You Are Not A Frog

Hosted by Dr Rachel Morris | Burnout Podcast

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300

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The podcast for GPs, hospital doctors and other professionals in high-stakes, high-stress jobs who want to thrive rather than just survive. You studied for years, you’re really good at what you do but you’ve noticed that you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, overworked and under-resourced. You may be comparing yourself to a frog in boiling water - the heat has built up so slowly that you haven’t noticed the extra-long days becoming the norm. You may feel on the edge and trapped in the very job that you’ve spent years working towards. Here’s the problem, frogs only have two choices; stay and be boiled alive, or jump out of the pan. The good news is that you are not a frog. You have many more choices than you think you do. You don’t have to quit, and nor should stress and burnout be inevitable. It is possible to be master of your own destiny, to craft your work life and career so that you can thrive even in the most difficult of situations. There are simple changes you can make which will make a huge difference to your stress levels and help you enjoy life again. Your host is Dr Rachel Morris, GP turned Executive Coach and Specialist in Resilience at Work who knows what it’s like to feel like an exhausted frog. In the podcast, she’ll be talking to friends, colleagues and experts all who have an interesting take on resilience for clever people in high-stakes, high-stress jobs so that together you can take back control to beat stress and burnout, survive and thrive.

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60 recent

August 17, 202652 min

How to Embrace Your Capacity Instead of Defining Your Limits

Most of us were taught that having limits is a weakness - something to push through, not something to honour. And if you're a doctor, a nurse, a vet, or anyone in a high-stakes role, that message arrived early and arrived hard. The result is a profession full of people operating at full stretch capacity without realising it, because full stretch became the new normal so gradually that we stopped noticing. In this conversation with Sarah Coope - former GP, CEO of Wild Monday, and executive coach - we explore what happens when we stop thinking about limits altogether, and start thinking about capacity instead. We cover: Why the word "limits" triggers guilt, and what happens when you replace it with "capacity" The TEAM model: Time, Energy, Attention, and Money - the four dimensions of our capacity, and why overstretching one always costs you somewhere else The elastic band analogy: what it looks like when one corner of your square gets pulled too far, and what it takes to come back Why operating at the edge of burnout can blunt your awareness of how stretched you really are Micro-recovery and third spaces: small, practical ways to build recovery into a day that leaves no room for it "Guilt with an i" - why the discomfort of saying no isn't a sign you're doing something wrong. It may be a sign you're doing something right for the first time How to communicate your capacity to colleagues and managers without apologising for being human This episode is for you if you know intellectually that you can't keep running this hard, but the alternative feels selfish, or like letting people down, or just not who you are. It may help you understand why what you call a "limit" is actually something worth knowing about yourself, and why caring for your own capacity is not the opposite of caring for your patients or clients - it may be the condition for it. 📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members About Sarah Coope: Sarah Coope is a former GP, medical educator, and executive coach who works with healthcare professionals and high achievers on burnout, resilience, and sustainable performance. Her own experience of burnout is what drives her work - she coaches from the inside, not from above Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training 🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold

August 10, 202658 min

Is Your Dedication the Reason You're Burning Out?

Most of us have been told that burnout is caused by overwork and that the solution is to rest, take a break or slow down. Set some boundaries. But what if that's only part of the picture? What if the very thing that made you good at your job - your values, your drive, your commitment to never letting anyone down - is exactly what keeps burning you out? And what if rest, on its own, isn't enough to get you out? In this conversation with Nick Petrie, author, leadership researcher and burnout specialist, we go deeper than the usual burnout conversation. Nick has interviewed hundreds of leaders across high-stakes professions, and his findings challenge almost everything we think we know about why burnout happens and what recovery actually requires. We cover: Why high values alignment is a burnout risk , not a protection - and why caring deeply about your work can mean you have no brake The "outdated success formula" - the beliefs and behaviours that got you here, and why they stop working as the stakes get higher The burnout curve: first, second, and third degree - and how to recognise which stage you're at before your body decides for you The 1-1-1 mechanism: a simple, pre-scheduled way to build recovery into a life that otherwise never stops What post-burnout growth actually looks like, and why the version of you on the other side of burnout can be more sustainable than the one before it This episode is for you if the drive that makes you good at what you do is also the thing that makes it impossible to stop. This episode may help you understand why our ingrained programming - the one that says delivering, caring, and never letting people down is what makes us safe - is something we can actually look at and decide whether to keep. 📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ 💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear it Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training 🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold

August 3, 202655 min

The Analytical Brain Trap: Why Smart People Can’t Switch Off

Every doctor and high-achieving professional knows what it feels like to lie awake with a brain that refuses to stop - replaying a decision made that afternoon, running tomorrow's list at midnight, scanning ahead for what might go wrong. Our ingrained programming tells us that more thinking keeps us safe and keeps things running. But there is a cost to that, and our analytical brains (the very thing that makes us good at our jobs) may be the reason we can't rest. In this conversation with Giles Croft, former NHS surgeon and coach, we explore what happens when the brain's analytical, planning, threat-scanning part takes over completely - and what your right brain already knows how to do that most of us have never been properly introduced to. We cover: The difference between left-brain and right-brain consciousness, and why doctors and high achievers are trained to default to the analytical mode Giles's own experience of a TIA - and what the temporary loss of his left brain revealed about the default state that sits underneath all the thinking Why "just stop overthinking" is advice that doesn't reach the actual problem How the brain "pre-lives" the future, and why this feels like vigilance but functions like anxiety What it actually feels like to step out of left-brain dominance - and the small, practical ways to do it Why our default state is not stress - it only feels that way because we've been away from calm for a long time This episode is for you if you lie awake replaying a conversation with a colleague, a patient or a client; if you find yourself planning three weeks ahead on a Sunday evening, or even on holiday, your mind is running its usual commentary. What we discuss may help you understand what is really beneath all that noise, and whether the calm you're looking for has been there the whole time. 📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members About Giles Croft: Giles is a former NHS surgeon and coach who works with individuals and organisations on the human experience of work. His firsthand encounter with a transient ischaemic attack gave him a unique, embodied understanding of how the brain's different modes of consciousness shape our wellbeing. He helps people understand how they are experiencing the world - and who they really are. Find Giles at https://www.gilespcroft.com/ . Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training 🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold

July 27, 202634 min

Why Every Doctor Should Learn to Coach

Boundaries aren't walls. They're fences. A wall keeps everyone out. A fence has a gate, and it's yours to open or close, if you're willing to hold it when someone pushes. That idea comes from this conversation with Dr Sarah Coope, recorded for the Your Coaching Journey podcast. Sarah talks about her own route into coaching, what twenty years of coaching doctors has taught her about self-worth, and why so many of us try to fix things that were never ours to fix. In this episode: How a magazine advert led Sarah to her first coaching session, and the moment she realised she had different values to the people around her "Fruit stapling" — Sarah's analogy for behaviour change that skips the real work underneath Why boundaries are fences, not walls, and what actually gets in the way of holding them The difference between being a rescuer and being a coach, and what it costs doctors to be the former Why Sarah tells every doctor thinking about a coaching qualification: "it starts with you" Sarah Coope is a former GP, leadership coach and mediator who leads the training behind the podcast. Helen Leathers is a Coach, Trainer and Facilitator for Your Coaching Journey - an organisation providing transformational coaching training for doctors. Find out more about their upcoming courses here and use the code FROGSPAWN to get 20% off a live coaching course. NOTE: We're affiliate partners with Your Coaching Journey, which means we get a small commission if you use our code. We wouldn't pass this on if we didn't think it was genuinely worth it Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

July 20, 202642 min

How to Work Free From Burnout

There is one belief that keeps high achievers stuck in burnout long after they should be recovering - the belief that burning out means they failed. This is a live panel discussion from the Burnout Free Working Conference — an unscripted conversation about what burnout recovery actually requires, why the self-blame makes it impossible to start, and the single reframe that changes how you see every struggling colleague, including yourself. We cover: Why burnout is not a personal failing — and what the evidence actually says about where it starts The clinical difference between burnout and depression, and why the label matters less than most people think Why asking struggling colleagues to "reach out" puts the burden in exactly the wrong place - and what "reaching in" looks like instead The shift from "difficult colleague" to "colleague in difficulty" - and why that single reframe changes how you respond What the fear of saying no looks like versus what actually happens when you do Why bearing witness, without trying to fix, is itself a genuine intervention What burnout recovery actually requires — and why it can't start until the self-blame does This episode is for you if… You're a high achiever in a high-stakes role who has started to wonder whether the exhaustion you're carrying is something more than tiredness - or whether the reason you can't seem to recover is that somewhere, underneath the fatigue, you've decided the burnout was your fault. This conversation will give you permission to put down the belief that you’ve been carrying, and the language to start again. About Dr Richard Duggins Dr Richard Duggins is a consultant psychiatrist in medical psychotherapy and the author of Burnout Free Working . He has spent his career working with clinicians and high achievers in burnout - exploring not just the exhaustion, but the shame and self-blame that makes recovery so much harder. Get Richard’s book here: Burnout-Free Working: Your Expert Guide to Thriving in a Stressful Workplace . About Dr Chris Turner Dr Chris Turner is an emergency medicine consultant, co-founder of Civility Saves Lives, and a TEDx speaker whose work on culture, behaviour, and psychological safety in healthcare has reached hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Learn more about Chris’s work with Civility Saves Lives here: https://www.civilitysaveslives.com/ 📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ 💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear it Mentioned in this episode: 🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors Am I Stressed, Overwhelmed... or Burning Out? Get honest with yourself — discover what’s really going on, and what to do next.

July 13, 202650 min

How to Hold Someone Accountable Without Losing the Relationship

There's something most leaders do - we avoid the conversation that needs to be had. We care too much about the wrong things: how the other person will react, whether it will make things awkward, whether we'll be the one blamed if they go off sick. Our ingrained programming tells us that keeping the peace is the same as keeping the relationship, but it isn't. In this episode, Joe Weston is back for round two to explain why conflict avoidance - the silence, the corridor moaning, the feedback we give and immediately want to apologise for - is itself a form of conflict. And what it actually sounds like to hold someone accountable without becoming someone you don't like. We cover: Why avoiding difficult conversations feels kind but functions as a form of conflict The difference between confrontation (which can deepen a relationship) and conflict (which breaks one) How to hold someone accountable without triggering their fight-flight-freeze response Why focusing on behaviour — not the person — changes everything, and exactly what to say instead The "difficult middle bit": what to do when someone gets defensive, and you want to back down Why doctors, nurses, vets, and other professionals already have the skills for hard conversations — just not yet with their colleagues How small, intentional acts of relationship-building change the culture around accountability over time This episode is for you if... you're a senior manager, doctor, nurse, vet, dentist, or any high-achieving leader who has rehearsed the conversation in your head, convinced yourself it wasn't the right moment, and watched the problem get worse instead. You know something needs to be said. You just haven't found the version of yourself that can say it yet. This episode may help. 📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ 💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear it Mentioned in this episode: 🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors Am I Stressed, Overwhelmed... or Burning Out? Get honest with yourself — discover what’s really going on, and what to do next.

July 6, 202617 min

Am I a Snowflake If I’m Not Coping Now?

A doctor emailed me recently, she's been in medicine for 25 years, and the question she asked was one I've heard in a hundred different ways: "Am I a snowflake?" She felt a great deal of shame about finding things hard - something I see time and time again in high achievers. Like the feeling that not coping is proof of something wrong with you. A character flaw. A sign you've gone soft. But the data tells a different story. In a survey we did of over 600 health and social care professionals, nearly one in three worried about whether they or their team would cope with rising workloads. One in three. That's not a snowflake problem - that's a system problem. In this Quick Dip, I unpack why the shame about not coping is often more damaging than not coping itself. Why our ingrained programming tells us that we have to cope with everything, all the time, to feel good enough. And why protecting the appearance of coping - keeping the show on the road at all costs - will cost you more than any boundary ever could. We cover: • The "Am I a Snowflake?" question and what it really means • Why not coping is a sign of an empty tank, not a character flaw • The Superhero Delusion and how it keeps you trapped • Biscuit Boundaries and the Responsibility Trap • Why shame thrives when you believe you're the only one struggling • The stress curve and what it reveals about your limits • Why conflict feels more frightening than burnout for high achievers • The two stories of not coping - and which one costs you more This episode is for you if you've ever wondered whether you're the weak one. If you've been holding it together at work while feeling like you're falling apart underneath. If you've told yourself you just need to be more resilient, push harder, cope better - and it isn't working. You are not a snowflake. You never were. 📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ 💬 Join the conversation: share this with someone who needs to hear it Mentioned in this episode: 🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors

June 29, 20261 hr 0 min

How Wanting to Do More at Work Becomes a Burnout Warning Sign for High Achievers

When Aoife O'Brien is close to burnout, she doesn't want to stop. She wants to do more. One more task. One more thing to get through before she can stop. She says that's how she knows now - not the exhaustion, not the breaking point, but the acceleration. If you recognise that feeling, this conversation names what's actually happening. Not to add to your list. To give you a cleaner way to read what your own system is telling you. We cover: Why the urge to do more work is a signal, not a coping strategy Imposter syndrome as a systemic trap - the beliefs you're swimming in so completely you don't know they're there The difference between burnout symptoms and burnout drivers What happens when a leader decides to go home on time - and what that single act does to the people around them How to start reading what your system is actually telling you This episode is for you if you've been telling yourself you're coping fine - and some part of you knows that story is getting harder to believe. If you're a high achiever in a demanding role who has always mistaken acceleration for resilience. If you've never stopped to ask what the urge to just keep going is actually telling you. 📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members/ Aoife can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/happieratwork.ie/ https://happieratwork.ie/happier-at-work-podcast/ https://thrivingtalentbook.com/ Mentioned in this episode: 🌞 The Summer Survival Kit for Doctors 🌞 [FREE DOWNLOAD] Summer Recharge Checklist for Doctors

June 22, 202620 min

Why Summer Makes Your Burnout Worse (And It's Not Your Fault)

You may have been counting down to summer all year, telling yourself that you just need to survive until your next holiday. You may have been looking forward to taking a pause and getting a chance to finally breathe. But when you get to your holiday, instead of feeling rested, you feel more exhausted, more overwhelmed, and more behind. And somewhere underneath the busyness, you might be thinking: what's wrong with me? Everyone else seems fine. Nothing is wrong with you - you just fell into the summer Urgency Trap - one of the seven Overwhelm Amplifiers that keeps high achievers stuck in the Responsibility Trap. In this episode, we break down exactly why summer increases pressure instead of relieving it, why you end up covering everyone else's work while your own recovery gets sacrificed, and the one practical shift that changes everything: time-blocking your rest as if it were as important as your most urgent patient or client. We cover: The Urgency Trap: how "urgent but not important" tasks hijack your recovery The long-term fix (the Responsibility Trap) vs. the quick fix you can start today How to time-block rest, recovery, and buffer slots into your diary - and treat them as non-negotiable 📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get exclusive episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra: https://youarenotafrog.com/members Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training

June 15, 20261 hr 8 min

Masking, Over-Functioning and the Shame That Keeps You Stuck

If you've always felt like everyone else got an unwritten handbook about how to behave at work - and you've had to figure it out yourself, one interaction at a time - this episode is for you. This week, Rachel’s in conversation with Kirstie Pickles: vet, autistic ADHD professional, and EDI advocate. Kirstie was diagnosed as an adult - after years of masking in a high-stakes clinical role, performing competence while running on empty underneath. We talk about: What masking really costs - not just after one hard day, but across a career Neurodivergent burnout: why it is different from regular burnout, and why the usual advice doesn't work The shame of late diagnosis - and what it means to finally have a name for it What colleagues and leaders can do to make workplaces work for everyone You don't need a diagnosis to recognise yourself here. A lot of us in high-achieving, high-pressure roles have neurodivergent traits we have never had a name for. We just learned to mask through it. Our ingrained programming tells us to keep performing, keep adapting, keep looking like we're coping fine. But that performance has a cost - and it will affect your next decision, and the one after that. Different is not defective. 🎙️ Listen to the full podcast: http://youarenotafrog.com/episodes/324 📩 Join 20,000 professionals: https://youarenotafrog.com/welcome/ 🐸 Get more episodes and resources by joining FrogXtra Mentioned in this episode: 🐸 Learn More About FrogXtra Gold 🐸 Enquire Now About Our Training