The Anxious Achiever

Can loving your work make burnout more likely? In this episode, I sit down with Harvard Business School professor Jon Jachimowicz to talk about the downside of passion at work. Jon shares why passion isn't something you either have or don't have, but something that rises and falls over time. We also talk about why passionate employees often overwork, skip recovery, and become vulnerable to burnout, how organizations unintentionally exploit passion, and why leaders need a better strategy for helping people sustain meaningful work over the long term. Tune in to rethink what it really means to follow your passion without sacrificing your well-being.

Check out our sponsors:

Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever

Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year

Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order

Whatnot - Get free shipping on your first order. Just search W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the app store and start scoring amazing deals

Pebl - Take advantage of Pebl’s limited-time offer before it’s gone. Visit hipebl.ai today.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why following your passion isn't always the path to sustainable success.

04:00 How Jon's own loss of passion inspired his research.

09:00 Why passion can become one of the biggest drivers of burnout.

12:15 How passionate employees unknowingly skip recovery and overextend themselves.

15:00 Why do client and societal expectations trap high achievers into overperforming?

17:00 How do workplaces systematically confuse extroversion with passion?

23:15 Why performing passion can become emotionally exhausting.

27:15 How managers should lead passionate employees differently.

31:00 Why organizations often exploit passionate workers without realizing it.

35:15 Why current promotional career paths are broken for passionate workers.

39:15 How can companies help employees sustain passion?

43:45 The 3 different types of burnout and why they need different solutions.

45:30 Ways to recover when burnout comes from a loss of self-efficacy or cynicism.

Resources + Links

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

How do you ask for what you need at work when the system still makes disability feel risky to name? In this episode, I sit down with attorney, author, and neurodiversity advocate Haley Moss to talk about the reality of being neurodivergent at work. Haley breaks down what the ADA actually protects, how reasonable accommodations work in practice, and why disclosure is still such a fraught decision for so many people. We also talk about masking, internalized ableism, the pressure to frame neurodivergence as a “superpower,” and MORE. Get ready to rethink disclosure, disability, and what real inclusion at work should actually look like.

Check out our sponsors:

Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever

Chime - Head to chime.com/achiever to sign up

Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year

Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order

Whatnot - Get free shipping on your first order. Just search W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the app store and start scoring amazing deals

Pebl - Take advantage of Pebl’s limited-time offer before it’s gone. Visit hipebl.ai today.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why talking about neurodivergence at work is still so loaded.

03:00 How Haley’s career shifted after becoming known as Florida’s first openly autistic attorney.

08:00 Why telling your own story matters more than letting other people simplify it for you.

11:30 What the ADA protects for neurodivergent employees at work.

13:30 How to understand reasonable accommodations and what counts as “essential functions” of a job.

16:30 What are the myths people still believe about workplace accommodations?

22:15 Why neurodivergent workers are often expected to do the emotional labor of culture change.

25:45 What happens when an accommodation exists on paper but not in practice?

29:30 What the “double empathy problem” shows about communication between neurotypical and neurodivergent coworkers.

35:00 What to do if you’re neurodivergent but don’t identify as disabled or don’t want to disclose formally?

39:15 What do you think about disclosing to get legal protection versus advocating informally?

41:45 How framing neurodivergence as a strength can be both empowering and strategic.

49:30 How meeting other neurodivergent people can shift your sense of identity and belonging.

50:45 Why Haley is intentionally expanding beyond autism as the center of her public identity.

53:45 How to make work feel safer for different brains and bodies.

Resources + Links

Get a copy of Haley Moss’s book, The Young Autistic Adult's Independence Handbook HERE

Learn more about Haley Moss HERE

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Haley: on LinkedIn @haleylmoss + Instagram @haley.moss

How much of yourself should work be allowed to cost you? In this episode, I sit down with author and former Deloitte partner Deepa Purushothaman to talk about what happens when ambition, bias, and chronic overwork are carried in the body. Deepa shares how a major health crisis forced her to rethink the way she worked, the way she defined success, and the ways women of color are taught to survive in workplaces that were never built for them. We talk about masking, hypervigilance, power, and why so many women can appear successful on paper yet feel depleted, silenced, and disconnected from themselves. Get ready to challenge your assumptions about power, productivity, and the stories corporate culture has taught you to believe about yourself.

Check out our sponsors:

Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever

Chime - Head to chime.com/achiever to sign up

Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year

Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order

Whatnot - Get free shipping on your first order. Just search W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the app store and start scoring amazing deals

Pebl - Take advantage of Pebl’s limited-time offer before it’s gone. Visit hipebl.ai today.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What happens when workplace stress gets carried in the body?

04:45 Why high achievers often learn to ignore their bodies.

08:45 How illness can push you to rethink your purpose and priorities.

12:00 How to recognize when your body is sending you a warning sign.

16:00 How women of color can end up in a constant state of hypervigilance.

22:15 What happens when women report racism or bias at work?

24:45 The workplace delusions many women are taught to believe in order to survive.

28:30 Why have so many women been taught to see power as something aggressive or unsafe?

31:15 What does it actually mean to “shed” the beliefs that no longer serve you?

32:30 How to identify the old messages that still drive your anxiety and self-doubt.

36:15 Why toxicity at work isn’t just a mental health issue.

37:45 How to protect yourself while still pursuing ambition and success.

39:30 How redefining success can change the way you work and live.

Resources + Links

Get a copy of Deepa Purushothaman’s book, The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America HERE

Learn more about Deepa Purushothaman HERE

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Deepa: on LinkedIn @deepapuru + Instagram @deepa.puru

How do you stay grounded when technology is changing work faster than any of us can keep up with? In this episode, I sit down with journalist and CNN contributor Jacob Ward to talk about the emotional and psychological impact of living and working alongside increasingly powerful technology. Jacob shares why he believes the bigger threat isn’t just automation, but the way these systems shape your behavior, attention, and relationships at work. We talk about loneliness, agency, management, the pressure to keep producing, and what happens when more of our thinking gets handed over to machines. Get ready to rethink productivity, management, and the value of human judgment.

Check out our sponsors:

Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever

Chime - Head to chime.com/achiever to sign up

Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year

Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order

Whatnot - Get free shipping on your first order. Just search W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the app store and start scoring amazing deals

Pebl - Take advantage of Pebl’s limited-time offer before it’s gone. Visit hipebl.ai today.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What is AI doing to your mind and mood?

04:45 Why technology is really a story about human behavior.

09:00 How “fast thinking” makes us easier to manipulate.

13:00 What an AI co-parenting tool reveals about convenience, conflict, and control.

15:15 Can technology really support mental health without replacing human care?

17:45 Why the systems built to help us often prioritize engagement instead.

20:00 What a more “human-free” workplace could mean for all of us.

26:45 The human skills at work that are most at risk of disappearing.

30:00 How to deal with the helplessness so many people feel about the future of work.

36:00 The Pope’s warning about AI, dignity, and human value.

43:30 Why trust matters so much when institutions are under pressure.

47:45 How to decide when to use AI and when to resist it.

50:00 Why the pressure to produce more can quietly trap high achievers.

54:30 How do you stay relevant without giving up your standards?

Resources + Links

Visit Jacob Ward’s website HERE

Get a copy of Jacob’s book, The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back HERE

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Jacob: on YouTube @byjacobward + Instagram @byjacobward

Can achievement become a coping mechanism? In this classic episode, I sit down with entrepreneur, investor, and former Facebook and Twitter growth leader Andy Johns to talk about the connection between childhood trauma, anxiety, achievement, and self-worth. Andy shares how growing up with instability, loss, and trauma shaped his relentless drive to succeed, why panic attacks eventually forced him to confront his mental health, and how years of healing helped him realize that achievement and self-love are not the same thing. We also dive into PTSD, entrepreneurship, intrusive thoughts, overwork, and why so many successful people struggle to slow down even after they've reached their goals. Tune in to learn why healing is the most important achievement of all.

Check out our sponsors:

Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever

Chime - Head to chime.com/achiever to sign up

Monarch - Use code ACHIEVER at monarch.com to get 50% off your first year

Physician’s Choice - Use code PCPODCAST10 at physicianschoice.com to get 10% off your entire order

Whatnot - Get free shipping on your first order. Just search W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the app store and start scoring amazing deals

Pebl - Take advantage of Pebl’s limited-time offer before it’s gone. Visit hipebl.ai today.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What’s the connection between achievement and self-worth?

05:00 What "growth" really means in the startup world.

07:15 Why entrepreneurs are more likely to struggle with mental health conditions.

08:45 How anxiety can fuel exceptional performance and success.

15:00 Why speaking publicly about mental health felt so risky.

18:30 What are intrusive thoughts?

20:30 How childhood trauma can shape adult anxiety and depression.

25:15 The childhood experiences that contributed to Andy's PTSD.

30:15 When does achievement become an addiction?

34:15 How to recognize when overachievement is masking emotional pain.

35:45 Why mental health is about more than brain chemistry.

36:45 What is the biopsychosocial model of mental health?

38:15 How your experiences shape the way you think, feel, and live.

Resources + Links

Read Andy's writing at https://andyjohns.substack.com

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Andy: on LinkedIn @andrewjohns + Substack @cluesdotlife