabulous that you've actually moved into this area to help people. And, um, as I said, you've experienced your own burnout. So I would kind of— I'd like to start with that, if you don't mind, Michelle, talking a little bit about your experience and how you helped yourself. And did the knowledge of being a registered nurse come into play or not? That's what I'm really— I'd really love to, if you don't mind speaking to that. Um, yeah, I think that would be really interesting.

Okay, so let's go back to 2018. And I was a mum of 3 children. My children were obviously a lot younger back then. My husband was starting his own business, and we were trying to get that off the ground. And I had been a nurse at the time for 20 years and was working in an emergency department. And with, I guess, the stress of young family, a business, and trying to keep ourselves afloat, I just dived into work to keep moving. And I was also struggling with my own confidence at work in in quite a high-paced, fast-paced environment, as I'd been nursing for so many years. I— the, the emergency department is, is a, is a whole beast in itself.

And I, I feel if I could just interrupt there for the view— for the listeners to understand. Well, to add to what you're saying, in recent years I've had so much experience as helping family who have been in an emergency, 2 different members of our family. It is something that unless someone has walked into an emergency area of a hospital, it is like you're stepping onto another planet. It is high-paced, high-go, high-stress, highly organized, highly structured.

Yes.

It actually gives— it actually makes your heart race. Even as someone walking in who does— who's not the patient.

Absolutely.

It's your heart race. And I mean, it's phenomenal what they do. But yeah, that's just to give a bit of an overview from someone who hasn't been a patient in an emergency. How I do it, never alone someone like you who has been working in there and actually dealing with the person who is sick in an emergency situation. Yes, yes, yes.

So it is— that's exactly what the environment is like. And as a nurse, um, it's quite an adrenaline-fueled 8 to 10, 12-hour shift. It's fast-paced, there's a lot going on, it's life or death, you know, very much. Um, you're on as soon as you hit the floor, and I was navigating as a nurse, my role in that. And to counteract, I guess, the way that I was feeling, I just dived all in and I picked up a lot of extra shifts. I worked really hard. I was trying to prove myself. I was also a people pleaser at the time, so I lacked a lot of boundaries. I didn't have any boundaries around my time or energy, and I was on the surefire path to burnout. And that's exactly what happened. So It was about a 2-year period of me working really hard in that environment. And I started to really see that I— the first thing I started to notice was I lacked joy and happiness, and I felt like I was on— it was Groundhog Day. I just felt like I was on this hamster wheel that I couldn't get off. And the only thought was, just keep going, just keep going, just keep going. It'll, it'll be all right.

And I thought— That's a common mantra though, isn't it? It's a common mantra for people. I'll just push through this. I'll just— next day, I'll just, I'll just push through, and when I finish, then I can relax. It doesn't work like that, does it?

And that's the first stages of burnout. So there's actually 12 stages of burnout that I've researched.

I'd love for you to circle back to that.

Yeah, we will. So the first stages are, I'll just keep going, I'll just push through. And I, having the knowledge that I have now, I now know that. But it didn't work. I got, I got really unwell physically, mentally, and emotionally. I switched off my emotions. I stopped feeling because it was easier not to feel at work. It was like there's so much going on that you just turn off your emotional center. Um, I started to rely on alcohol at the end of my shift. Like, I'd come home and—

As a crutch, emotional crutch. Yep.

So that would be my, uh, escape, and that soon became a habit. So I, I very much, um, became an alcoholic, and I was highly functioning. I would be sober enough to go to work and, and, you know, do an amazing job, but as soon as I got home behind closed doors, I fell in a heap. And my weight ballooned. I didn't have any energy, and I was just like a shell of a person. There was 2 moments where I went— I knew that I was not in a great place. My husband knew I wasn't in a great place. He didn't know what to do. And one of the moments that really sort of turned the— was the turning point for me was when my little girl who was 18 months old at the time.

Hmm.

She walked up to me as I was sitting on the couch and toddled up to me, and I'd had a couple of glasses of wine by this stage. I was still in my scrubs. I was just completely escaping life, as I did. And I had a busy shift once again, and she sort of came up to me and stood right in front of me and, and leaned forward and grabbed my face. And just said, looked me in the eye and said, "Mummy, where are you?" Oh wow!

Yeah, that is unbelievable. Yeah, kids are just they know how to get it's like a laser. They just sense and feel that emotion, don't they? They're uninterrupted. They just know exactly. They read the energy.

Exactly. Yeah.

Wow, that is amazing, because I was going to ask you, when you were talking, you mentioned that you came home. And so what was the level of the impact that had on your family, which would then would add to your feeling of burnout and lack of joy? And yeah, you know, I'm not doing the right thing here, you know.

Well, I was completely disconnected. Like, I was, I was completely detached and disconnected. So I was just um, sleepwalking through life, you know. I would turn myself on to go to work.

Yes.

And function at work and, and save everyone else. That's exactly what was happening. I'd be on and, and, um, saving lives, and yet I'd get home and I'd feel like that my life was just absolutely falling to pieces, which it was. So, um, my poor children just— they lost me for 2 years, you know. My husband Didn't have a wife for two years. I was just, yeah, I wasn't even there. I was physically present, but I wasn't there for them. And so that was kind of the turning point that I went, what am I doing? Like, why am I doing this? What is going on here? And I'd been given counseling, and I'd seen a psychologist. I was medicated at one point, and nothing was moving the dial. Like nothing was shifting. I felt like I was. just this numb robot talking about stuff that I don't know, I, I wasn't even, I wasn't even able to sort of process. I was, I wasn't on another planet, I guess. And then I think I decided, well, I need to get help. I need to get my body and my mind back. I need to be present for my family. I need to get my energy back. And I worked with a life coach, and that was really the turning point for me to start to switch on a little spark back in my life again and realize that I had control of my destiny and I had control of this, this world, you know, that I, I could— I didn't have to let life happen to me, that I could start to, to allow life to happen for me. And that's what I started to do.

That's, that's so great. And that is when the— when that light turns on, when you get that shift and you think, oh, wait a minute. Because people pleasing is a huge one. I mean, I've definitely had people pleasing. And people pleasing, really, you're always giving, giving, giving, but there's not always a lot coming back. So you, you start and you start emptying out. You're always emptying, you're always giving giving, you start feeling empty, and then you have burnout, which gives you that empty feeling on, on top.

Yeah.

If we could go back to where you said— you actually said about the 12 stages of burnout— that'd be— I think that would be a really good thing for the listeners to know about. Because when you were going through this, did you think you were just stressed? Like, there's— I think there's a different— yeah, there's a difference between feeling stressed, like, I'm stressed today, And burnout is, is almost like I'm feeling a little unhealthy today and I've got a chronic illness. I think if I— if in my mind, the way I see it, it's like I feel stressed today and burnout is more like a chronic kind of condition of that.

Yeah.

So did you in the beginning realize that you were burnt out, or did you think, I'm just stressed from my job?

I, I just put it down to stress. And but every day I was stressed and I was thinking, well, this is normal because I, I saw a lot of my colleagues the same, you know, like they, they were saying the same things as me. Um, however, I didn't share with them the deeper part of what was happening at home, you know, how I was drinking, how I was escaping with You know, and how dark my thoughts were. I didn't share to that level with them because I, I was still hiding that, I guess. Um, however, I could see that a lot of my colleagues were saying the same thing. They were feeling stressed, they were feeling overwhelmed, they were exhausted. So that was just— that seemed very normal in— as a nurse in that type of environment.

Um, it would.

However, 2 years, no. Like, yes. That what I started to realize sort of towards the second year was I had very much become detached, numb, and disconnected from my emotions. I was relying on alcohol. I had become very cynical. I hated life. I hadn't felt joy for a long time. And my energy levels were nonexistent. And yeah, now looking back at the 12 stages of burnout, Mm-hmm. Stage 1 is just pushing through like we said earlier. I'll just get through, I'll just do this. Stage 1 and 2, I should say, are very much, I can do it, I'll prove myself, I'll just do a little bit more. And then you keep pushing through and then, um, what starts to happen is the emotional disconnect happens. You stop doing the things that light you up. You stop looking after your health. You stop, um, you disconnect from your family and friends. Then you can, you can start to rely on things like alcohol or food or, um, other things to escape life. And then eventually you travel all the way down to complete mental, physical, and emotional collapse, which is stage 12. And I was probably about stage 11 or 12 when, when that happened. Yeah.

Wow, that's— that is intense. And so many people do experience— you hear people talking like this, don't you? You see people who, um, like you said, oh, I'll just have a glass or two. Oh, and that glass or two ends up becomes 3 or 4.

Yeah.

Or you see people and all of a sudden they're eating twice as much as maybe they did before, or they're snacking all the time, or they're always hungry. They don't know why, but they're always hungry. Or even over-exercising. Like, some people, they over-exercise, they punish themselves in the gym. Or it's all about kind of punishing yourself, because in a way, the way I see it Is you're not reckon— you know, at the time you're not recognizing all the symptoms and you're not being educated that it can be burnout and stress. So it's almost like, I'm not doing good enough, I'm not doing well enough. So you start shaming yourself without realizing it and you turn to these emotional crutches. Is that sort of like what you were feeling?

Yeah. And or you go back, you overwork, you just continue to dive yourself you know, into work because it's the one thing that you feel like you have control of, even though you don't have control. So a lot of people, which is what I did as well, I wanted to prove myself and control that and very much, um, people-please my way through and do more shifts and pick up all of these things to make myself feel better when I wasn't actually getting to the crux of What is this whole— why do I need to people please and continue to serve everyone else and neglect myself? And it all stemmed down to, um, my complete lack of self-worth.

It's a big one. Yeah.

At the end of the day, yeah, self-worth is, is really—

it's a bit like— I find self-worth is a bit like When you're looking for the root cause of a health condition, you have to go all the way down. What is at the very root of this symptom, of this condition, or why you're experiencing this?

Yeah.

Well, like you're saying, people pleasing and being a workaholic and all the rest of it. Well, what's at the very base of that that you're dealing with? And that does take a lot to get down to. So you said that you did some, um, therapy around that. Was that the word? Am I using the right word there for you? Yeah, coaching.

My— so my workplace gave me some counseling sessions, and I, you know, it, it just didn't work for me. I didn't, I didn't have any change. I was so numb and disconnected. Then When I had that moment with my daughter, I went, what I need to— this has got to change. I need to really step up here. And that's when I got into coaching. And that honestly just changed my world, which is now why I'm a coach myself. It put me back in the driver's seat. It was me, I guess, not just talking about the past and talking about the tragic circumstances that I was seeing at work and talking about my feelings because I couldn't feel them at the time. It was actually just getting me to step into my own shoes and my own world and my own, I guess, destiny and take radical responsibility of my life. And that meant cutting back my work. And that was so hard to do because I'd worked full— I was working more than full-time. I was working up to 7 shifts a week. So I had to stop all of those things that I was doing, including the drinking and the overworking, and pull right back and behave in a very different way. And I had to really mentally kind of come to terms with, well, who is— why am I doing this? Why was I doing this? What does this mean about me now if I'm not working like I was and if I'm not drinking and Like, how do I, you know, how do I show up differently now? And who even am I? Like, I had to really come back to a whole new version of myself, as Michele is not going to be this burnt-out, chaotic, crazy nurse anymore that, you know, is overworking and overdrinking and doing all those things. She's healthy, fit, energized, calm. And she's in control. And so I had to find this new version of myself, which was a whole another journey in itself. But yeah, 12 months later, I became that person.

And do you feel that you had to find that version of yourself, or was that version always there and the job numbed it down? Like you forgot who you were? And that's the hardest thing. I think that's one of the things when people do coaching or therapy, it's the identity part of it that, you know, it's okay to say, okay, you know, don't work as hard, work less. But once you start making those shifts in your life, well, then you have something else has to— if you give up something, what is replaced? And so it's that, I think it's the identity that scares people in doing a lot of this work because Then they have to really like change or go— actually go back to the core of who they are.

Oh my gosh, I love this conversation. Yes.

Yeah, it really is. You have to go back and really feel, who am I without pleasing work and without pleasing my husband and without pleasing my kids and without pleasing extended family or things that I think I should do. And you know, that is, it's challenging. And I think, I don't know about you, but one of the— I think one of the most challenging things is, is learning to say no. Like, start developing— can we talk a little bit into how you started developing those boundaries and what was the impact on the people around you And how did they feel about it? And did that happen once you left work, or was it whilst you were still at work? And what was the impact of around, like, on family, etc.? And how did they take you becoming stronger in yourself?

So I just want to quickly say that touching on the going back to the core of who I was, that's exactly what I did. So, and this is When you said that, I was like, yes, that's what happened. I was always there, but I had all these overlaying patterns and programs that I was playing out, like people pleasing, perfectionism, overworking. I had all of these, these other programs in my brain that were making me behave the way that I was behaving. Does that make sense?

Absolutely makes sense. Yeah, I think that there's a few light globes going off for the listeners. who can recognize themselves in that and, and go back to— you're not finding yourself again, you know, like people say, I need to find myself. No, you always were there.

Yes, it's just cleaning up all of it.

Cleaning up. It's like, yeah, it's like cleaning up your room. Yeah, your personal space. You're cleaning up your room.

Yeah. And once I cleaned up the people pleasing and, you know, I had but the perfectionism playing out and my constant need to overwork, I actually just came back to the core of who I was. And I was like, there you are. It was like taking off all of these layers of clothing and really finding myself again.

Yes.

It was like, here she is. You've always been there. We got a little bit lost, and now this is who you are. So Going back to the, the people pleasing and the boundaries, I very much had to learn to say, to implement those boundaries in my world. And, and that very much started with saying no at work because I was always the one to say, I'll do it, I'll do the extra shift, I'll stay back overtime, you know, wanting to please and, and be recognized and validated. And I just stopped doing that, which was— that was hard at first, um, because all sorts of games started to play in my mind. Will I be liked? Will my boss recognize me? You know, like all of these things. Um, at the end of the day, it didn't really matter.

I—

we're just a number on a floor in that hospital. Do you know what I mean? Like, as long as they've got someone on that shift, it didn't matter who it was.

So Um, but would you say at the time it felt like it had to be you? Because, you know, I'm important, I'm important to them, I do a great job. And you don't really realize on the other side, it's like, I just need someone in this shift.

Yep.

So that thing of, they can't operate without me.

Yes, that's what was playing out. And so my identity and my whole self-concept was very much wrapped up in me being so validated and needed and all of this, you know. And so I was constantly putting my hand up to do all the extra shifts. So I just started to say no, which felt very strange at first. But a lot of the work that I did, which is what I do with my clients now, is really around values alignment. And what I realized was I, I was completely out of alignment with my values. I was operating in the hospital system's values. values, not my own.

Yeah.

Yeah. And so when I recognized, well, what are my values, which was a huge, um, process in itself because I didn't even know what they were, when I really identified them, I realized that, that I— to show up in that way meant to, to do the things that were in alignment with them, and that meant not being at work. all the time. That meant family was important to me. That meant calmness was important. Space, having freedom, all the things that I wasn't doing in my life. So I had to realize, well, is this in alignment, you know, for me saying yes to all of these things and, and giving away my time and energy, not just to work but to other people as well, um, around me? I, I realized, well, no, it wasn't. So I'm not going to, to do that. And that, that was a little bit of a process, but I, I did it and it was, it was great.

So that's, that's really interesting. And that was something I'd like to talk about, is just leaning into a little bit about that process. Is, you know, like, that's when people say to become more intentional about what you do, intentional about what you think. Um, can you just tell the listeners What did you do? How did you— apart from doing the coaching, apart from doing the mindset coaching, was there anything that you did at home that's— that helped you tap into those values, to start recognizing what those values are? Because when someone's completely numb, they're sitting at home, someone's maybe listening to this and they have burnout.

Mm-hmm.

What did you do? How did you start tapping into finding what your value was if you feel like you're Totally emotionally disconnected.

Yeah, a lot of it was just stopping and being with myself, and that meant a lot of solitude time because I was so used to being on amongst it all in the emergency department or at home with my family. I, I was always surrounded by so many people, so I went pretty much went within for a good 3 months, and I didn't see my friends. I didn't— and I'm, you know, this is not for everyone, but it was something that I really needed to do, was to just get some peace and calmness around without all the chaos and the noise. And that looked like, for me, starting to meditate, which I'd never done before. And really, yeah, training my brain to just sit with itself and be in the silence. and, and be with my thoughts because I'd never allowed myself to do that. Lots of amazing long, slow beach walks. I live by the beach here, and even just doing that was just so beautiful. Of a morning, I'd get up at, you know, 5, 6 o'clock in the morning and go for a beach walk. And I started to realize that I was waking up with having this quiet time and peace and solitude I was waking up emotionally.

Is that what you're saying? Waking up emotionally?

Oh, waking up emotionally. I was like starting to see things again. It was like I was seeing the sky was really blue, the, the water was amazing, I could hear the waves. It was all of a sudden my emotions started to, to switch on again, and I— a lot of those beach walks were just tears coming, you know. that had been in my burnout time. I'd switched all of that emotional center off and just stored that all in my body. So, um, very much the, the solitude really helped me to come back to myself and, and realign. Yeah.

Yeah. So what I'm hearing is like people can just do the smallest things to start They can allow themselves to cry. Like, don't shake. Like, I suppose if I can ask, um, you would have gone into this— would you have gone into this in the beginning like you were when you were still having your coaching? Was it hard for you to think, oh, I'm not meditating properly, I shouldn't be thinking, I shouldn't let my, my mind— you know, all the shoulds, shoulds?

Yes. That happened. Yeah.

So it's about going in without judgment, with compassion.

Yeah. And, and I just continued to be consistent with that. I journaled. That was another thing that I started to do, was to journal my thoughts out. And, and then I was starting to recognize how I was feeling, and I was like, none of these things I was comprehending at the time. I was just constantly on. So to sit down and go at the end of my day just to map out some of the thoughts and feelings, and just— it was almost like a download into my journal. Yeah, it— I started to really make sense of, of so many things that I had disconnected from. Yeah.

It's amazing. And I have heard that journaling is fantastic, you know, because I heard this great saying once that, you know, journaling is great because it goes from the mind to the heart to the hand.

Oh, beautiful. Yes, yes.

So it's like, take it from your mind, bring it into your heart, through your hand, and put it out. And if it's something you need to release, burn, whatever, later, just to let it go, it's a very effective I would like to get to journaling. I haven't done it, but I, you know, I'm sure it helped you immensely. You're saying to get those emotions down onto paper.

Yeah, yeah. And it's just another form of processing and starting to understand yourself, you know, at that emotional level. Because, um, yeah, when, when, like I said, in burnout, one of the, you know, the middle stages of burnout is really disconnecting from those emotions and just Yeah, switching off. So, um, it's a, it's a beautiful process, but that, that quiet solitude time really helped me in the beginning. And I listened to some podcasts and I, I just started to, yeah, rewire a new way of, of how I was going to show up, not the, the Michelle who was doing and people pleasing and running around. Yeah.

And for people who are, um, still in that, um, can you speak to how maybe they can— you know, they're like, they're, they're scared to open up their emotions because, you know, they're still people pleasing or they're still in perfection. Um, can you speak to how it would be beneficial for them? Like, if they— or what's, what's the very first step that they could do? What's the very simplest step that they could do to go— like, is it to go speak to someone like you did? Or if they're too scared, like a lot of people will go, no, you know, I can't go open up my emotions to someone. What could you say to encourage someone to say it's okay to open up, it's safe to open up?

And that is to acknowledge and accept yourself. And I think we, we know, and I, going back to past me, I knew that I was in a lot of trouble, but I wasn't willing to accept that. And until I came to the acceptance piece of this is where I am, my life is not great. In fact, my health, my relationships, everything was falling apart. I didn't— I chose to ignore and keep pushing through and put my head in the sand, essentially, which was that whole 2-year period. The moment that I accepted that for myself and went, wow, this is exactly where I'm at and it is not great. Okay, now how do I move forward? That piece of acceptance allowed me then to start to figure out what was the next steps that I needed. And I think if you can take a moment to acknowledge and accept where you are at in terms of your burnout journey, um, for the listeners, or, or if perhaps life isn't where you thought or where you wanted it to be, lean into the acceptance part. And once you've done that and fully come to acceptance, the next step will come to you.

Yeah, it's a progression. It's a natural progression, and you will— it'll— everything will just start dropping into your awareness.

Yes.

I feel that, you know, for you to take the next step. What was— so you had a 2-month— a 2-year, sorry, 2-year, um, experience of burnout. How long did it take you to feel that you've come back to yourself? Just so they get it, because it's not an overnight process, and we don't want people thinking that these things Oh, I'll just stop working so hard and I'm going to be better. You know, it is a process to get back. How long— about how long did that take you?

So that took me, um, 12 months, right? And I wrote— so after I worked with my first coach, I did my own— I sort of took off and went, right, I really need to unravel my, um, my behaviors and the patterns and programs that I was running that we talked about— the people pleasing, perfectionism, the overworking. I really need to look at those. I really need to overhaul my mindset. I really need to look at my limiting beliefs. So I started to figure out there were certain ways that my brain was processing information which was affecting the way that I was acting. So my behaviors. And that's when I went on this really big self-led journey of, um, the, the, I guess, the, the rest of the time over that 12 months. And I've now mapped that out into an online course. And so I've helped around 250 women now through burnout. And I've taken them through the entire process of what I did over a 3-month period. So I've really streamlined that into a, uh, I call it the Health and Happiness Formula, and it's a step-by-step process of what I did over 3 months. And the women that I work with now are seeing massive results in 3 months because of the intense— yeah.

That's incredible. It's fantastic that you've taken something that's— that you experienced so deeply. You know, you came from, you know, being a registered nurse to burnout to now coach and to now helping women. That's beautiful, that, that line, isn't it? Where you've taken a personal experience and now you're putting your— doing good by helping others who are experiencing the same.

Yeah. Yeah.

If I could ask On a happiness and vitality meter, where do you say that you would sit now compared to before? Obviously compared to before.

Oh, 10. So I wake up, and I love this question because I wake up with so excited for each day. Like, I wake up with this energy. I'm up at 5 o'clock in the morning. I'm like so pumped. It's every day feels like Christmas Day for me. Like, that's how I feel.

Beautiful. Yeah.

And I'm like, you know, my children are like, Mom, you know, because now you're too much and now you're too happy. And that's it. But, um, it's— I've got so much energy. I get up, I exercise, I do my morning routine and ritual. I buzz around all day. I'm just— I just have this huge vitality for life and just this energy you know, when I was in my burnout, I was sitting around a 1, maybe 2. And this is what I ask my clients when they start with me. I'm like, where do you sit? And often they say, you know, 2, 3, 4. And they leave, you know, after those 3 months, 8, 9, 10. And that's where I sit now. Here I am 5 years later and I'm like, I just, I love life. I'm excited about life.

You can feel the passion because you've got a passion now, is, you know. And speaking of a passion, it sounds like such a passion project. Within— without giving away too much, just within a few lines, how do you do that with your client? What do you do with your clients to take them through, just so the listeners can think, I am going to book in with Michelle, this is, this is it for me?

So the first part is And you mentioned this is, um, realigning with the core of who you are.

Mm-hmm.

So that is the first part of the process over the 3 months, is we realign with your values, the core of who you are, what makes you you, and find you again. The second part is cleaning up the resistant patterns and programs that are creating or perhaps fueling burnout. So we look at cleaning up that people-pleasing behavior. We look at cleaning up the over-functioning, the overworking, overcompensating, the perfectionism.

Mm-hmm.

And the third part of what I do is help people, um, re-regulate their nervous system so that they've got— create a really beautiful harmony and balance in their personal and professional life. And, um, what their goals and dreams are, what they want to do and achieve. So at the end of the day, I help women and nurses break free from burnout and overwhelm and create a life that they love.

Beautiful. What a great mission.

Yeah, my favorite thing to do.

You can see it. You can see it. To finish the interview, can you just give our listeners just 3 quick tips of what they can do tomorrow or today to start getting a handle on their stress, over— on their burnout? Just 3 things they can do at home for themselves without feeling like they should. Not another thing they have to do, but something that may bring a little bit more peace and joy.

Um, oh gosh, where do I start with this? First, the first part would be acknowledge and accept, which is what I spoke about before. So what in your life isn't working for you right now? Do a brain dump. So that is the first thing.

So they have to recognize what they're doing. So you're saying, so if they're overdrinking, they have to recognize, they have to become consciously aware of the fact that they are overdrinking?

Yeah. I don't have any energy, or my health, you know, I feel like I'm, you know, 10 kilos overweight, or I don't like my workplace and I feel stuck at my workplace, you know, like, what is it that's happening that you're not happy about? So, right, write it down and get and have a look at that. The next part is really being accepting of that. This is what it is. This is where I'm at now. And the third part is, what is my first priority here? What needs to happen first that's most important out of all of these things? And what action can I take there? Because everyone has the answers inside. And what a coach does—

Absolutely.

Yeah, is help them, is help Draw it out. Bring that out and find the answers. We all have the answers. And what coaching does is really help you become and take radical responsibility for yourself and peel back all of the stuff. So, yeah, at the end of the day is what action can I take first? And For me, it was my health and my energy and my health, because if I didn't have that, well, then, you know, I couldn't really do anything else. So I would be looking at your health and energy first, and then you can start to look at relationships, job, you know, all of the other things in your life that you would like to perhaps improve.

Fantastic. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Michelle, for Helping women to step back into their power and take back control of their health. Because at the end of the day, we have to recognize that we have choice and that we are in control of our life, and things don't just happen to us, that we need to steer our life, we need to drive our life. And it's so fantastic that you're helping so many women do that.

Amazing. Thank you for having me and sharing this amazing podcast.

Thank you so much. And for our listeners, if anyone wants to connect with Michelle and inquire about her program, all her details will be in the show notes. Thank you. Thanks, Michelle. It was so good to have you on the show.

Thank you.

I would love to know what was the biggest insight or aha moment you got from this interview. So you can now speak up, take action, and make informed decisions for your health. And if you like this episode, get instant access to your free ebook, Alternative Wisdom: Taking Back Control of Your Health, at life-onus.com.