Burnout Solutions

Mona Tippets, RN, Certified Life Coach
  • 5.0 (7)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

This podcast is all about understanding why your brain and nervous system get stressed and how to rewire to recover from feeling burned out and overwhelmed. I help healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, veterinarians with burnout. I am a Certified Life Coach and help clinics and hospitals with staff workshops to teach emotional resiliency skills and how to resolve stress and burnout. I also work with clients one on one.

  1. 2D AGO

    E54: Habits Help if They are Anchored in Regulation

    Habits Help if They are Anchored in Regulation Mona speaks to caregivers and high achievers—healthcare workers, teachers, and parents—who are great at showing up for others but often struggle to care for themselves because their systems are overloaded. She explains how constant decision-making drains the prefrontal cortex, adds stress to the nervous system, and can lead to procrastination, avoidance, and a freeze response that feels like lack of motivation. Instead of more willpower or control, Mona introduces cognitive scaffolding: external structures and predictive patterns that reduce decisions, create predictability, and help the nervous system feel safe and regulated. She shares examples like church routines, nightly family prayers, morning workouts, evening walks, menu planning, and finishing charting at work, highlighting how habits can lower mental load, reduce internal negotiation, and support consistency without perfectionism. 00:00 Caregivers Neglect Themselves 01:08 Identity of the High Achiever 02:24 Messy Closet Wake Up Call 04:09 Fewer Decisions Not Discipline 05:41 Decision Fatigue and Stress 07:36 Cognitive Scaffolding Explained 10:27 Predictive Patterns in Real Life 13:28 Dinner Planning and Work Boundaries 17:14 Freeze Response and Indecision Loop 20:16 Why Habits Calm the Nervous System 23:00 Wrap Up and Next Steps To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    26 min

  2. APR 6

    E53: The Sneaky Habits that Sabotage Your Goals

    The Sneaky Habits that Sabotage Your Goals This episode explores why high achievers struggle to change long-standing behaviors and argues that inconsistency isn’t a discipline or motivation problem, but begins “seconds earlier” in subtle, believable thoughts and nervous system states that predecide actions. Using examples like hitting snooze, skipping workouts, and overeating, it explains how neuroplasticity reinforces familiar mental “roads” and how the brain’s motivational triad (seek pleasure, avoid pain, conserve energy) prioritizes short-term relief over long-term goals. It connects hyperarousal fight-or-flight in healthcare shifts to exaggerated thinking, lost perspective, reactivity, and contagious stress that drives a full-day cascade of poor choices. Common predictive patterns include perfectionism and procrastination/delay. Tools offered include noticing nervous system state, interrupting belief in thoughts earlier, zooming out to the known outcome of the pattern, and working with a coach for incremental, personalized change. 00:00 Stuck In The Cycle 01:15 Consistency Beyond Control 03:05 Moment Before The Moment 06:53 Predictive Patterns Explained 07:53 Motivational Triad Trap 11:39 Nervous System In Charge 13:03 Healthcare Shift Spiral 17:33 Perfectionism Procrastination Delay 22:41 Tools To Interrupt Patterns 25:36 Coaching And Closing Takeaways To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    29 min

  3. APR 4

    Easter- The Message of Hope for Our Humaness

    Easter- The Message of Hope for Our Humaness This is a special episode where Mona explains her beliefs and what she has learned about the nervous system and the human brain and how it has brought her more compassion for her mistakes and helps her forgive other people. She explains a great metaphor on why to rely on Jesus by "yoking yourself" with him to help create an intentional, joyful life. The Easter celebration is not only a historic event that actually took place but a way to celebrate how we each are saved from physical and spiritual death. You may or may not agree with these views, either way, thanks for listening with a curious perspective. To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    13 min

  4. MAR 30

    E52: Consistency or Control? A Message for High Achievers

    Consistency or Control? A Message for High Achievers The episode explores how high achievers often mistake consistency for tighter control, rigid rules, and perfect execution, which can create fear-driven pressure, black-and-white thinking, and hyperarousal that eventually leads to burnout and collapse into hypoarousal (“what’s the point?”). It contrasts compliance/control (following external rules) with true consistency as reliable, sustainable action rooted in identity and internal motivation, and argues that resilience depends on nervous system regulation and flexibility. The host shares a NICU story where a planned feeding schedule was disrupted, illustrating that flexibility is a skill, not weakness, and that consistency means responding wisely when reality doesn’t match the plan. Key ideas include planning for setbacks, distinguishing flexibility from “giving yourself a pass” by still moving toward the goal, and viewing consistency as a dial—returning and adjusting intensity rather than all-or-nothing perfection. 00:00 Why Control Fails 03:23 Control vs Consistency 04:41 Hyperarousal Consistency 07:34 NICU Flexibility Lesson 12:25 When Control Collapses 13:38 Resilience Zone Habits 15:55 Flexibility vs A Pass 17:15 Consistency Is a Dial 19:45 Where You Tighten Up 22:21 Parenting and Adaptability 24:19 Resilient Consistency Wrap To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    26 min

  5. MAR 23

    E51: Loving Yourself to Health- A Webinar Replay with April Diaz

    Loving Yourself to Health: Nervous System, Emotional Eating, and Sustainable Habits If you want to learn more about breaking emotional eating habits, get this course! For only $37 Mona shares the audio from a February community webinar with life coach April Diaz on “loving yourself to health,” focusing on emotional eating and how sustainable habits come from nervous system safety rather than self-criticism or pushing harder. She explains how habits are automatic, why food can become a learned signal of comfort and safety, and how stress states (hyperarousal, freeze, shutdown) shape thoughts, motivation, and follow-through. Using Yerkes-Dodson and polyvagal theory, Mona contrasts fear-driven control with the “zone of resilience,” where trust, connection, and gentle motivation support long-term change. She offers practical ideas like building a regulation menu, increasing awareness of cues, and making small nutrition shifts, then coaches a participant through late-night eating by exploring daytime nourishment, planning, and alternative calming routines. 00:00 Webinar and Course Intro 01:24 Meet April and Mona 03:32 Why Habits Feel Hard 08:14 Food as Safety and Connection 12:10 Hunger and Learned Patterns 14:05 Why Emotional Eating Happens 16:47 Stress Curve and Polyvagal Map 21:07 Hyper vs Hypo Arousal Thoughts 24:26 Emotional Eating as a Signal 26:04 Inner Critic and Self Judgment 29:08 Awareness Tools and New Habits 31:24 What Safety Really Means 31:55 Zone of Resilience 32:53 Food Trust Mindset 33:56 Toddler Brain Cravings 35:52 Reparenting With Needs 38:38 Regulation Menu Ideas 40:59 Gut Brain Nutrition Tweaks 43:09 Night Eating Q and A 52:15 Closing Reflections Need some help with emotional eating? Here is the full course. Only $37 To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    54 min

  6. MAR 16

    E50: Allostatic Load and Practical Ways to Lighten the Load with Brent Bartel

    Allostatic Load with Brent Bartel and Practical Ways to Lighten the Load In part two of Mona’s conversation with Brent Bartel, they move from the science of allostatic load into how it shows up in real life—and what you can actually do about it. Brent walks through common symptom clusters and measurable biomarkers (like blood pressure, resting heart rate, triglycerides, A1C/glucose, inflammation markers, cortisol rhythms, and sex hormones), along with the lived experience signs like fatigue, poor sleep, aches, gut issues, frequent illness, brain fog, emotional reactivity or numbness, isolation, and trouble returning to baseline after stress. They then focus on high-impact ways to reduce load—prioritizing sleep hygiene, moderate movement, anti-inflammatory nutrition, breathwork, vagus nerve toning (cold, heat, singing/gargling), mindfulness, nature/blue spaces, reframing, boundaries, and social connection. Mona closes by sharing how she applies a “stress budget” mindset day-to-day with flexible nutrition, adjusted exercise, nightly walks, intentional recovery micro-moments, and an emotional protocol to complete the stress cycle. 00:00 Part 2 Kickoff: What Allostatic Load Is & Why It Matters 02:02 “If Only It Were a Nectarine…”: Why Fixing Load Is Multifactorial 02:42 Measurable Biomarkers: Blood Pressure, Lipids, Glucose & A1C 04:19 Insulin Resistance & the Hidden Years Before Diagnosis 06:11 Inflammation, Cortisol Rhythms & Sex Hormones Under Stress 07:38 Lived Experience: Fatigue, Non‑Restorative Sleep & Body Pain 11:35 Brain Fog, Emotional Reactivity, Anhedonia & Shutdown States 14:54 Quick Self‑Assessment: Questions to Gauge Your Allostatic Load 16:57 When “This Is Normal” Becomes the Problem: Hope & Baby Steps 19:39 Where to Start Reducing Load: Pareto Principle & Vital Few Changes 21:49 Sleep Hygiene: The Most Catalytic Habit for Lowering Stress Load 22:23 Movement Without Overtraining: Walks, Moderate Exercise & Resilience 23:14 Breathing to Flip the Nervous System: 4-7-8, Box Breathing & Long Exhales 25:02 Vagus Nerve Toning: Cold, Heat, Singing & Gargling for Regulation 25:59 Mindfulness, Meditation & Nature/Blue Therapy: Quieting the Brain 28:39 Reframing Stress + Boundaries: Changing the Story and Learning to Say No 31:00 Relationships as a Stress Buffer: Community, Oxytocin & Pets 32:50 The Science of Awe: Wonder as an Antidote to Stress & Inflammation 34:21 Small Consistent Changes + The Goose & Golden Egg Metaphor 38:08 Where to Find Brent + Final Takeaways: Living With a ‘Stress Budget’ Reach our to Brent at bartelcoaching@gmail.com  To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    47 min

  7. MAR 9

    E49: Allostatic Load: When Your Stress Response Never Fully Shuts Off (with Brent Bartel)

    Allostatic Load: When Your Stress Response Never Fully Shuts Off (with Brent Bartel) Mona introduces Burnout Solutions guest Brent Bartel, a coach she met in person in the Phoenix/Mesa area, and explains this conversation had to be split into two parts because they talked for so long. In part one, Mona and Brent define allostasis (the body’s adaptive stabilizing process, related to homeostasis) and give practical examples like shivering when cold, sweating when hot, insulin release after sugar, cortisol rising before waking, acclimating to altitude, callus formation, and pregnancy-related changes. They clarify that allostasis itself isn’t the problem—it’s necessary for survival. They then explain allostatic load as the “wear and tear” that builds when the stress response is repeatedly activated or doesn’t shut off, using metaphors like revving an engine at high RPM for too long and a truck accumulating more and more cargo while trying to climb a hill. Mona connects this to healthcare work (like 12-hour nursing shifts moving from one stressful patient situation to the next) and highlights the key question: can your body return to baseline, or do you keep replaying stress and stay dysregulated? Brent outlines major contributors to allostatic load across categories, including mind (chronic stress, work/financial pressure, perfectionism, emotional suppression, information overload, constant multitasking, unresolved trauma; he references adverse childhood experiences and The Body Keeps the Score), relationships (loneliness and isolation, conflict and instability, insecure attachment, caregiver burden and the “sandwich generation”), environment (air pollution and exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals; he mentions the Think Dirty app), and fuel/lifestyle (ultra-processed foods, added sugar, food sensitivities, gut dysbiosis, hydration, sleep, and movement). They also discuss gut-brain connections and the idea of improving microbiome diversity, including the guideline of aiming for around 30 different plant foods per week. Mona closes with a recap tying allostatic load to why high achievers and caregivers can look fine externally while their bodies are “quietly keeping score,” and previews that part two will cover how to recognize high allostatic load in real life and what helps lower it so the body can return to baseline. 00:00 Dinner in Mesa & Why This Conversation Matters (Allostatic Load Intro) 01:56 Meet Brent Bartel: Coach, Educator, FranklinCovey Background 04:29 Allostasis vs Homeostasis: What the Body Is Constantly Doing 06:16 Everyday Allostasis Examples: Shivering, Sweating, Insulin 07:49 Allostatic Load: When Stress Responses Don’t Shut Off 10:38 Chronic Stress & Burnout: Healthcare Shifts, Recovery, Baseline 12:39 More Real-World Examples: White Coat Syndrome, Cortisol, Altitude 15:01 Big Adaptations: Bears, Calluses, Pregnancy & the ‘Biological Budget’ 18:10 The ‘Truck Going Uphill’ Metaphor: Small Stressors That Add Up 19:17 What Allostatic Load Looks Like in the Body (5 Key Buckets) 19:59 Mind Load: Chronic Stress, Perfectionism & Emotional Suppression 20:38 Cognitive Overload: Why Multitasking Backfires 21:50 Unresolved Trauma: Nervous System Rewiring + ACEs Screening 24:15 Relationship & Social Load: Loneliness, Conflict, Caregiver Burden 26:34 Environmental Toxins: Pollution, Endocrine Disruptors & “Think Dirty” 27:53 Food as Fuel: Ultra-Processed Diets, Sugar Stats & Inflammation 29:16 Gut-Brain Connection: Microbiome Diversity + 30 Plant Foods/Week 32:51 Lifestyle Load: Hydration, Sleep, Movement & Autoimmune Baseline Stress 33:52 Mid-Episode Break + Recap: Allostasis vs Load, Truck Metaphor & What’s Next Reach our to Brent at bartelcoaching@gmail.com  To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    42 min

  8. MAR 2

    E48: From Limiting Beliefs to a Regulated Life. You can do it too!

    A Regulated Life: What Real Progress Looks Like Beyond Limiting Beliefs (Part 3) Mona wraps up the limiting beliefs series by shifting from theory into what progress actually looks like when you start living with a more regulated nervous system. She explains that change isn’t linear—it’s often 1% better moments, faster recovery, and catching old patterns sooner without spiraling into self-judgment. Mona talks about how compassion and curiosity help keep you in regulation, and how there can also be grief in letting go of old “protector” parts that once helped you feel safe, belong, achieve, or avoid pain. She shares two client stories: one client who wanted to show up more authentically at home but felt fear and body-based danger cues, and another who felt panicked about being vulnerable with a coworker and learned that readiness is physiological, not just a mental decision. Mona emphasizes incremental steps, micro-moments of safety, and building trust through repetition rather than forcing big breakthroughs. She describes a regulated life as having more flexibility, a wider window of tolerance, less urgency in thoughts, a healthier relationship with productivity, more capacity for joy, and a softer inner critic. The core message: you’re not a problem to fix—meet your nervous system with safety, support, and self-trust, and limiting beliefs can naturally lose their grip over time. 00:00 Why a Regulated Life Changes Everything (Intro) 01:46 Series Recap: Limiting Beliefs as Nervous System Patterns 03:38 Progress Isn’t Linear: The “1% Better” Path to Regulation 05:51 Drop the Self-Judgment: Curiosity, Compassion, and Faster Repair 06:40 Grief & Letting Go: Thanking Your Protector Parts 07:58 Practicing a New Identity Through Micro-Moments of Safety 08:25 Client Story #1: Authenticity at Home Without the Armor 12:52 Client Story #2: Vulnerability, Readiness, and Smaller Steps 16:56 What a Regulated Life Actually Feels Like (Not Constant Calm) 21:57 The Real Goal: Self-Trust, Self-Compassion, and a New Relationship With You 24:12 Closing Reflection: Treat Yourself Like Someone Worth Feeling Safe With To to find out more about how I can help your workplace or work with me one on one, please see www.monatippets.com

    26 min
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5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

This podcast is all about understanding why your brain and nervous system get stressed and how to rewire to recover from feeling burned out and overwhelmed. I help healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, veterinarians with burnout. I am a Certified Life Coach and help clinics and hospitals with staff workshops to teach emotional resiliency skills and how to resolve stress and burnout. I also work with clients one on one.

Information

  • Creator
    Mona Tippets, RN, Certified Life Coach
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mona Tippets Coaching All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Burnout Solutions

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