Life Beyond Clinical Practice | Career Clarity, Non-Clinical Careers for Health Professionals, Leaving Clinical Practice, Career Pivot, Purpose after Burnout, Career Reinvention for Clinicians

133 | Giving yourself permission to want more out of your career as a healthcare professional

In this episode of Life Beyond Clinical Practice, Dr. Diane Van Staden explores the theme of wanting more in life and career after experiencing grief. She emphasizes that desiring more is not a flaw but a natural response to acknowledging what no longer serves us. The conversation encourages listeners to reframe their understanding of desire, allowing for imagination and exploration of what truly energizes them, while also recognizing the importance of gratitude in the process of wanting more.

 

Takeaways

- Wanting more is not a character flaw.
- Desire is simply information about your inner world.
- Gratitude doesn't require you to stay small.
- You can appreciate your past while seeking change.
- Imagination is a rehearsal for alignment.
- Allow yourself to desire without guilt.
- Career grief opens space for new possibilities.
- Longing for more is rooted in maturity.
- Desire can lead to more truth and alignment.
- Reflect on what energizes you in your work.

 

Join the Pivot Crash Course and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT:

Follow our LinkedIn page:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-beyond-clinical-practice/    

Book a Clarity Call with Dr Diane https://calendly.com/lbcp/strategy-call    

Join the Movement on Instagram: @lifebeyondclinicalpractice 

Rate and Review the show on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-beyond-clinical-practice-healthcare-careers-professional/id1713086617  

132 | When you're no longer Passionate about your work: Understanding Career Discontent and what to do next

In this episode of Life Beyond Clinical Practice, Dr. Diane Van Staden explores the theme of career grief, particularly focusing on the emotional turmoil that arises when one's professional life no longer aligns with personal identity and fulfillment. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging this grief, understanding its implications, and allowing oneself to reflect on the changes in one's career path. The episode encourages listeners to embrace their feelings and recognize that caring about their future is a vital part of the awakening process.

Takeaways

This episode is part of a sequential series intended for deep reflection.
Career grief is a quiet loss that many health professionals experience.
Grieving a career while still in it is a real and valid experience.
Grief is about identity and belonging, not just the work itself.
Ignoring grief can lead to fatigue and disengagement.
Acknowledging grief can lead to clarity and self-respect.
You can hold both gratitude for the past and grief for the present.
Grief does not require immediate decisions, just acknowledgment.
Reflection on what you are grieving can lead to personal insights.
Caring about your future is essential for personal awakening.

 

TAKE ACTION:

Download the Awakening Series Reflection worksheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RQ3mwub3WhH1Qy34unIWxLaMCazLjwoPCQNJHIfxMg/edit?usp=sharing

Sign up for the Pivot Crash Course 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page  

 

 

131 | The Cost of Staying: When income becomes the reason you resist change and stay misaligned

What if the greatest cost in your career isn’t leaving… but staying?

We talk often about the risks of walking away — from income, identity, and security.
But far less about the quieter, cumulative cost of remaining in work you’ve already outgrown.

In this episode of the Awakening Series, Dr Diane explores the rarely named truth behind professional comfort: why stability is often mistaken for wisdom, how the paycheck becomes the final justification, and what slowly erodes when misalignment is tolerated for too long.

This is not an episode about impulsive change or dramatic exits.
It’s an invitation to honesty - before numbness becomes normal.

🖋 Reflection Prompt

If you continue exactly as you are for the next five years…
what is the quiet cost?

Not financially.
Internally.

What might you be trading for comfort? 

🌿 Gentle Invitation

If this episode is stirring questions about what you’re really staying for, a quiet reflection companion has been created to help you explore this — without rushing into answers.

You’ll find it linked below.

Download the Reflection Worksheet here https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RQ3mwub3WhH1Qy34unIWxLaMCazLjwoPCQNJHIfxMg/edit?usp=sharing 

 

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

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Join Dr. Diane van Staden as she guides you through the reinvention journey - one honest conversation at a time.

130 | The metrics that no longer matter - choosing to measure success by your own standards

In this third episode of The Awakening Series, Dr. Diane van Staden invites clinicians and high-achieving professionals to question the standards by which they define success.

This episode explores a quiet but powerful realization many experience mid-career: the metrics that once motivated and validated you may no longer reflect who you’ve become.

If you’ve followed the rules, achieved the titles, and built a stable career-yet feel a growing sense of misalignment - this conversation offers clarity, permission, and a new lens for evaluating success as you prepare to reinvent your career in 2026.

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

Key Themes & Takeaways

• Why traditional success metrics (titles, credentials, income, stability) eventually lose their meaning

• The difference between progress and expansion

• How external validation can mask internal dissatisfaction

• The shift from achievement-driven motivation to meaning-driven fulfillment

• Why feeling misaligned is not ingratitude—but maturation

• How outdated scoreboards can keep you stuck in an earlier version of yourself

Reflective Questions from the Episode

• How do you know you’re doing well—beyond external measures?

• Does your current work reflect your values and strengths?

• Do your days energize you or diminish you?

• If no one else was watching, how would you define success now?

What This Episode Is Really About

This episode is an invitation to pause—not to judge your current path, but to notice whether the metrics you’re using still belong to you. True awakening isn’t about abandoning success; it’s about redefining it in a way that feels congruent, alive, and meaningful.

What’s Coming Next

In the next episode, Dr. van Staden explores “The Hidden Cost of Staying Comfortable.” You’ll unpack how comfort can quietly drain vitality, why staying can be just as costly as leaving, and how honesty becomes the first act of courage in reinvention.

This episode builds on Episodes 1 and 2 of The Awakening Series and is a pivotal step toward understanding what it truly means to reinvent your career beyond clinical practice.

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Join Dr. Diane van Staden as she guides you through the reinvention journey—one honest conversation at a time.

 

 

129 | Why ignoring the signals that are calling you higher fuels burnout

In Episode 2 of this Awakening series, we touch on a powerful reframe:

“What If You’re Not Broken - You’re Just Out of Alignment?”

In this episode, Dr. Diane Van Staden explores the concept of Quiet Burnout and the feelings of misalignment that many clinicians experience.

She emphasizes that exhaustion may not indicate a personal flaw but rather a signal that one's work no longer aligns with their evolving values and identity.

The episode encourages self-reflection and compassion as a means to navigate these feelings and find clarity in one's professional journey.

Many clinicians mistake exhaustion for personal failure, when it’s actually a call for change.

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

Don't miss the next episode which offers compassion, clarity, and relief - especially if you’ve been trying to fix yourself instead of questioning the environment you’re in.

 

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT:

Follow our LinkedIn page:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-beyond-clinical-practice/   

Book a Clarity Call with Dr Diane https://calendly.com/lbcp/strategy-call   

Join the Movement on Instagram: @lifebeyondclinicalpractice 

Rate and Review the show on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-beyond-clinical-practice-healthcare-careers-professional/id1713086617 

 

Enjoyed this episode? 

We think you'll enjoy this one too https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/123-are-you-sitting-on-untapped-potential-as-a/id1713086617?i=1000740184591 

 

 

128 | The Quiet Burnout: When You’re “Fine” But Unfulfilled

Episode Summary

In this opening episode of the Awakening Series, Dr Diane explores a form of burnout that often goes unnoticed—and unspoken: quiet burnout. This is the burnout that appears when you’ve outgrown your role, but continue to stay by reasoning away the internal discomfort.

This episode is for clinicians and health professionals who have known—sometimes for years—that their work no longer reflects who they’ve become, yet remain in place out of logic, obligation, fear, or responsibility.

Rather than dramatic dissatisfaction, quiet burnout shows up as a subtle misalignment between your inner evolution and your external work.

And in 2026, that misalignment can no longer be ignored.

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

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In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• What quiet burnout really is—and why it’s so common among high-achieving health professionals

• How rationality can slowly silence intuition

• The subtle signs that you’re no longer aligned with your work (even if nothing is “wrong”)

• Why ignoring intuition doesn’t remove discomfort—it compounds it

• The long-term cost of staying misaligned, including regret, numbness, and loss of self-trust

• Why fear often disguises itself as logic (“Now isn’t the right time,” “I need more clarity”)

• Gentle antidotes to fear and uncertainty—without quitting, burning bridges, or making impulsive moves

• Why 2026 represents a turning point for honoring your inner truth

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Who This Episode Is For

This episode is especially relevant if you are:

• A health professional who feels disengaged despite career stability

• Clinically successful but internally unfulfilled

• Staying in your role because it feels “responsible,” not resonant

• Over-functioning while emotionally under-nourished

• Questioning whether dissatisfaction means failure—or something deeper

If you’ve been telling yourself “I should be grateful” while quietly feeling restless or disconnected, this conversation is for you.

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Key Themes Explored

Quiet Burnout vs. Traditional Burnout
This episode reframes burnout not as weakness or lack of resilience, but as a signal of growth. Quiet burnout doesn’t mean you can’t cope—it means your work no longer fits who you are becoming.

Misalignment as a Signal, Not a Flaw
Feeling unfulfilled doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It often means your values, strengths, and aspirations have evolved beyond your current environment.

The Cost of Ignoring Intuition
When intuition is repeatedly overridden, professionals don’t lose skill—they lose trust in themselves. This episode explores how self-doubt is often the real consequence of staying misaligned.

Fear Disguised as Logic
Many professionals stay stuck not because they lack courage, but because fear sounds sensible. This episode unpacks common fear-based narratives that delay change.

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A Reflection Question to Sit With

If nothing had to change immediately—and fear wasn’t running the conversation—what is your intuition quietly asking for?

You don’t need to answer this today.
But you do need to stop ignoring it

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What’s Coming Next in the Awakening Series

In Episode 2, we explore a powerful reframe:

“What If You’re Not Broken—You’re Just Out of Alignment?”

Many clinicians mistake exhaustion for personal failure, when it’s actually a call for change. The next episode offers compassion, clarity, and relief—especially if you’ve been trying to fix yourself instead of questioning the environment you’re in.

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Final Note from Dr Diane

Quiet burnout isn’t a failure of resilience.
It’s a signal of growth.

And growth always asks to be acknowledged.

If this episode resonated, consider following the podcast or sharing it with a colleague who might be quietly carrying the same questions.

You’re not behind.
You’re awakening.

127 | Reinventing Your Career in 2026

In this episode, Dr. Diane introduces the theme of 2026 as the year of Reinvention in Motion for clinicians.

She emphasizes the importance of community, clarity, and courage in pursuing career growth and transformation.

The conversation outlines various programs and initiatives for this year, including the Career Clarity Diagnostic Toolkit, Accelerator and the Pivot Crash Course, designed to support clinicians in their journey of career pivoting and personal development, encouraging active participation and collaboration within the community.

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

Want to learn more?

Visit the Website at www.lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com 

Follow on LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-beyond-clinical-practice/  or on Instagram @lifebeyondclinicalpractice 

Follow Dr Diane on Instagram @drdianevanstaden 

 

 

 

 

126 | Celebrating the growth of Life Beyond Clinical Practice and what's to come in 2026

In this special end-of-year reflection episode, Dr. Diane Van Staden reviews the significant milestones of 2025 for Life Beyond Clinical Practice, celebrating the growth of the community and the evolution of the brand.

She emphasizes the importance of collective transformation and outlines the vision for 2026, focusing on expansion and deeper engagement with the audience.

Join the Pivot Crash Course in 2026 and start building your career with clarity and confidence 👉 https://lifebeyondclinicalpractice.com/main-order-page 

 

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT:

Follow Us on Instagram: @lifebeyondclinicalpractice

Follow LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-beyond-clinical-practice/ 

Rate and Review the show on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-beyond-clinical-practice-healthcare-careers-professional/id1713086617

Subscribe to the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@LifeBeyondClinicalPractice