Burnout, Work, and the Physics of a Life Well Lived

In physics, work is defined by an equation:

Work = Force × distance × cos(θ)

A force applied.

A distance covered.

An angle that changes the effectiveness of your effort.

If you’re pushing against a wall that never moves, no matter how hard you strain, the equation gives you zero work.

You can be exhausted,

Sweaty,

Sore,

Spent,

and still have done nothing measurable.

That’s not unlike the way many of us experience modern “work.”

The American Way of Work

In today’s culture, “work” is often synonymous with survival.

Forty hours a week

Whether or not the task inspires us,

Whether or not it moves us closer to meaning.

Some are lucky enough to land in careers that spark enthusiasm.

They wake up eager, fueled not by caffeine but by curiosity.

For them, it doesn’t feel like work at all.

Others become workaholics, filling every hour because they don’t know what else to do with their time.

Some grind away at long hours because their identity is stitched tightly to productivity:

“I am what I achieve.”

And for many, work is simply the price of the American lifestyle

A treadmill you can’t step off.

Work Ethic and the Wild

I was raised on a different kind of work ethic

The Wild kind.

My parents didn’t give me the option to be carried out.

You hike to the next campsite, no matter how tired you are.

You gather firewood because otherwise you don’t eat.

You fetch water, cook dinner, clean up, because there’s no alternative.

It’s not “extra.” It’s just life.

And the amazing thing?

You don’t resent it.

You may be exhausted, but you barely notice, because necessity is natural.

Effort is simply folded into belonging.

Burnout: When the angle’s all wrong

Burnout creeps in when we’re pushing hard but the angle is off.

When the θ in the equation is 90 degrees

And none of our effort counts as meaningful movement.

It happens when we’re trapped in jobs that don’t inspire us,

When imposter syndrome convinces us we’ll never be good enough,

When we’re living someone else’s dream instead of our own.

The force is real.

The exhaustion is real.

But the distance covered?

Zero.

Leadership and angles of effort

Here’s where leadership comes in.

A manager’s job isn’t to fix every internal challenge their team members face.

But it often becomes that by default.

Because burnout shows up as

Disengagement.

Misalignment.

Frustration.

The best leaders don’t just push people to work harder;

They help people adjust their angle.

When you can identify the root cause

Whether it’s lack of clarity,

Lack of confidence,

Or simple misalignment with what inspires them

You can redirect effort so the same force now produces meaningful work.

Great leadership is less about applying more pressure

And more about realignment.

It’s about helping people find enthusiasm again,

So their energy translates into momentum instead of futility.

That’s how you convert burnout into productivity.

From survival to enthusiasm

Eckhart Tolle says our only responsibility is our state of mind.

If you’re miserable, your first task is to accept that reality.

If you can’t accept it, then change it

Because negativity doesn’t stay contained

It seeps into

Your relationships,

Your body,

Your entire life.

Once acceptance sets in, even ordinary tasks can become infused with enjoyment.

And beyond enjoyment lies something greater:

Enthusiasm.

We thrive in enthusiasm.

Challenges don’t deplete us but animate us,

Effort is no longer toil,

But play.

Alan Watts put it simply:

What do you desire?

Forget the money.

Do what you love, and mastery will follow.

And with mastery, money often does too.

My own reset

I know burnout intimately.

For me, it was tied to imposter syndrome

The quiet suspicion that I didn’t belong,

That I hadn’t earned my seat at the table.

I now see that the connection I felt in wild places was missing in the workplace.

And this was the root of my imposter syndrome.

Out in the mountains or canyons, I never doubted my belonging.

There, effort was simply life

Hiking the trail,

Gathering firewood,

Cooking over the campfire

And imposter syndrome had no foothold.

At work, though, no matter how hard I tried

Joining committees designed to improve culture,

Asking the pertinent questions,

Offering feedback

I couldn’t recreate that same sense of belonging. And without it, the imposter voice grew louder.

Eventually, I realized I had to turn inward.

I had to stop trying to fix the system around me and instead fix the way I related to myself.

Only then could I begin to carry that canyon-born confidence into the workplace

And from that steadier place, foster more authentic connection in the workplace.

That’s the difference between work and enthusiasm.

Between burnout and thriving.

Between pushing against an immovable wall and climbing a mountain that reveals new horizons with every step.

✨ The equation hasn’t changed. But the angle has. And whether you’re an individual reclaiming your joy or a leader guiding your team, the work that matters comes when your force and your direction finally align 💫

The joyful women of Kaloko Village, Zambia. For them the work never ends. Yet neither does the laughter.