The Inclusive Networker

Disrupting Burnout and Unleashing Brilliance | Series with Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson

October 10, 2023 Dr. Raymona H. Lawrence Episode 47

Does the stress of work leave you feeling "crunchy"? Burnout can sneak up on us, leaving a wake of physical and mental health disturbances. We had an enlightening conversation with Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson, an accomplished educator and executive coach, who shares her personal journey with burnout and reveals practical strategies for both recognizing its signs and disrupting its damaging cycle.

Imagine thriving in your business, not merely surviving. We delve into how nurturing a healthy 'soul set' is as crucial to our success as honing our skills. Dr. PBJ offers insights into the involuntary nature of burnout, explaining that its onset can come anytime and underscores the importance of preventive measures to avoid a relapse.

And then we turn to our innate brilliance! According to Dr. PBJ, recognizing and harnessing our unique gifts and talents can be a game-changer for business. We discuss the pitfalls of imposter syndrome and the transformative power of inclusion in creating robust, effective teams. This episode is more than a survival guide; it is a roadmap to a fulfilling, meaningful life beyond burnout, where our brilliance can truly shine.

COMING JANUARY 2024
Disrupting Burnout: The Professional Woman’s Lifeline to Finding Purpose
Grab a sample chapter of Dr. PBJ's upcoming book at
www.patricebucknerjackson.com/book

You can find Dr PBJ on…
Website https://www.patricebucknerjackson.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drpatricebucknerjackson/

Want more from Dr. Raymona?
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drraymonahlawrence/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/drraymonahlawrence/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/drraymonahlawrence/

Thank you for listening!

~Dr. Raymona

Speaker 1:

Hey, hey, hey, welcome, welcome. Welcome to this week's episode of the Inclusive Networker podcast, where we help network marketers, small business owners and solopreneurs become aware of gaps in knowledge or awareness that could be keeping their networks and businesses small. Tune in as we give tips and simple practical tools to make your business more inclusive and we teach you how to build inclusive communities that support diverse customers, team members and business partners. So if you want to authentically build relationships with diverse communities of customers or business partners, you are in the right place. But be warned you will be challenged. But here's the thing you won't be judged. I'm your host, dr Ramona. I'm a speaker, coach, consultant, public health professor, wife, mom and a fierce challenger of broken systems that keep people from reaching their highest potential. I'm so excited to be with you on your journey to becoming an inclusive networker, so let's jump right in. Hey, hey, hey, welcome, welcome. Welcome to this week's episode of the Inclusive Networker podcast. This is your host, dr Ramona, and who am I calling into conversation today? Well, it is Dr Patrice Buckner Jackson. I am so excited we are bringing to you a four part series. You are at day one of this PowerPack series. She is about to drop some gems on us about disrupting burnout and discovering your brilliance, so I am going to tell you a little bit more about her, and then we are going to get started. So what about this fabulous woman that I have on my podcast today?

Speaker 1:

Well, dr Patrice Buckner Jackson, known in her community as Dr PBJ, gives educators the strategies for accomplishing purposeful work without burnout. Dr PBJ is an educator of almost 25 years and an executive coach for more than 10 years. She holds a doctoral degree in education administration, served in executive leadership at colleges and universities and facilitates leadership training as a faculty member to the Center for Creative Leadership, dr Jackson worked in higher education at many levels, from student assistant to the President's Cabinet, and is the recipient of several professional awards and accolades. Dr Jackson found education, training and consulting LLC out of a purpose, pouring into those who pour out so much. Much of her work is specifically focused on equipping and refreshing educators. Compassionate work can carry a high price tag. Your mind, your body, your spirit and relationships may be in distress as you serve the needs of others. Dr Jackson leads her community to serve well without paying an ultimate price.

Speaker 1:

Dr PBJ is the creator and host of the Disrupting Burnout podcast, as well as the author of the soon to be released book. And let me tell you I got an opportunity to read this thing and it is fabulous. You have got to get it. It is called Disrupting Burnout the Professional Woman's Life Launch to finding purpose. So, dr PBJ, my friend, my inspiration, I am so excited to have you on the Inclusive Networker podcast today. How are you?

Speaker 2:

Dr Ramona listen, there is no introduction. Like a Dr Ramona in the next, all I got to say Thank you so much. It's always an honor to be here with you on this wonderful podcast and with your community. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Oh, you are welcome and it is absolutely my honor. I'm so excited about this. So, as I was saying in the intro, we are doing a four part series, and this series is for you, it is for you network marketers, it is for you business owners. We have got to start to disrupt burnout and discover our brilliance. As we are building businesses, a lot of times we get so tired with the process, and when you're thinking about especially network marketing or people who are doing businesses that seem like they're the same or they're doing something very similar to other people, it is essential to discover your brilliance so that you can stand out and you know why you're there, so that we can just prevent this burnout. And so I'm excited to jump into this. Let's just start talking about it. And so this book, this idea of discovering your brilliance and disrupting burnout, just start to tell us a little bit about. How did you get here and what is this all about?

Speaker 2:

Oh, dr Ramona, listen. First of all, let me just say this, because we talk about burnout often, but I don't think we understand the extent of it. In 2022, february, gallup had a workforce panel study over 12,000 respondents. Of 12,000 diverse professionals across this country, almost 80% shared that they experienced some level burnout at work 80% of people and there was a significant number of those folks who said they experienced burnout almost always or often at work.

Speaker 2:

So we are really in an epidemic and I know that people like to say well, it's because of what we've been through since 2020, I believe that crisis is a magnifier. It will make bigger what's already there, but we were already headed in this direction Professional women, particularly business owners, network marketers they were already tired, they were already overwhelmed and because of the crisis and the trauma that folks have been through over the last few years, it is magnified and it is. It is uncovered. It's at a different level and I'm here to tell you that I don't do just do this for the studies. I do it because I went through it myself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so tell us about that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, 20 years in as an educator and I, you know, just showing up serving my students, doing what I'm supposed to do every day, not really looking for any pat on the back. I just love the work and I was promoted along the way. I had some great leaders along the way and I've got to tell you 20 years and I got a tap on my shoulder to say, hey, there's this vice president position and you need to apply. In my area, working colleges and universities and you know, vice president was kind of that big leap, that's that big level. You go into executive leadership. So when I got that tap on the shoulder, it's like, wow, is it really time? Have I arrived? And you know, prayed about it and talked to wise people in my life and decided to apply and got the job. So we packed up our home, we sold it. Our child had just started college where I was working. She thought she was going to college. At home we were like, baby, you got this, we moving, she's fine, she got through it, she's fine. But we packed up and we moved to a new city and started this new job and at first it wasn't adventure. It wasn't adventure, just new people, new surroundings and no one really, you know said everything was perfect. People told me that there were challenges. I knew what I was walking into, but I didn't know what I was carrying.

Speaker 2:

10 months in 10 months August 2019, driving to work can barely see for the tears in my eyes. I pull into my parking space the fancy one with my towel and all that's just for me. I had to reapply my makeup because I didn't want anybody to see me that way. I walked in as I normally do, and it was everything I could do to get behind the door of that office and I crumbled. I crumbled physically and emotionally. I couldn't even hold my own weight up anymore. I was holding on to the side of the desk. I just couldn't stand. What I really wanted to do was crawl under that desk and later, in the fetal position, I just I didn't have anything left, but I was so afraid somebody would catch me. Mm-hmm, they were behind me there.

Speaker 2:

So I just kind of got myself together and when I could articulate words, I picked up the phone and I called my husband. I tried to explain to him what was going on and I remember he interrupted me. He said go home, I'll meet you there Go home. Well, it was August, and August in education is not go home. Yeah, august in education is not take a break, it's not sick day, it's none of that, it is less go. I had parents wrapped around the highway moving their students in at that moment. Wow, I had a lobby full of students, my team, I had a division full of people, several departments, they were all over campus making it happen. That was not the time for me to be falling apart. I'm trying to explain this and he interrupts me again. He said go home, I will meet you there. And I remember trying to explain to him and I said, over and over I can't stop.

Speaker 2:

I can't stop. I can't stop. Finally, he convinced me. I hung up, dr Ramona, and I typed a letter. Wow, I typed a letter and I printed it out and I went to where my president was in a meeting and I waited until that meeting was over and I handed them that letter and I said I'm so sorry and I left.

Speaker 2:

I walked away from 20 years of a career. I walked away from students who trusted me. I walked away from a whole team of people who believed in the vision, dr Ramona. There were people who had served as references for me. There were people who had known me for years who said this is the person you need to hire. This is your vice president. I disappointed all of those people and I just walked away.

Speaker 2:

I didn't leave because I had a plan. I didn't leave because, you know, my phone was ringing off the hook and people were trying to hire me. I left because I had taught everybody in my life that I could be all things to all people and they believed me because people would treat you how you trained them to treat you. Yeah, and I had nothing left. I had nothing left, so I went home and it was the first time in my life that I stopped. It was the first time that I didn't have a job to go to, I didn't have church obligations, I didn't have community things, I didn't have my daughter there with me, like it was the first time in my entire life that I remember that I just stopped and I had nothing.

Speaker 2:

Wow, and it was a wake up call. People would wake up call because I had to recognize that this was the worst, but it wasn't the first. I had been in this place before. But somehow you know how we do Just keep going, just keep pushing. You got it. Just keep going, just keep pushing. That's what we're taught to do, and somehow I would break through it and feel better and keep going. But before I knew it, I was back at the bottom of the cycle again and it just kept revolving. As I look back over my life, I could see that it just kept revolving. It just kept revolving. So this time I was determined. I've got to figure out how to do purposeful work without experiencing these consequences. And that's what I teach now. That's what I've dedicated my life to do. I teach how to do purposeful work, the strategy, because you need strategy how to do purposeful work without burning out, and it is the work of my life.

Speaker 1:

Wow, what an amazing story, and I know that so many people can just relate to this. I mean, especially as women, we are running constantly, we're giving, giving, giving. We are completely empty, just walking around, going through the motions, and then it's like our body is telling us, but we're ignoring it, right? So we're constantly hearing this faint voice, and then it's like we almost learned to just completely just shut it out, right, and we get to this point where we're made to sit down, we're almost made to sit down right, and so is that what you're noticing in other people, that, as we're getting to this point Cause I really want everybody to start to really think about how am I getting to this area of burnout?

Speaker 2:

right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Not ignoring these signs and these things that are happening. But so so what is it that you're seeing with this disrupting burnout and the burnout that's coming?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you hit on two very important things. First, I want to describe what I call the cycle of burnout. Okay, because my question to all of our listeners today is how are you Like? No, like, how are you really? How often do we ask that question in passing and we don't even wait for an answer.

Speaker 1:

It's just a hello. And we don't even wait for a question.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine and we keep pushing, we keep waiting on somebody to check on us while we're checking on other people. I want to give you all some language to answer that question, because you don't have to tell Dr Ramona, and it's not our business. But you need to know how you're doing. You need to know. So let me walk you through this cycle. The first part, the first step or the phase of the cycle, is called surviving. And in surviving you know there's too much. You can feel the pressure, you can feel the load, you can feel the burden, right, but it's almost like you are on a roller coaster and nobody will stop the ride. And you can't stop. Like I have the family now, I have the job now, I have the business now, like, how do I? You put all of these things on your plate, and it's like I can't get out of this rat race. Like I can't rest, I can't stop, I can't slow down, because if I do, everything falls apart. Let me tell you something, friend If you are in a space where you feel like you can't, you can't rest, you can't stop, your cycle has already started. Your cycle burnout has already started. Because it is unrealistic. It is unrealistic to expect that any human being can keep going, keep going, keep going and never have a stop. It's not fair, it's not sustainable, it's not healthy. That's surviving In surviving. When you ask someone how they're doing it, I'm fine. How's the family? It's fine. How's work? It's all fine.

Speaker 2:

Let me tell you and it's not the word fine, but fine is a symptom. People are created just to be fine all the time. You were created to thrive, yes, and if you are not thriving, that's a symptom. I call it a tail. T-e-l-l. That's a symptom. That's a tail that you are starting the cycle of burnout in surviving. If you don't do something different, you move from surviving to overwhelm. In overwhelm, the water level of your life is rising and you are fighting to keep your head above water In overwhelm, like Dr Ramona was just talking about. It's like the warning lights inside of you are flashing and the siren is going, and I call that.

Speaker 2:

Your life speaks to you. So your body starts speaking to you Aches, pain, digestive issues, respiratory issues, breakouts, itchy skin, eczema, all the and I'm not a medical doctor, friend, but I truly believe that some of the physical things that we experience has more to do with overwhelm and stress and burnout than anything else in our lives. It's our body's way of trying to get our attention. Having a migraine every day is not normal, and we normalize things that are not. Your body was not created to be in pain every day, aches and pains every day, and even at my I'll say my age right now, we start to say, oh, that's a part of getting older. Who said yeah? Who said that your body has to ache every day as you get older? We've got to pay attention. Your body is speaking to you. Not just your body, but your mind speaks to you.

Speaker 2:

I talk to so many people, dr Ramona, who tell me that they have a hard time going to sleep at night. They can't go to sleep because the mind is constantly running. They constantly feel like they're behind. They're at home thinking about work, they're at work thinking about home, and they never feel like they're in the right place to do the right thing. And they can't power down, they can't rest, they can't bring it down so they can truly sleep. They might sleep, but they don't rest. They wake up exhausted because the mind is just constantly, constantly going.

Speaker 2:

Your mind is speaking to you. Your heart speaks to you the heart that beats, but also the heart that feels, speaks to you your emotions. You may call it an emotional roller coaster. Maybe you're more weepy than you normally would be, or maybe you could hold it back six months ago and now you can't even hold it back. It's like the floodgates have opened, right. Well, maybe it's not weeping for you, maybe it's anger. I call that a little bit crunchy. You just get a little bit crunchy, friend. Now if crunchy is your normal, that's a different conversation for a different day. But if crunchy is not your normal, it's a tale.

Speaker 1:

Wait a minute now. Look, give us a. Give us. Give us a. Give us an example of crunchy, because I think the people need to know exactly what we mean by crunchy.

Speaker 2:

Yes, man.

Speaker 1:

I like this Tell us, because we want to make sure we can identify.

Speaker 2:

You are a little bit crunchy, your patience is short. Okay, things that don't normally annoy you are extremely annoying you. You respond in a different way. Maybe you lash out or you give a quick answer, or you have a quicker temper. There's some anger that's there and it's almost like it's seeping out. It just kind of jolts out every now and then and you might even be surprising yourself, like where did that come from? Why didn't mean to say it like that? And, friend, if you don't know if you're crunchy, if you go home and everybody spreads to a different room, you might be crunchy, and I make light of it just so that we can connect.

Speaker 1:

But I want you to know it's a tale, and that's so good, because even we can think about that on so many different levels. We can think about it with our family, but we're talking about business. We can think about it even with our team members and people that we're interacting with our customers and we're getting irritated and just upset that they're not reaching goals, they're not doing what they're supposed to do to get to where we need to be. Why are they not doing this? Why I'm not sleeping? They shouldn't be sleeping either. We need to be moving, and so when we get in that crunchiness in our personal life and in our business, we need to start to think about this Are we in the cycle, right? So we've got the tales and then we've got the speaks. So all of this is happening. It's like something is trying to voice this to us and we're ignoring it. Okay, so I'm loving this. Okay, so we're from surviving to overwhelms. What happens next?

Speaker 2:

If we don't do something that overwhelm, then we get to burnout. Okay, then we get to burnout. Now let me give some context here, dr Ramona, because there is an official definition of burnout from the World Health Organization in 2019. They call burnout an occupational phenomenon. So it's not a diagnosis, but it's considered an occupational phenomenon. Now let me give you a little spoonful of PBJ. Okay, I am not equipped to disrupt the who, but what I will say is I am coaching people right now who go to work for a break. I have folks and anyone that I've interrupted or interacted with. Burnout is not just occupational, yeah, it's not just your work. It affects every part of your life. So in our conversation, we will talk about wholeness and not just, yes, your business, absolutely. But I want you to know that every part of you, every part of you, matters. I have a coach in my life who says your business will only grow to the point that you're willing to heal, and I believe it's true.

Speaker 1:

Don't run past that. Okay, say it again.

Speaker 2:

Your business will only grow to the point that you are willing to heal.

Speaker 1:

So let's dig into that just a minute.

Speaker 1:

So many, many of us, I think, have unresolved things that we have within our personal lives and different things that have happened from childhood on up, and so a lot of times people feel like I'm stuck. I'm stuck in business, I'm not going anywhere, I'm not doing the things that other people are doing. I don't seem to be moving fast enough. And you say this right, you can only go as far as you're willing to heal. And so I was listening to something the other day and I thought, oh wow, it's not always your skill set, it's how your soul is set up right now that's holding you back.

Speaker 1:

It's not just skill set you have the skill, you have everything that you need but it's your soul set that's keeping you from reaching a higher level, because when you get to that higher level in the light shines, you will be crushed Right. And so we really have to start to think about how do I look at this comprehensive wholeness right? Picture versus I've got the skill, I got what I need. It's something that's deeper, and everybody that I've talked to that has been successful lately has said something related to that. It's your soul set and not your skill set. Right, it's how your soul set up right now. You got to get that right, and so this is that. I think that's such a great point that we're only going to get as far as we're willing to heal right, or as we're able to heal. Yes.

Speaker 2:

There's so many people who don't need another business coaching program right now. I'm not against business coaching, I have a business coach. I'm not against programs. I think they're powerful. But it's like you said, it's not just your skill set. You can have the same formula as the next person and their business could be thriving and you could be suffering skill set. But there are certain things that you cannot accomplish until you heal, and I want to pause here and define what we mean when we say soul.

Speaker 1:

Yes, go ahead. I want people to understand.

Speaker 2:

When we say soul, we're talking about your mind, your will and your emotions. Yes, you're trying to define the way that you think, your memory, how you process information, your will, your decision making, your behaviors and your emotions, how you feel. So when we say soul, that's what we're talking about, absolutely, and it's not that you don't have the skill sets, but it's not what you know that you do. Right, people always say, well, if you know better, you do better. That's not true. All of us know things right now that we're not doing. Knowing is not enough. Knowing is not enough. You got to believe what you know, and that's soul work. So if you have the formula, but you're not making the calls, you're not doing the pitching, you're not offering your product, you are not showing up on social media. It's not another skill that you need, it's something in your soul that's holding you back from doing that work, you got to heal, you got to feel in burnout.

Speaker 2:

I just want to make sure I give you this definition, because I offer a different definition. Okay, burnout is the involuntary shutdown and, like you said earlier, dr Ramona, you said sometimes we're made to sit down. Burnout is when you're made to sit down, you don't get to choose when and you don't get to choose how. You can't schedule burnout. You can't say, oh well, this is my busy time. So, burnout, I need you to chill out and wait until I get through this business time and then I'll take a week to fall apart. That's not how this works. You go to work one day and you put in your notice after 20 years of a career. Or I know another woman, lindsey Ray Perry. She talks about how she collapsed in the street working political campaigns in Washington DC. When help came, she didn't know her name or where she lived. You can't tell burnout how to show up, don't get to tell it when.

Speaker 2:

So we want to disrupt the cycle. That's why we talk about disrupting burnout, disrupting. We don't want you to stay in the cycle. We also don't want you to just feel better real quick and then come back to it. Enough of that we're not going to that place anymore. We wanna disrupt the cycle so that you do not continue in the surviving, the overwhelmed burnout, surviving, overwhelmed burnout, surviving, overwhelmed burnout. It's time to get out of that cycle now. Disrupt it in your life so you don't have to revisit that place again. So that's what we want for you all. Everybody who's listening.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and I just thought when you it came to my mind when you were saying survival, overwhelmed, burnout, that spells out sob. You are sobbing inside and in this it's like how do we stop that just pouring out that sobbing that's happening inside of us, so that we truly disrupt this and we come back to that joy and that thriving that we were meant to have? How do we go from tears to joy in the morning? And so this is so important.

Speaker 1:

I mean, in business, we're like I gotta get this skill, I'm ready to move, I gotta go, I gotta do the next thing. And it's like no, you got to stop and get this right. If you don't stop and get this right, the rest of it is not going to come, or it may come temporarily, and then you burn out and collapse and we don't want that. So we got to move from sobbing to joy, to thriving, to overcoming this and not overwhelm. And so the other part of this that you have is discovering brilliance, right, so let's go to that part to give them a full picture of this process from discovering, from disrupting burnout to now. How do we move into the discovering brilliance? Oh my, gosh.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So I offer three strategies for disrupting burnout that lead to brilliance. I'm going to talk about brilliance first, and then we'll come back and talk about how to get there, the path to get there, because and as you were even talking about the sobbing I just feel the need to say I need you to know that living that way is not normal. We have normalized the struggle, the pain, the overwhelm, the burden, the crying. We have normalized, and that is not normal. It feels like the thriving is the special case, like only the special people get to that point, and we're here to tell you that every human being that's listening to us right now has the opportunity to get to thriving. Every single person has the opportunity to get to what I call brilliance. Friend, you have an innate, unique brilliance like nobody else. You have a special gift that does not cost you extra energy. You do it without even thinking about it. It flows freely from you. It's who you are, not just what you do. It's who you are. You know, dr Ramona, it's interesting because in American culture, we start asking children as old as they are old enough to talk what do you want to be when you grow up? And really, what we mean is what do you want to do for money when you grow up? We're not really interested in their being. We're interested in what they're going to do. But we're not human doings, we're human beings. And I'm convinced that if we were to study our children and study their natural bend and their natural flow and what that brilliance that's already in them, and guide them in that direction, then they would live more fulfilled lives than we have. This brilliance doesn't show up the day that you get promoted through your network marketing business. It doesn't show up the day you get the degree. It doesn't show up the day you make six figures. It doesn't show. It's been with you all of your life and the reason why we don't recognize it is because we haven't put enough credit on it, because it's so easy to you. We've been taught that anything worth anything has to be hard and it's so easy for you that you think it's easy for everybody else. I'll give you an example.

Speaker 2:

So I was listening to Oprah Winfrey when she was interviewed by the Stanford School of Business. This is on YouTube and at some point in time she shared with the interviewer. She said I had a daytime talk show. I own a network, I've starred in movies, I have a school in Africa, she said. But my gift I say brilliant, she said my gift is that I present ideas that call people to a higher self. So what Oprah was describing is I've done this, I've done that, I have this, I have that. All of that, all of those are expressions of my brilliance. But the real brilliance is I present these ideas that call people to a higher self. And I do that whether I'm on the Oprah Winfrey show or whether I'm working with my network, or whether I'm starring in movies or whether I'm opening schools, no matter the doom wing, the brilliance is the same. So, for the sake of our audience today, no matter the doom wing, no matter the doom wing, some of you have done three or four businesses. Can we just talk?

Speaker 1:

Can we talk? Come on, let's make it plain and I'll raise both hands. I've done three or four businesses.

Speaker 2:

See, I've had network marketing businesses. I've done three or four and the reason I'm convinced, the reason why, the reason why I didn't excel in most of those businesses is because I didn't realize what I bring to the business. I understood the value of the business and the business structure, but I didn't understand that there's something specific that I bring to the business, unlike any other person who owns that kind of business. You have a brilliance that's unlike anybody around you. It's like your fingerprint. It's unique to you.

Speaker 2:

Some people may say purpose. I say brilliance. I use them interchangeably. You were born with it. So our path, dr Ramona, is we want to move people from the cycle of burnout to living in and maximizing their brilliance. Because when you know what you bring to the table, you don't need the pad on the back, you don't need anybody to give you special titles. You know like there's an intrinsic confidence and motivation that flows. And when I tell you, business becomes easy. When you are flowing in your brilliance, you're like a magnet. People want to be connected to you, they want to work with you, they want to know more about what you got going on, because you're walking in brilliance.

Speaker 1:

And that reminds me so much of imposter syndrome, and the only reason that people feel like an imposter is that they're impersonating somebody else, and so it feels just like, oh, I'm having to do so much, I'm having to do this particular thing, I'm having to dance on social media and do all these things that other people are doing, because I haven't discovered my own brilliance and what feels natural to me.

Speaker 1:

What do I bring to this space that I'm supposed to be doing? And so we feel like, oh, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, or it feels so hard because I'm impersonating what everybody else has done. And so this idea of discovering our brilliance makes business easier, it makes duplication easier, it makes building a team easier, because then we know exactly what we bring and we're able to allow people to be their own unique sales and bring what they bring to the table. And so that's the idea of inclusion. It's like, ok, other people are going to have something different that they bring. I'm able to help them see that, bring it out, and we bring it all to the team so that we can work better. Oh, that's good.

Speaker 2:

You just said something that we cannot miss. You just said that it's so hard because you're impersonating other people, and it is the absolute truth. You are impersonating other people trying to fit a mold that was not created for you. When you live in your brilliance, you eliminate competition Because you're not trying to fit at somebody else's table. You're sitting at the table that was created for you. So, again, I believe in there are some methods, there are some skills, there are some systems that work. That's just truth, that's just true. All of us need some good foundations and, friend, it should have your brilliance all over it. If it's not your brilliance, then you are toiling. It feels like a hamster on the wheel. You're working, you're putting in a lot of effort, but you're not seeing the progress Because you haven't put you in it yet Whoo, ok.

Speaker 1:

So let's round this one up. Let's see, ok, what is it that we need to summarize, because we have three more episodes for you all. We're going to just unpack this. You have got to stay tuned For next week because we are going into this idea of backpacks and what we have in our backpack, so make sure that you listen to the next episode. So let's round this one up. What is the big thing that we want everybody to know from this particular episode? Dr PBJ?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. We want you to know that living in the cycle of burnout is not normal and we want you to know that you can disrupt that cycle through three simple strategies. We're going to teach you those strategies over the next three weeks. Three simple strategies to not just disrupt the cycle, but to never return to that cycle and to live in a place that you are maximizing your brilliance. Friend, if there is breath in your body, there is brilliance that you bring to the world, and it is time for you to know what that brilliance is.

Speaker 1:

Ooh, ok, y'all Get ready, get ready, get ready. And I thank you, dr PBJ, for this episode, thank you for all of the wonderful nuggets we have already gotten. There are three more. You all have to stay tuned, get ready to just have some serious, serious transformation after this series. And so thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Inclusive Networker Podcast and thank you again to my fabulous guest, dr PBJ. You'll hear her more in the next three episodes and you will find her information in the show notes. And we will see you on the next episode of the Inclusive Networker. See you. And that wraps up another episode of the Inclusive Networker Podcast.

Speaker 1:

I want to express my sincere gratitude to you, our listeners, for joining us on this journey of learning and growth. Your support and engagement are truly, truly appreciated. Creating a more inclusive network and beyond starts with us, individually and collectively. Let's continue these conversations beyond the Inclusive Networker Podcast. Engage with others, challenge your own assumptions, take action to make a difference in your own spheres of influence and share, share, share this podcast with a friend. So here's what you can do next Go to drramonahlawnescom and keep up with me. Stay in touch. That's D-R-R-A-Y-M-O-N-A-H-L-A-W-R-E-N-C-Ecom. Don't forget my why and, dr Ramona, and don't you dare forget your why, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Inclusive Networker.