Epi 49:

We're getting into the mindset patterns that fuel imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and chronic overthinking in veterinary professionals and other high achievers.

You’ll hear real-life examples from clinical practice and learn how common thought loops can quietly intensify stress and emotional exhaustion.

Rather than relying on generic positivity, this episode focuses on practical, grounded mindset shifts that change how you interpret mistakes, pressure, and expectations at work.

If you’ve ever replayed cases in your head or felt like you “should know better,” this conversation will help you respond with more clarity, self-compassion, and confidence.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• [00:00] How shifting your internal response to pressure can reduce stress even when your workload doesn’t change

• [03:20] Why feeling overwhelmed at work is often tied to learned automatic reactions, not just external demands

• [07:05] How chronic stress trains your brain to default to urgency, overthinking, and overfunctioning

• [12:40] The role of subconscious patterns in how you interpret and react to workplace pressure

• [18:15] Why changing your reaction patterns can decrease burnout symptoms without needing to leave your job

• [24:30] What it actually looks like to retrain your stress response in real-time at work

• [30:10] How small shifts in interpretation and emotional response can create long-term changes in stress levels

Key Takeaways

• Much of workplace stress comes from automatic reaction patterns, not just workload

• Chronic stress reinforces urgency, overthinking, and overgiving responses

• Updating your internal response to pressure can reduce burnout symptoms

• Subconscious emotional patterns strongly influence how overwhelming work feels

• Small shifts in how you interpret stressors can meaningfully change your experience at work

A Truth You Need to Hear:

“You don’t always need a different job to feel less stressed. Sometimes you need a different internal response to the same pressure.”

Links mentioned:

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S2 Epi 49 Transcript: Reduce Stress at Work by Shifting How Your Brain Responds to Pressure

[00:00]
Welcome back to Stop the Burnout. In today’s episode, we’re talking about how to reduce stress at work by shifting how you respond when things feel overwhelming. Because for many veterinary professionals and high achievers, the workload itself isn’t always what changes, but our internal reaction to that workload absolutely can.

[02:48]
When work feels overwhelming, most of us assume the only solution is to do less, leave the job, or fix every external factor. But what often gets overlooked is how much of our stress response is automatic and learned. Our brain develops patterns for how to react under pressure, and those patterns can persist long after the original circumstances that created them.

[05:32]
This is where we start to see chronic stress patterns show up. The moment something feels urgent, demanding, or high-stakes, the brain shifts into overdrive. You might start overthinking, rushing, people-pleasing, or feeling like you have to push through no matter what. These responses can feel automatic because, in many ways, they are.

[08:17]
Over time, these automatic responses reinforce the experience of overwhelm. The more frequently your brain reacts to pressure with urgency or self-imposed pressure, the more it learns that this is the “correct” way to handle work stress. Even if the workload stays the same, the internal experience becomes heavier and more draining.

[11:54]
A big piece of this is subconscious interpretation. Two people can experience the exact same workload, yet one feels constantly overwhelmed while the other feels challenged but manageable. The difference often lies in how their brain has learned to interpret pressure and what emotional meaning it assigns to those situations.

[15:10]
If your brain has learned to associate pressure with risk, judgment, or failure, then even routine challenges can feel disproportionately stressful. This doesn’t mean you’re weak or incapable. It means your nervous system is trying to protect you based on past experiences and learned emotional responses.

[18:22]
This is why simply telling yourself to “calm down” or “not overreact” rarely works. The reaction isn’t just a conscious choice; it’s a conditioned response. To truly reduce stress, we have to update how the brain interprets and responds to pressure at a deeper level.

[21:47]
When you begin to shift those internal response patterns, the external situation doesn’t always change immediately. You may still have busy days, difficult cases, or high expectations. But the intensity of your emotional and physiological reaction to those stressors can become more manageable and less overwhelming.

[25:18]
This is where subconscious reprogramming work becomes powerful. Instead of only managing surface-level coping strategies, we look at where certain stress reactions originally developed and update the emotional response tied to those experiences. When that emotional charge decreases, the same situations don’t trigger the same level of stress.

[28:56]
Over time, this creates a different default response. Rather than automatically spiraling into urgency or self-criticism, your brain begins to recognize pressure as something it can handle. This doesn’t remove responsibility or effort, but it changes the internal experience of carrying that responsibility.

[32:30]
Small shifts in how you interpret pressure can have a large impact. For example, recognizing that a busy schedule is demanding but not dangerous can reduce the threat response in the body. That alone can decrease tension, improve decision-making, and reduce emotional exhaustion throughout the day.

[35:55]
Ultimately, the goal isn’t to eliminate all stress. Stress is a normal part of high-responsibility work like veterinary medicine. The goal is to reduce unnecessary suffering by changing how your brain automatically reacts when stress shows up.

[39:20]
As you practice shifting your response, you may notice moments where you still feel overwhelmed. That doesn’t mean it isn’t working. It means you’re interrupting long-standing patterns, and that takes repetition and reinforcement over time.

[42:45]
If you’ve been feeling constantly overwhelmed at work, consider that the solution might not only be external changes. It may also involve updating the internal patterns that shape how you experience pressure in the first place.

[46:10]
Reducing stress at work doesn’t always require drastic career changes. Sometimes it starts with learning how your brain responds under pressure and gradually teaching it a new, less reactive way to interpret those same situations.