Episode Description
What happens when the life you worked so hard to build no longer fits who you are?
Sometimes burnout recovery begins before we make the next plan, set another goal, or try to reinvent ourselves. It begins by slowing down long enough to look honestly at where we've been, what we've been carrying, and what our lives may be trying to teach us.
In this episode of At the Counter, Laura welcomes Jobert E. Abueva, author, global marketing and philanthropy executive, and creator of The Janus Plan.
Jobert shares the story of reaching profound burnout while leading a successful international career. From the outside, he appeared to be thriving. Behind the success were exhaustion, relentless travel, little sleep, and beliefs such as I must outperform, rest is for the weak, and others expect perfection.
That breaking point eventually invited Jobert to reconsider not only how he worked, but how he approached transitions, endings, goals, and new beginnings.
Together, Laura and Jobert explore how to recognize burnout, why reflection can be an important part of burnout recovery, and how looking backward can help us move forward after grief, change, or an ending we didn't choose.
How can you tell when exhaustion has become burnout?
Burnout can be difficult to recognize when overworking has become normal. Jobert reflects on the beliefs and expectations that kept him pushing long after his body and life were asking him to slow down.
Laura and Jobert discuss the difference between ordinary tiredness and a deeper depletion that may signal something needs to change.
Why look backward when you're trying to move forward?
Jobert shares his “good, bad, and ugly” approach to reflection and why beginning again doesn't require erasing everything that came before.
Looking back isn't about getting stuck in the past. It can help us recognize what shaped us, what we've learned, what still matters, and what we may no longer need to carry into the next season.
What about endings and transitions we didn't choose?
Not every new beginning comes from a goal we enthusiastically set.
Laura and Jobert also talk about grief and unwanted change, including Jobert's experience of losing his father during the COVID shutdowns. Their conversation explores how reflection can help us honor what has been part of our lives while discerning what we want to carry forward.
In this conversation, you'll hear about:
• How to recognize the difference between being tired and experiencing burnout
• Hidden beliefs that can keep us overworking and overperforming
• Why reflection can matter in burnout recovery
• Jobert's “good, bad, and ugly” approach to looking back
• Why endings deserve reflection before beginnings become another rush forward
• Grief, unwanted change, and transitions we never planned
• Deciding what to carry forward and what we're ready to release
• Why handwriting and physical reflection can help us slow down
• Beginning again without needing to have the next five years figured out
Soul Pause
What are you doing right now because it genuinely matters to you, and what are you doing because you're convinced that you have to?
You don't need to fix anything today.
Just notice.
And perhaps consider one more question:
What is this moment trying to teach me?
Maybe beginning again doesn't require an empty loom. The threads of joy, disappointment, love, loss, wisdom, and experience are already part of your tapestry.
Sometimes one small, intentional thread is enough to begin.
Connect with Jobert
Learn more about Jobert E. Abueva and The Janus Plan:
Continue the conversation inside the At the Counter community. Find encouragement, connection, and a place to remember you don’t have to carry everything alone.
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At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life.
We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore.
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