EP29: The Burnout Breakthrough

“Going whichever way the wind blows, depending on what other people want, that’s driftwood in the ocean,” explains Dr. Neha Sangwan, CEO and Founder of Intuitive Intelligence Inc. and author of “Powered By Me.” “When I know who I am and make decisions based on my highest values, I become a sailboat with a rudder, charting my own course.” From an early age, Dr. Neha fulfilled her family’s needs and desires, leading her to become an internal medicine physician, a mechanical engineer at Motorola, as well as completely burnt out by age 31. On today’s episode of The Conscious Entrepreneur, Neha talks to host Alex Raymond about the triad that comprises burnout, its alarm systems, and how to determine whether it’s acute or chronic. Part of serving both ourselves and others in a “me-we world,” as Dr. Neha describes it, is strengthening the bond with those around you through healthy conflict and communication. Drawing from her book “Talk RX,” she provides scenarios and techniques for taking in data from others’ reactions as well as from your own, how not to personalize or assume the worst. When difficult conversations arise, she says, get curious, not furious. The world is suffering silently from burnout and self-care culture isn’t cutting it. Join today’s conversation to hear Dr. Neha talk about the power of vulnerability in the workplace and why failure can be our greatest strength. Quotes “By 31, I had learned to push through my body, not partner with it. I was the master of knowing what the world wanted from me, and not knowing at all what the sound of my own heart was. I had surpassed my emotions, I had stopped communicating, because who needed to hear what I had to say, I just needed to know what you wanted from me.” (6:46 | Dr. Neha Sangwan) “What I think the world needs now more than ever, is us not only understanding who we are and picking up signals for ourselves, but when we miss them—because we have the passion of an entrepreneur, because we have the love of a doctor to serve—but the people around us, we are connected enough to them that we can trust them to say, ‘Hey, Neha, is everything OK?’” (8:17 | Neha Sangwan) “One thing I know, being an entrepreneur for about, I don’t know, 15 or 16 years now, is that I’ve gone to zero twice in this endeavor, and people say, ‘Oh, my God. Doesn’t that scare you? Isn’t that awful?’ And I say, ‘No. Now if I ever go to zero again, I know I have the confidence to rebuild. That needed to happen. It was necessary. It wasn’t a failure. It’s probably my greatest strength. It’s probably the reason I have conviction in my voice.” (41:35 | Dr. Neha Sangwan) “You can’t predict the world but that’s why we’re entrepreneurs, because we’re willing to go in the rough terrain, and we’re willing to figure it out. That’s our greatest gift.” (42:34 | Dr. Neha Sangwan) Links Connect with Neha Sangwan: https://intuitiveintelligenceinc.com/burnout-rx/ https://intuitiveintelligenceinc.com/ifive/ https://nehasangwan.com/events/ Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://consciousentrepreneur.us/ HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast. Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm