Burnout’s Hidden Roots: Is Your Mindset Fueling the Fire?

Experts suggest our own expectations and thought patterns may be as significant as external workplace pressures.

While burnout is often blamed on long hours and demanding workplaces, a deeper examination reveals that our personal mindsets and cognitive distortions might be equally responsible for this widespread exhaustion. This isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s a critical issue impacting countless professionals.

The Triad of Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Reduced Efficacy

A recent report indicates that a significant portion of the workforce feels utterly depleted. Approximately half of workers surveyed reported feeling “used up” or emotionally drained, with nearly as many identifying as burned out. The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome stemming from unmanaged chronic workplace stress, characterized by three core symptoms:

1. Exhaustion

A profound depletion of physical and emotional energy that no amount of rest can rectify.

2. Cynicism

A growing detachment from one’s work, transforming formerly motivated individuals into disengaged or resentful employees.

3. Reduced Efficacy

A persistent feeling of ineffectiveness, where efforts seem to yield no tangible impact, regardless of exertion.

While much attention focuses on organizational failings, this perspective suggests we might also be the architects of our own burnout. By understanding these internal drivers, we can cultivate greater personal resilience.

The Personal Toll: Expectations Versus Capacity

The persistent gap between expectations and actual capacity lies at the heart of burnout. It’s not simply about working excessively, but the feeling of being unable to cease working. Consider a high-performing manager, Maria, whose dedication leads to increasing workloads, with praise morphing into unspoken expectations. Her refusal to set boundaries, driven by a fear of perceived failure, reinforces a culture where overwork becomes the norm.

Burnout doesn’t manifest instantly; it emerges as expectations subtly exceed reality. Maria‘s situation highlights how managing energy, ego, and expectations is crucial, making burnout a deeply personal experience shaped by self-told narratives and unchecked ego.

To combat this, Maria must question the notion that saying “no” diminishes her value. Simultaneously, her organization must acknowledge how high performers can be set up for failure when overwork is misconstrued as commitment. Sustainable achievement stems from working differently, not just more.

Diverse Perspectives on the Burnout Experience

Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu, a co-author of this exploration, notes the deeply personal nature of burnout across various fields. He experienced it firsthand in distinct settings:

“In healthcare, I witnessed burnout manifest as the silent companion of caregivers who sacrificed their own well-being in the pursuit of healing others. The pressure to perform flawlessly, the emotional toll of life decisions, and the constant race against the clock formed an overwhelming cycle.”

—Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu

“In the business world, the stakes were different but no less intense. The relentless pursuit of success and recognition demanded sacrifices — late nights, endless meetings, the suffocating pressure to outperform competitors, and fear of failure. Here, burnout was often cloaked in the guise of ambition, yet its impact was just as debilitating. The worst enemy was my own ego.”

—Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu

“In prison, I saw another dimension of burnout—one rooted in the loss of autonomy and identity. The monotony, coupled with the gnawing weight of time and regret, eroded individuals from within. Burnout in this context wasn’t about overachievement; it was about a soul’s slow erosion under the strain of despair and disconnection.”

—Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu

Dr. Potarazu concludes, Across these worlds, I learned that burnout isn’t merely about working too hard. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves, the expectations we carry, and the unchecked ego that fuels the fire. The universal thread is a disconnection from oneself, often driven by a relentless need to meet demands. The antidote, he suggests, is not doing more but doing differently, managing expectations, and recognizing personal limits.

A 2023 report found that 60% of employees experience burnout, a figure that has risen significantly in recent years (Gallup, 2023).

The Ego’s Role in Perpetual Overdrive

Business schools and competitive environments often reward those who thrive under pressure. However, for many, increased responsibility fuels anxiety—the fear of appearing ineffective, making wrong decisions, or not measuring up. Social media exacerbates this by showcasing curated “fairytales” of others’ successes, intensifying feelings of inadequacy.

As success grows, so do the stakes, making anxiety more potent yet less visible. Leaders often burn out not from workload alone, but from an inability to stop overfunctioning for others. This anxiety can manifest as overworking or micromanaging, leading to emotional exhaustion.

Leadership Anxiety and Burnout

Pastor and author Steve Cuss identifies “leadership anxiety” as a significant factor in burnout. His work, including the book Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs, emphasizes that burnout stems from unmanaged anxiety rather than the sheer volume of work. The persistent need to perform, please, or control creates chronic stress.

Leaders absorb not only tasks but also expectations, criticism, and emotional burdens, particularly in today’s unpredictable work landscape. The pressure to dominate meetings, appear faultless, or shield teams from hardship can be an anxious response that drives high achievers toward exhaustion.

Confronting the Ego’s Survival Instinct

Our sense of self, or ego, is a powerful driver of burnout. It constructs an identity based on experiences and expectations, constantly narrating our lives. The ego, fearing the present moment, thrives on past regrets and future anxieties, existing in a perpetual state of survival. Decisions often center on “I” and “my,” and our identity is tied to external validation.

The gap between our perceived self and reality fuels an inflated sense of self, compelling us to constantly strive for an idealized image. This is amplified by social media, where constant comparison breeds feelings of inadequacy and the fear of missing out (FOMO). The relentless pursuit of external validation can lead to overexertion and vulnerability.

Initially, work can be exhilarating, releasing dopamine. However, this leads to a need for escalating success, akin to a drug. Eventually, the system fatigues, and the dopamine surges that propelled us upward become insufficient. This neurological breakdown impairs our ability to manage stress, amplifying anxiety and fear through overstimulation of the limbic system.

Chronic stress hormones like cortisol lead to exhaustion. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, becomes impaired. Our internal emotional regulation system falters, leading to thinking errors such as blaming, cynicism, and withdrawal. Blame becomes a defense mechanism for the ego, deflecting responsibility. Labeling, catastrophizing, and a lack of objectivity further cloud judgment.

Withdrawal can manifest as avoiding social events or personal commitments due to work. If the ego prevents genuine escape, individuals may resort to artificial means like substance abuse or overwork, leading to denial of activities that once brought joy.

Achieving Energy Efficiency to Combat Burnout

Personal and professional stressors combine to stretch our capacity, resulting in fatigue. Significant life events, such as promotions or parenthood, act as inflection points that test our limits, highlighting the dynamic between supply and demand. We often neglect our own needs—our family, our bodies—when overloaded.

This neglect can trigger panic as individuals shift from “excel mode” to “survival mode,” tapping into reserves. The urge to prove oneself persists even when fuel is low, leading to personality changes and a feeling of being trapped, much like a hamster on a wheel. The ego’s threat perception remains constant, whether for a CEO or an inmate.

Pushing too far along the stress-strain curve inevitably leads to burnout, a point where mental health can undergo total failure. Our reactions to pressure are also influenced by attachment patterns and context. Understanding this stress curve can help prevent burnout by promoting energy conservation.

The solution isn’t merely self-care or reduced hours, but “radical clarity.” Leaders must ask: What is truly mine to carry? What expectations have I mistaken for obligations? What are my core fears?

Recalibrating Our Response to Stress

The difference between a thermometer, which reacts passively to temperature, and a thermostat, which actively regulates it, offers a metaphor for managing burnout. Fine-tuning our “internal thermostat” to better understand emotions, strengths, and limitations is key.

Resilience hinges on this self-regulation. Instead of merely reacting to stress like a thermometer, individuals must learn to manage energy and expectations proactively, like a thermostat.

Three Strategies for Recalibration:

• Reset the Alarm: Recognize early warning signs like exhaustion or frustration to prevent a full crisis.
• Calibrate a New Set Point: Break down large goals into manageable steps to foster a sense of progress and control, counteracting unrealistic expectations.
• Celebrate Small Wins: Acknowledge accomplishments to reinforce motivation and rewire the brain’s reward pathways.

The challenge remains for managers to foster cultures that value sustainable performance over overwork, spot burnout risks effectively, and reduce the pressure for perfection. For individuals, the question is how to better decouple self-worth from overachievement and challenge at least one workplace expectation this week.