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Growth Spurt: Why Burnout Persists · The Growth Project

• 0:02
  You.
• 0:03
  Drew Brandon here from amplify, and I want to talk a little bit about burnout. This is not a new concept. If you look at the data on burnout and we'll just focus on the USA right now, the numbers for quite a while now have not been good. So many years ago, decades ago, the burnout prevalence numbers were high.
• 0:25
  And here we are as we sit in 2026, they're still high. Different studies point to different data points, but the most recent research that I have have read and looked at indicate that anywhere from 60 to 70% of people in the US workforce are indicating heightened levels of burnout. And so, as I think about that, and I look at what the data says, a very common question, a normal question pops up, why isn't that getting any better?
• 0:53
  Why do we continue to churn out the research, indicating that people are burned out and we're doing so much to help, right. And so we're trying to inform people of what the signs of burnout are, what the red flags and indicators are that this could be going on in your life and then ultimately attempting to educate people on how do you combat this?
• 1:16
  How do you alleviate symptoms of burnout? All of that's happening, but the prevalence rates don't seem to be changing at all. Why is that? And of course, there's a number of different variables that play into that. But one of the most fundamental reasons is people just aren't changing. And so you think about this notion of why do we need to change it up in our lives?
• 1:37
  Because if we don't, we stay the same, right? We have the same problems. We have this, we see the same data, prevalence rates don't change. And, there's a great, mantra, quote that I think really stemmed from some of the great work that's been done in Alcoholics Anonymous over the years through the great programs that they offer.
• 1:58
  That goes very simply. If nothing changes, nothing changes. And that's exactly what we see in this data of we continue to put too many things on our plate. We continue to overcommit. We continue to talk about what we will do eventually to make changes in our lives. But people aren't changing. So when when that isn't happening, we continue to look at the numbers and step back and ask ourselves, how are we ever going to get that right?
• 2:25
  So the answer to that question becomes it starts on the individual level of people being willing to just create healthy disruption in your life to put something down. You know, the classic start, stop, continue is a fantastic model and framework to use when you're trying to solve for some of these things. Even if you just looked at that and thought about what do I really need and want to start in my life, what do I want to stop in my life?
• 2:51
  And what do I want to continue doing? That simple framework could be a highly effective approach to trying to alleviate and curtail some of these burnout, indicators and symptoms that we see. So, on the one hand, we look at the research and we're discouraged. I think the good news here is the path to improving things, isn't complicated in the least.
• 3:13
  It simply involves people being willing to, get honest with themselves and others about how they're there. They're staying the same as opposed to changing and then digging in and doing the work. So, I would really challenge you to think about with where are you with respect to, what could be burnout symptoms in your life and then to run yourself through that very simple framework of start, stop, continue.
• 3:36
  It's an excellent tool. It's a very, straightforward and concrete way to promote change in growth and development
• 3:45
  in your life.