Burnout is epidemic.

It could be why over a million people quit their jobs in September 2021.

Sure, there are complex sociological factors that involve the pandemic and the economy. But don’t underestimate the reality of burnout.

There is a narrative that says the solution to burnout is to try something else. And there is some truth to this. Change changes things.

If you’re riding a black horse and you keep falling off, changing to a brown horse might solve your problem. If the problem is the black horse. We’ll know for sure if you fall off the brown horse, too. Maybe the problem isn’t the horse at all.

I recently spent some time thinking about burnout. There are two factors to burnout.

1. External: The stuff that keeps coming at you that wears you down and makes you tired.

2. Internal: Unrealistic and unhealthy expectations.

People quit their jobs, medicate themselves, and experience poor mental health when the external and internal factors of burnout align.

A change will help with the external factor. Take a vacation, a long weekend, or just work in a coffee shop for the afternoon.

Realigning expectations takes a lot more work.

Getting on a different color horse solves nothing until you learn to ride.