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Summary: Don't Settle for Burnout! There's more to life...
Review: I attended one of Dr. Glouberman's seminars, and I found her book even more helpful--because I can practice the exercises and read the book for advice and inspiration as I need it. She has an insightful, poignant writing style with the wisdom of an expert who knows her audience and how to help them. Burnout is so commonplace that we accept it as normal, and Glouberman reminds us that life is about living with our whole hearts and finding our true selves.
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Summary: Heartening and helpful
Review: This book caught my eye in a bookstore in London last fall, and I found it very timely and helpful, so I'm delighted that it's now available in the U.S.Most books on burnout are written from the perspective that burnout is a negative condition that results from our failure to handle life's demands effectively, so it's up to us to cure the personal problems that caused the burnout and restore our pre-burnout frame of mind. By contrast, Dr. Glouberman sees burnout as a wake-up call, an invitation to stop and re-evaluate what led to our burnout, and an opportunity to reinvent our lives. In my experience, burnout often occurs because (as happened to the author herself) we're putting too much of our energy into activities that are peripheral or antithetical to what we do best -- e.g., the technical expert who's thrust into a management job, or the teacher who becomes an administrator. Rather than struggling frantically to recapture the enthusiasm that may not have been there in the first place, it's better to step back, evaluate what's right and wrong for us in the present situation, and consciously choose which path forward is best for us. The author's exercises are helpful, but what I found most encouraging was her attitude. Most people with a strong work ethic find burnout shameful -- an admission that they "failed" to meet the demands of a presumably desirable situation. Dr. Glouberman's positive, optimistic approach to burnout is heartening: once you're able to get past the negative emotions associated with burnout, you're free to look at the situation with detachment, and to learn from it.
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Summary: Helpful & thought-provoking
Review: This is an important book for anyone contemplating a change in a job or a relationship; listen to the inner voice, pay attention to what your body tells you, and much, much more. It's obvious that the author knows her stuff--she includes a lot of practical advice and many stories of people who have managed to reclaim their energy and delight in life.
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