Coaching with Sarah: Spinning in the ‘Am I Burned Out?’ Loop? This One’s for You
You don’t have to carry burnout alone. The right support can help you breathe again—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingBurnout doesn’t always look like collapse; sometimes it hides in the moments when you’re still performing, but your spark keeps flickering out, and that’s where this honest coaching session begins.In this episode, Sarah Vosen sits down with Jennie, an attorney and mom unsure whether what she’s feeling qualifies as burnout. Together they unpack the World Health Organization’s markers of burnout—exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy—and what those look like in real life. Is it possible to feel functional yet fried? How do you know when your capacity is shrinking faster than you realize?As Sarah guides Jennie through a clearer understanding of her patterns, practical steps begin to emerge: protecting space on the calendar, creating buffers between meetings, and rebuilding small habits that restore energy. The conversation also touches on the role of perimenopause in stress and recovery, giving Jennie a compassionate framework for why her old pace no longer fits.The episode leaves listeners with a grounded reminder: burnout recovery isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing differently, one small boundary at a time.Episode Breakdown:00:00 What Burnout Really Looks Like04:10 Understanding the WHO Definition of Burnout10:06 Small Doable Steps for Burnout Recovery14:51 Setting Boundaries and Time Blocks That Stick22:32 Learning to Control What You Can Control25:14 Dropping Self-Judgment and Reclaiming Energy34:54 The Connection Between Burnout and Perimenopause39:36 Building a New Operating System for Sustainable Work45:07 Grace, Compassion, and Real RecoveryLinksIf you’re ready to take the next step toward healing, you can explore 1:1 coaching with Sarah Vosen at bit.ly/unfriedcoach Download the Web of Causation Exercise to uncover the layers behind your burnout and begin creating your recovery plan: https://www.caitdonovan.com/freebie-webConnect with Cait:Initial Call with CaitInitial Call with SarahYou don’t have to carry burnout alone. The right support can help you breathe again—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingPodcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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Coaching with Sarah: Letting Go of Shame from Failing to Meet Unrealistic Expectations
You deserve to feel whole again. Sarah Vosen’s coaching can help you get there—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingAdmitting you’re burnt out can feel like failure, but as Heather learns in this live coaching session, it’s actually the first brave step toward freedom.In this coaching conversation, she opens up about the shame of slowing down and the fear that rest will undo everything she’s worked for. For years, she’s equated effort with worth, believing that if she just pushed a little harder, she’d finally feel secure. Now, even basic motivation feels impossible, and the idea of taking a real break feels terrifying. Through grounded, compassionate coaching, Sarah Vosen helps Heather untangle the shame that keeps her stuck and recognize that burnout isn’t a reflection of weakness, it’s what happens when capacity runs out but expectations don’t.The turning point comes when Heather admits she needs more time than she’s willing to allow herself. That moment of honesty marks the real beginning of recovery. This episode is a reminder that stepping back isn’t quitting; it’s choosing to rebuild your life at a pace that actually sustains you.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Welcome to Fried: The Burnout Podcast00:53 Live Coaching with Heather: Admitting Burnout04:50 The Shame and Fear Behind Taking a Break09:11 Capacity vs. Capability: The Core Burnout Distinction15:17 When Burnout Becomes an Existential Crisis20:24 Restoring Your Inner Ecosystem22:24 Learning to Stop and Rest Without Guilt25:07 Fear as a Symptom of Burnout31:09 How Unconscious Coping Leads to Burnout36:35 Taking the First Step Toward Recovery41:01 Reframing Burnout as an Opportunity for Renewal44:05 Reflections and EncouragementLinksSign up for our email newsletter and office hours invites Join our Facebook groupConnect with Cait:Initial Call with CaitInitial Call with SarahYou deserve to feel whole again. Sarah Vosen’s coaching can help you get there—start here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingPodcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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#straightwithcait: What PT Taught Me About Burnout Recovery
Burnout recovery isn’t about doing more—it’s about finding the right help. Begin here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingBurnout convinces you that rest should be enough, and when it isn’t, you assume you’re broken.In this #straightfromcait episode, Cait shares how a shoulder injury revealed a missing step in her own recovery process. Two months of full rest left her pain-free but not ready. When her physical therapist handed her one-pound weights and she could barely lift them, she realized the injury had healed, but her strength hadn’t returned.That moment reframed everything. Most of us focus on the pause — the sleeping, the pulling back, the stopping. But recovery isn’t just the absence of strain. At some point, rest has to turn into rebuild. Gently. Slowly. Without ego. This isn’t about going back to who you were before burnout, it’s about training for who you’re becoming.If you’ve been wondering why life still feels heavier than it should, maybe nothing’s wrong with you at all. Maybe you’re not fragile, just not rebuilt yet.Episode Breakdown:00:00 What Burnout Recovery Gets Wrong About Rest01:19 The Shoulder Injury That Sparked a Realization02:22 Physical Therapy and the Wake-Up Call of Weakness03:06 Rest vs. Rebuild in Burnout Recovery07:12 Nutrition, Movement, and Mental Habits That Restore Capacity09:09 Recovery as a Foundation, Not the Finish LineConnect with Cait:Initial Call with CaitInitial Call with SarahBurnout recovery isn’t about doing more—it’s about finding the right help. Begin here.Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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Will Robins: How PGA Science Helps You Recover from Burnout
Sometimes the next step is simply asking for help. Sarah Vosen is here to guide you through it: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingBurnout hides best inside people who love their work so much they don’t notice it draining the life out of them.PGA coach and RGX founder Will Robins joins Cait to unpack how devotion to service can turn into slow-motion burnout, especially when you’re praised for being endlessly available. He shares how surviving the 2004 tsunami gave him purpose, but years later COVID thrust him into a different kind of survival mode, fielding nonstop crisis calls from golf pros worldwide. Passion became obligation, generosity became emotional labor, and saying yes became his default until resentment started to seep in. Together, he and Cait expose how burnout isn’t about workload—it’s about tension, expectations, and the belief that being needed equals being valuable.They map a way back through honest boundaries, aligned priorities, and Will’s Scoring Method as a metaphor for life: stop swinging for perfection and focus on consistent, pressure-free plays. You'll hear practical language for saying no without guilt, a reframing of stress as a physical reaction rather than a personal failing, and a challenge to stop optimizing your recovery like another achievement project. If you're the “reliable one” who keeps muscling through, this episode invites you to build a life where people need you less, and love you more because of it.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Burnout and Purpose After Surviving the Tsunami02:45 COVID Burnout and the Cost of Constant Service08:04 Why High Performers Miss Burnout Signs11:47 Burnout Culture in the Golf Industry and Beyond17:31 Rebuilding Life with Faith, Health, and Family21:02 Setting Boundaries Without Guilt32:02 The Scoring Method for Life and Burnout36:00 Mastering Emotional RegulationConnect with Will Robins:Will’s WebsiteFollow Will on Instagram Connect with Will on LinkedIn Connect with Cait:Initial Call with CaitInitial Call with SarahSometimes the next step is simply asking for help. Sarah Vosen is here to guide you through it: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingPodcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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Coaching with Sarah: How to Manage The Panic of Not Being Able to Control All The Things
Sometimes the bravest step is reaching out. Support is waiting for you here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingControl shows up early in Christy’s story — first as protection, then as identity, and eventually as exhaustion. She has spent years anticipating other people’s needs, convinced that staying ahead of every outcome would keep things safe. Instead, it left her overextended and unsure how to take up space without earning it through service.In this real-time coaching session, Sarah helps Christy notice the cost of constantly shaping herself around other people’s comfort. She isn’t confused about what’s wrong, she’s simply never been given permission to stop carrying so much.The turning point comes when she names one commitment she quietly resents: a year-long carpool obligation she agreed to out of pressure rather than choice. Renegotiating that responsibility becomes the first act of repair. It’s not about convenience. It’s about finally allowing reciprocity.This episode offers an honest look at the earliest stage of burnout recovery, the moment you decide that exhaustion is no longer proof of goodness. One boundary. One ask. One hour of energy reclaimed.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Live Burnout Coaching with Sarah Vosen01:15 Christy Realizes She’s Burned Out for the First Time04:30 Control and Codependency as Burnout Fuel09:00 Parenting Crisis and Emotional Breaking Point16:00 The Tree of Life Exercise for Energy Awareness23:45 Naming Resentment and the Carpool Boundary29:00 Learning to Delegate Without Guilt37:30 Choosing Discomfort That Leads to Recovery40:00 Final Reflection: What Will You Prune from Your Life?LinksConnect with Cait:Initial Call with CaitInitial Call with SarahSometimes the bravest step is reaching out. Support is waiting for you here: https://caitdonovan.com/coachingPodcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
FRIED: The Burnout Podcast by BurnBOLD™BurnBOLD™ is the powerhouse matchup of burnout experts Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen. Together, they host FRIED as part of their mission to #endburnoutculture — with deep, real, and sometimes hilariously practical advice (yes, like #peewhenyouneedtopee).Each week, you’ll hear raw stories, powerful coaching sessions, and practical strategies to help you drop the shame, blame, guilt, and judgment so you can heal from burnout and rebuild your life.You can work with the BurnBOLD™ team as an organization or individually. Cait Donovan works globally as a keynote speaker and workshop leader, helping organizations and associations create burnout-proof cultures. Sarah Vosen guides individuals as a burnout coach using her signature UNFRIED process, working 1-on-1 or in small groups with people all over the world.Wherever you are in your burnout journey, FRIED is here to help you BurnBOLD™ and take your life back.Homepage: https://caitdonovan.comPodcast page: https://caitdonovan.com/friedBurnout Coaching page: https://caitdonovan.com/coaching
South Africa