You cannot burn out if you are mindful.
Stress is psychological.
Hi! Digging in a little more to living in the present vs the future (or past), today’s sticky is:
You cannot burn out if you are mindful.
This came from a Huberman Lab podcast episode with Dr. Ellen Langer1. I recommend listening to the whole thing (warning: it’s three hours), but if you’re impatient (which isn’t mindful, FWIW), skip to the 2:33 minute mark where she says, “You don’t get burnout if you are mindful.”
She mentions this almost in passing, but it struck me: Is this true? I’m not sure we can claim that it’s true since it is immeasurable. But it is compelling.
Dr. Langer’s point is that stress is fundamentally psychological. You can be tired without being stressed. Stress (in the sense of burnout) has physical effects but it happens first in the mind. It happens because of expectations, wanting things to be different (better) than they are. When we are mindful, we notice that there are small changes everywhere.
What do you think?
Love,
Kate
It’s a fascinating episode, if a bit jarring when Dr. Langer and Dr. Huberman talk over each other, which happens often.
The only important thing to find out is if it’s true for you.