58: Andy Johns - Stop. Burnout within High Performers
When your body and soul can't take it anymore while being successful.
Summary
Burnout and the pursuit of external validation in tech.
The pressure to constantly achieve and the belief that success will bring happiness and fulfillment are driving some of us into ruin. It almost did with Andy Johns, a former high performer and serial entrepreneur. He was never more successful or unhappy in his life until his body hit the reset switch a couple of years ago.
Top companies, top jobs, top titles. Achieve, achieve, achieve. And yet it’s never enough… A lot of us are chasing external validation so we don’t have to deal with and accept ourselves.
We’re talking about it in depth in this episode.
Takeaways
The tech industry, with its emphasis on high performance and success, often perpetuates the cycle of burnout.
Removing the masks we wear and being vulnerable with others is important for personal growth.
Letting out suppressed emotions and desires is a crucial step towards healing and finding our true selves.
Sound Bites
"The human superpower is the ability to imagine things that aren't real."
"Not everyone who's succeeding, at least on paper, is doing as well on the inside as they are on the outside."
"I was seeking something external to myself that would make me feel lovable, whole, and complete."
Chapters
03:42 The Pressure to Achieve and the Illusion of Happiness
09:56 The Importance of Self-Love and Addressing Traumas
15:45 The Tech Industry and the Cycle of Burnout
33:42 The Limitations of Free Will
37:35 Losing Touch with Our Authentic Selves
42:52 Strength in Vulnerability
57:03 Regretting the Delay in Self-Discovery
01:02:11 Depression as a Result of Suppression
Listen / Watch all ProducTea Episodes:
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Connect!
Andy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjohns/
Leah’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Season 4 of the Product Tea
We spill the tea on how to Go to Market through Product-led Sales and Product-led Growth in B2B and the realities of senior leadership.
So refreshing to get the perspective of what is really going on behind the facade of success many of us aim for. I can empathize with all of this because it's taken me years of therapy, medication, reading and some time away from everyone and everything that I know to be dear to me to really adjust the perception I had of what is worth my time and space in my head. Thanks for this ❤️
It was great. I would love a part 2 that delves into how this unresolved hurt creates toxicity in cultures and behaviors towards others in the context of an organization, its norms and systems. Hurt people hurt people.