Hey there my name is Misha and I’m a burnout coach and the founder of Tokyo Mindfulness. Here are some of the questions I would have asked myself before I got burned out:

1. Are you at a point where you cannot possibly sustain the same pace of your life for another few weeks?
2. Do you have a sense of deep meaning in your work and life, or are you on autopilot and just going through the motions?
3. Have you become snarky, cynical, and easily triggered, unable to deal effectively and empathetically with the people around you?
4. Do you often collapse on your couch like a deflated balloon, emotionally drained and ready to cry yourself to sleep?
5. Are you questioning if you make any real difference in the lives of others, or if you're just a cog in a soul-sucking machine?
6. Do you ever catch yourself smirking bitterly at your so-called "achievements," knowing they won't mean squat when you're burnt to a crisp?
7. Do you use alcohol, sex, porn, caffeine, drugs or your smartphone as daily tools to cope?
8. Are you experiencing physical symptoms that seem to be related to your stress? (shortness of breath, heart palpitations, headaches, fatigue, etc.)
9. Do you feel there are areas where you’re neglecting your needs, such as friends, family, hobbies, creativity, health, travel, etc.?
10. Do you have difficulty expressing your emotions openly and honestly to yourself and others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be on the way to burnout or already there.

Why the usual advice doesn’t work

Prior to my personal burnout experience, my daily routine included twenty minutes of meditation and running with a friend who lived down the street. I wrote a gratitude journal every morning. I ate a low-carb diet and drank moderately.

At my business, I worked in an international team that I got along with. I had ample savings to live on for a couple of years. My wife was supportive of what I was doing. Because I was my own boss, I could choose to sleep in, start work late, and focus on the tasks that I enjoyed the most.

My time management skills were on point, and I set meeting agendas and boundaries to keep calls short and concise. Seemingly, I checked all the boxes for burnout prevention. I did all the right things. Despite all of these healthy, stress-busting habits that ranged from physical exercise to diet and emotional support, I still got totally burned out!

The burnout resilience pyramid

This advice does not work because burnout is not just about stress relief. It’s about behavior change, belief change, and taking a radically new approach to your life.

There were a few realizations which I found helpful in my journey beyond recovery to actually prevention and resilience against burnout. These were not just about changing my workplace, but about changing my beliefs about my life, creating new stories, and developing a new toolkit of skills.

And until I did that, the burnout would just keep repeating itself in a vicious cycle. These skills and beliefs are: