Panic attacks and mantras

Panic attacks and mantras.

Anyone who has transitioned out of traditional W2 work understands the anxiety that I've felt for the last two years.

As a healthcare leader, my paycheck arrived every two weeks--at a predictable time and with a predictable amount.

Now that I speak, write, and coach fulltime, nothing is predictable about the pay.

Like many people, especially men my age, I tend to tie my worth to my income.

That has been problematic for me in this season. You see, my income varies widely from month to month.

Have I experienced months when I didn't earn anything at all?
Yes.

Have I had months when I earned 3-4x what I earned as a healthcare leader?
Also, yes.

The wild swings are like a financial roller coaster.

Not long ago, my brain started catastrophizing our finances. It was a low month, which followed another low month.

My inner dialogue became progressively more dark.

"You're never going to make it."
"You're ruining your family's financial situation."
"You don't have what it takes to run a business."

One Friday morning, my brain was abusing my heart.

I felt a familiar panic start to rise.

When I am feeling fearful about money, everything is triggering.

The darkness closed in.
I had to leave the house.
Some fresh air and a coffeeshop helped abate the overwhelm, but only temporarily.

Back at home, I dove into our finances, calculating just "how bad" things could become. The picture wasn't rosy.

On Sunday, I decided to journal and deep dive again. Not into our finances. But into my own brain and emotions around money.

What was my brain telling me on Friday?
It was saying--"You are going to financially bankrupt your family."

So, I decided to test the veracity of that claim.
I did some math on what it would take for us to actually go bankrupt.

I assumed worst case scenarios for the coming years, since that's what my brain wants to adhere to when I am the darkness.

When I was done, the math told me that we'd have to experience at least four years of "worst-case-scenario" finances to even approach bankruptcy.

Huh.

It was time to take my own medicine.

I encourage burned out people to develop mantras about their stress.
The ones that have worked for me in the past were:
"Things can change at any time." and
"It's not my job to save the world."

But in this new season, I need new mantras.

So, here they are.

1. I am living my dream
For years, I dreamt about speaking and writing full time. Now, that's exactly what I am doing.

2. I can help.
Burnout is an epidemic that is hurting so many people and organizations. I can help with that.

3. Bankruptcy is at least four years away.
This mantra, which is a little tongue-in-cheek, acknowledges the ups and downs. But it reminds me that I can't ruin my family's life TODAY.

What mantras are carrying you through your dark times?

When ACA Health Insurance Premiums Rise, Moral Distress Rises Too

Yesterday, we paid our January premium for our ACA health insurance plan.

It was more than four times our December premium.

At the same time, we now have one fewer eligible family member on the plan—and higher out-of-pocket costs.

Less insurance.
At four times the price.

After more than a decade on my employer’s health plan, my wife and I knew that the transition from W-2 employment to running our own business would come with a learning curve. We expected complexity. We expected paperwork.

What we didn’t expect was how quickly health insurance costs would climb to a level that made me seriously wonder:

Would we actually be better off with no insurance at all? Just going fully self-pay?

That question alone should give us pause.

Still, I don’t want to spend my time simply bemoaning my own increased costs—or even the skyrocketing health insurance premiums facing millions of Americans right now. I don’t want to pin this on one political party or another.

And I don’t even want to repeat the well-worn (and true) statement that the United States is the only high-income country where people routinely fear financial collapse when they get sick or injured.

I won’t retell the story of my teenage daughter worrying aloud about money while we were on the phone with 911 during a health crisis.

Even though all of that is real.

Why I’m Most Concerned About Healthcare Workers

The group I’m most worried about right now isn’t small business owners like me.

It’s healthcare workers.

Why?

Because healthcare professionals enter this work with a clear purpose: to provide excellent care for their patients.

But that purpose is increasingly undermined when:

• A patient says, “I can’t afford that test. I’ll have to pay for it all out of pocket.”

• A cancer patient has to stop working and can’t find an affordable option for immediate health coverage.

• Someone delays care altogether, terrified of the ambulance bill or the emergency room charge.

In moments like these, delivering excellent care can feel nearly impossible.

This is where moral distress takes hold.

One of the most powerful antidotes to healthcare worker burnout is the belief that your work is making a difference. That your effort matters. That the system allows you to help.

Rising healthcare and insurance costs are steadily pushing that antidote out of reach.

The hearts of healthcare providers are breaking—not because they don’t care, but because they care deeply and can see what’s coming. They know that people who need coverage will lose it. They know patients will delay care. They know outcomes will suffer.

And they’re being asked to carry that weight every day.

P.S. Thanks to Dan Sherman for a recent session that helped illuminate just how significant this coming increase in moral distress may be.

The Burnout Hub Is Live — And It’s Built for People Who Are Burned Out

For the last two years, I’ve been building something I wished existed during the hardest season of my career: a place where people could learn about burnout, recover from it, prevent it, and feel supported—not judged, rushed, or overwhelmed.

Today, that project finally has a home and a name:

👉 The Burnout Hub.

The Burnout Hub is an online learning platform designed to help individuals and organizations prevent and recover from occupational burnout. It combines accredited continuing education (CE), practical training, real-world support, and bite-sized content leaders can use right away.

Whether you're a frontline nurse, a healthcare executive, an educator, a social worker, or someone quietly struggling behind the scenes, The Burnout Hub exists for one simple reason:

Burnout should not be the standard operating condition of modern work.

Why I Built The Burnout Hub

Burnout isn’t a personal failure—it’s an occupational hazard.

Over time, I heard the same themes in coaching conversations, keynote events, and leadership consultations:

• “I’m exhausted, but I can’t slow down.”

• “I care deeply, but I’m running on fumes.”

• “I want to make a difference, but I’m drowning.”

• “I don’t want to quit… but I can’t keep going like this.”

Burnout affects individual well-being, yes—but it also impacts:

• Patient care

• Team culture

• Retention and turnover

• Leadership stability

• Morale

• Safety

• Innovation

• And the ability to do work that matters

And yet, resources were scattered, overly academic, too expensive, too shallow… or simply not actionable.

So I built something different.

What’s Inside The Burnout Hub

The platform includes five key learning paths—each one designed to meet people where they are:

✔️ The Personal Recovery Kickstart

For individuals beginning the recovery process and needing a structure to follow.

✔️ Fix for Work Fixation

Tools to interrupt the constant mental loop of work stress and intrusive job-related thoughts.

✔️ Exit Ramp

For those quietly considering a job change and wanting to plan wisely—not impulsively.

✔️ Leadership Essentials

52 Short weekly leadership lessons on burnout prevention and psychological safety.

✔️ The Download Hub

Over 25 practical, evidence-based worksheets, tools, scripts, and resources—ready to use immediately.

Every course is CE-approved. That means learners can work toward professional renewal while working toward personal renewal.

Who The Burnout Hub Is For

The platform is built to serve:

• Individuals who want tools to recover or prevent burnout

• Hospitals and health systems offering education and professional development

• Leaders looking to create a healthier team culture

• Organizations facing retention issues, compassion fatigue, and turnover

• Professionals with continuing education requirements

Burnout isn’t industry-exclusive—it’s everywhere. But certain professions feel the weight more intensely.

Healthcare workers. Educators. Social workers. Mental health providers. Nonprofit leaders. Executives.

People who care for others often struggle to care for themselves.

How to Explore the Platform

You can now visit the site, preview the courses, explore CE information, and get access in whichever way makes the most sense for you or your team.

👉 Visit: MyBurnoutHub.com

A Personal Note

Building this platform wasn’t just a technical project—it was personal.
Burnout almost cost me my health, my confidence, and my ability to do meaningful work.

If you’re reading this and feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, discouraged, or stuck—please hear this:

You are not alone. You are not failing. And recovery is possible.

The Burnout Hub exists because burnout is real, but so is resilience.

Welcome to the beginning of something better.

Enroll in course at The Burnout Hub today.

Enjoy!

Enjoy vs. Consume.

I am drinking a cup of coffee. Am I enjoying it? Or simply consuming it?

How many times have I have finished a drink, a meal, a conversation, or an entire day...

Only to realize I can barely remember a single sip, bite, or moment?

Slow my pace.
Quiet my mind.
Appreciate this moment.
Enjoy with all my heart.

These four phrases have instructed me (with varying success) for more than a decade.

Why?

Because I naturally do the opposite.

Left unchecked, I will:

Hurry my pace.
Busy my mind.
Consume my time.
Resent my life.

Because of this framework, I have come to believe that the primary indicator of my own mental health is--am I enjoying?

Or am I simply consuming?

When I am on stage for a keynote--am I enjoying? Or simply trying to be polished?

When I am with my wife--am I savoring our love and conversation? Or is my mind busy with other thoughts?

When I am writing--am I engaging deeply with the words, or simply trying to finish the email or post?

For many years, as an evangelical pastor and bible scholar, I focused on spiritual disciplines--and right living.

Then, Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" revealed that the goal of being disciplined and responsible is... wait for it... JOY.

As an Enneagram One, I naturally overemphasize responsibility and doing the right thing.

On my good days, though.
I enjoy.
I play.
I savor.
I practice the lessons that my friend, Dr. Dave Johnson, has taught me about being mindful.

Consuming and an overemphasis on responsibility drive me to obsession and fear.

Enjoyment and play drive me to... well, actually loving life and not being such a tool.

Not everything can be enjoyed, of course.
But what if our life's litmus test was our response to this question:
"What have I enjoyed today?"

9 Real-World Ways Leaders Reduce Moral Distress (Without Adding to the Budget)

Most leaders care about their teams. They just don’t always know how to help when the problem isn’t workload, but moral distress.

Moral distress happens when people know what the right thing is, but can’t do it because of staffing shortages, policy, paperwork, or pressure to move faster. It’s common in healthcare, social services, education…and anywhere that humans care for other humans.

You don’t need a bigger budget to make things better. You need clarity, conversation, and a culture where it’s safe to tell the truth about what’s not working.

Here are practical, real-world ways leaders are reducing moral distress on their teams right now.

1. Hold “Say the Quiet Part Out Loud” Moments

Near the start of meetings, ask one question:
“What is everyone thinking, but not saying?”

If your team trusts you, you’ll learn more in 60 seconds than an anonymous survey will ever tell you. If it’s silent—you’ve got deeper problems.

2. Repeat the “Why”

Sometimes at work we are so focused on what we can forget about why. Leaders need to repeat the reasons why certain tasks are important. This connects daily actions to the mission of the organization and fuels a sense of meaning and purpose.

It also helps new staff understand how you make choices.

3. Protect Time for Real Work

Block off one uninterrupted hour every week and label it “clinical judgment,” “planning,” or “deep work.”

When leaders defend that time, it signals that thinking and care are just as valuable as productivity.

4. Create a Clear Escalation Path

People experience moral distress when they don't know how to speak up about unsafe or unethical situations.

Make it clear: Who do we tell? In what order? How quickly is it addressed? If someone speaks up, what happens next? Document it and repeat it often.

By default, coworkers are afraid to blow the whistle. Leaders have to make it easy—and safe.

5. Ask Better Check-In Questions

Skip “How’s everybody doing?” Instead try:

• What is getting in the way of doing your job the way it should be done?

• What is one thing making work harder than it needs to be?

• What’s a decision we’re avoiding?

These questions get honest answers faster.

6. Give Permission to Pause

In healthcare, education, and other high-stakes environments, people often push through distress to “get the job done.” Create a script like:
“If you need a minute, take it. I’ll cover you.”

This tiny act of teamwork can prevent burnout, mistakes, and regret.

7. Rotate “Emotional Load” Roles

Some staff always end up comforting families, calming angry patients, or supporting coworkers after trauma.

Rotating these roles—or giving those individuals recovery time—acknowledges the emotional cost of the work.

We must leave the culture of “suck it up” and “soldier on” in the past.

8. Close the Loop

If someone reports a concern, follow up. Even if all you can say is, “We’re working on it,” or “Here’s why it can’t change right now.”

Silence is what causes people to shut down. Even imperfect answers build trust.

9. Share the “Why” Behind the Mission Again

Burnout disconnects people from meaning. Moral distress disconnects them from purpose.

Remind teams not just what they do, but why it matters. Be specific. Tell a story. It works.

Want to Go Deeper?

These are topics I teach in leadership workshops, especially for healthcare and human service organizations. If your team needs practical tools and a shared language around burnout and moral distress, you can check my speaking availability here:

https://patrickriecke.com/live-presentations

Or explore ongoing videos, resources, and discussion guides inside The Burnout Hub:

https://www.myburnouthub.com/learn-more