Burnout Recovery Begins with Identifying the Cause

Before You Fix Burnout, You Need to Know What’s Driving It

Burnout is often spoken about as if it’s a single, universal experience. In reality, it manifests in different ways and is fuelled by different causes. What leaves one person feeling drained may hardly touch another. That’s why the very first step in recovering from burnout is understanding its cause for you.

Think of it as detective work: if you don’t identify the real culprit, you risk applying the wrong solution - and staying stuck in the cycle.

The layers of burnout

Burnout rarely has just one source. It can stem from several overlapping areas of life:

• Internal dialogue and behaviours – Are your own thought patterns contributing? Perfectionism, self-criticism, or an inability to rest can quietly erode your energy.

• Team and management dynamics – A difficult relationship with a manager, tensions in your team, or a lack of psychological safety can fuel exhaustion.

• Industry and role fit – Sometimes the issue lies deeper: you may not feel you belong in your field, or there’s a gap between your values and the work you do. Passion misalignment can be just as draining as overwork.

• External life pressures – Financial worries, caring responsibilities, or global uncertainty can compound stress and make recovery harder.

Why this matters to your Burnout Recovery

If you treat burnout as a single problem with a one-size-fits-all fix, you’ll only ever address part of the picture. But when you uncover the specific roots of your own burnout, you can design an intervention that actually works and leads to long-lasting recovery - whether that means building healthier inner dialogue, shifting team dynamics, exploring career alignment, or finding new ways to navigate external pressures.

A practical first step

Take a moment to reflect: which of these areas feels most relevant to you right now? Try journalling or even mapping them on paper. Awareness is powerful - once you’ve identified the drivers, you can start designing solutions that meet the real need, not the surface symptoms.

Now ask yourself some questions:

What's really getting to you - more than anything else?

What's the one thing that if you could change... might just change everything?

Need help? My Back From the Brink 1:1 coaching programme guides you through the process of identifying your root causes, designing your solution and taking action. Your journey will be unique to you, but I'll be there to guide you all the way. Book a call with me and I'll tell you more.