The Science Behind Success and Creative Burnout (And Why You’re Approaching Both Mostly Wrong) | with Eric Barker
About Episode
If you work in a creative profession and put your heart and soul into everything you do, burnout (and ultimately depression) seems inevitable. You work crazy hours, you eat crap, your deadlines are insane, and you’re stuck in front of a computer for what seems like an eternity. But creative burnout isn’t as inevitable as you might think.
Even though you may feel like you’re spinning your wheels, you aren’t getting any closer to achieving your goals, and your colleague with half the talent is getting paid twice as much and advancing twice as fast as you, there are specific things you can do to overcome creative burnout and make more significant progress towards achieving your true goals.
In this episode I have an in-depth conversation with Eric Barker, author of “Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong” about why creative burnout is so common in our 24/7 technology addicted go-go-go society, and more importantly, what you can do about it.
Episode Highlights
- Eric Barker’s history tackling the concept of “success”
- Embracing a variety of paths towards and definitions for success
- Pursing academic information in a creative industry
- The cultural impact of High School Valedictorians
- The relationship between academic and personal success
- Separating perfectionism from fulfillment
- Environmental influences on creative burnout
- The importance of refining your specialties
- Strategic quitting and focusing on signature strengths
- “Happiness breeds success,” not the other way around
- Optimism’s role in the path to success
- The cultural stigma of depression
Useful Links
About Guest
Eric Barker’s humorous, practical blog, “Barking Up the Wrong Tree”, presents science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life. Over 310,000 people subscribe to his weekly newsletter and his content is syndicated by Time Magazine, The Week, and Business Insider. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Financial Times. Eric is also a sought-after speaker and interview subject, and has given talks at MIT, Yale, Google, the University of Pennsylvania, NPR affiliates, and on morning television.
Episode Credits
This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Jakin Rintelman. Special thanks to Krystle Penhall and Sarah Furie for helping to spread the love!
The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).