The Anxious Achiever

We’ve never talked more about mental health at work and yet, burnout is rising, disengagement is everywhere, and leaders still feel stuck. In this episode, I’m joined by strategy coach and former PwC partner David Lancefield to talk about why the current approach isn’t working and what actually creates change. David shares why “mental health” has a bad brand in corporate life, how leaders can engage even the most skeptical executives, and why the real leverage point isn’t awareness campaigns, but better questions. We also dive into why small pilots beat big programs, and how leaders can design environments where people do their best work. Tune in to know what it means to treat mental health as a business solution.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

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

Cozy Earth - Give your home the luxury it deserves. Head to http://cozyearth.com and use code ACHIEVER for up to 20% off.

Express VPN - Secure your online data today. Visit http://expressvpn.com/achiever and find out how you can get up to four extra months.

Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.

Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://genius.com

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why the mental health conversation at work isn’t working.

07:00 The fear and freedom of leaving a prestigious role.

13:15 The mistake we make when trying to persuade leaders.

17:45 Why business results are the bridge to mental health.

21:15 How to reframe burnout as a performance problem.

25:00 Why storytelling can backfire without resolution.

30:45 What leaders should leave people feeling after sharing.

34:45 ​​The “motherhood penalty” and its parallels at work.

39:00 2 questions every leader should ask.

43:00 How do you move from drifting to designing your life?

47:00 3 questions that reset your day.

49:00 How do you help people shape roles around their strengths?

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

Follow David: on LinkedIn @davidclancefield

For so many high-achievers, food becomes the one thing we can control when everything else feels uncertain. In this episode, I’m joined by Melissa Gerson, founder of the Columbus Park Treatment Center for Eating Disorders, to talk about the relationship between anxiety, perfectionism, and the way we eat. We dive into why disordered eating serves a purpose, how restriction and overeating can both feel like relief, and what happens in your brain when anxiety and food become entangled. Tune in to rethink your relationship with food, anxiety, and control.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

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

Cozy Earth - Give your home the luxury it deserves. Head to http://cozyearth.com and use code ACHIEVER for up to 20% off.

Express VPN - Secure your online data today. Visit http://expressvpn.com/achiever and find out how you can get up to four extra months.

Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.

Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://genius.com

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What’s the relationship between anxiety and eating disorders?

02:00 How disordered eating creates a sense of control and safety.

05:30 What starvation does to the brain.

09:15 Why anxious people often turn to rigid food control.

11:30 The unspoken rules about eating at work (especially for women).

17:00 The perfectionist profile behind many eating disorders.

19:45 Signs your relationship with food may need support.

22:00 The gold-standard treatment for eating disorders.

23:15 When exercise becomes another form of control.

25:15 What leaders can do to build a food-safe workplace.

28:00 Why high achievers self-medicate with food, alcohol, and control.

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

Follow Melissa: on LinkedIn @melissagerson

Work becomes the place where we pour everything we can’t face elsewhere. In this episode, I’m joined by Jane Chen, founder of Embrace, to talk about burnout, identity, and what happens when your worth becomes tied to what you produce. Jane shares how building a world-changing company nearly broke her, why healing can become another form of overachievement, and how childhood trauma shapes your drive to succeed. Tune in to rethink ambition, resilience, and what it really means to choose yourself.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

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

Cozy Earth - Give your home the luxury it deserves. Head to http://cozyearth.com and use code ACHIEVER for up to 20% off.

Express VPN - Secure your online data today. Visit http://expressvpn.com/achiever and find out how you can get up to four extra months.

Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.

Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://genius.com

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What happens when your dream company starts destroying you?

03:00 Why “self-work” can become a form of escapism.

06:15 How childhood trauma fuels the need to succeed.

10:45 Why so many changemakers are driven by unresolved pain.

14:30 Why you never give yourself credit for your own resilience.

20:15 How Embrace was born in a Stanford classroom.

27:00 The country where 40% of the world’s premature babies are born.

34:30 When identity collapses with your company.

38:00 Hitting rock bottom after 10 years of overwork.

49:00 How does trauma live in your body?

52:00 How achievement becomes a way to earn love.

56:30 Why you can’t think your way out of pain.

1:00:45 What Internal Family Systems teaches about your “parts.”

1:05:00 Why achievement becomes a survival strategy.

1:13:45 Why your worth can’t live outside you.

Resources + Links

Get your copy of Jane’s book, Like a Wave We Break 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 Jane on Instagram @janemarie.chen

What do a combat pilot, a $250M entrepreneur, and a world-renowned academic have in common? ADHD. In this episode, I revisit one of my favorite conversations about how ADHD shows up in high-performing leaders who live different lives. I sit down with Nate Swan, a combat pilot who thrives in high-stress environments, Dan Bastian, co-founder of Boom Chicka Pop, and Johan Wiklund, a professor who studies ADHD in entrepreneurship. We talk about hyperfocus, impulsivity, anxiety, late diagnosis, leadership, and the unexpected ways ADHD can become a competitive advantage. Get ready to learn how the very traits often labeled as “disorders” can fuel success, creativity, and resilience.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

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

Cozy Earth - Give your home the luxury it deserves. Head to cozyearth.com and use code ACHIEVER for up to 20% off.

Express VPN - Secure your online data today. Visit expressvpn.com/achiever and find out how you can get up to four extra months.

Talkiatry - Head to talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.

Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working genius.com

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 3 high achievers with ADHD live completely different lives.

03:15 Why chaotic environments calm the ADHD brain.

04:45 How anxiety and ADHD overlap.

05:30 What happens when ADHD goes undiagnosed in adulthood?

06:30 The career risks of ADHD medication for military pilots.

09:00 Leadership lessons from managing neurodiverse teams.

11:30 How the military is shifting its mental health culture.

18:00 The anxiety that never fully goes away.

20:30 Is ADHD good or bad?

25:30 The types of work that suit ADHD brains.

34:30 Designing work around energy cycles.

37:30 How to use ADHD and anxiety as motivators.

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

What if the very differences you’ve been trying to smooth out are actually your greatest leadership strengths? In this episode, I’m joined by renowned leadership coaches and Fixable hosts Frances Frei and Anne Morriss for a conversation about anxiety, being a neurodivergent leader, and what it really takes to lead well. We talk about how partnership at work and in life has taught them to communicate clearly, embrace conflict, and build teams that thrive because of difference. I ask Frances and Anne some listener questions, from micromanaging bosses to burnout, imposter syndrome, and the fear of being “known for DEI.” Tune in to discover how setting boundaries and rewriting your inner narrative transform the way you lead and feel in life and at work.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

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

Cozy Earth - Give your home the luxury it deserves. Head to http://cozyearth.com and use code ACHIEVER for up to 20% off.

Express VPN - Secure your online data today. Visit http://expressvpn.com/achiever and find out how you can get up to four extra months.

Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.

Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://genius.com

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Meet Frances Frei & Anne Morriss.

06:00 What partners with different wiring teach each other.

12:45 How conflict actually drives high performance.

16:45 How being neurodivergent has shaped Frances’s leadership at Harvard.

20:00 The power of devotion and high standards.

23:45 What are the three elements of trust?

27:45 How listening can change a broken dynamic.

31:30 Why inconsistent boundaries are the same as no boundaries.

39:15 Is it risky to be known for DEI right now?

42:15 How to make inclusion feel expansive, not exclusive.

50:15 Why you’re not the best judge of your own excellence.

51:00 Protecting your life force as a leader.

Resources + Links

Download the Anxious Achiever App HERE

Listen to Fixable with Frances Frei & Anne Morriss HERE

Learn more about Frances Frei & Anne Morriss HERE

Get your copy of Unleashed by Frances Frei & Anne Morriss

Get your copy of Move Fast & Fix Things by Frances Frei & Anne Morriss

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 Frances: on LinkedIn @francesfrei + Instagram @francesxfrei

Follow Anne: on LinkedIn @annemorriss + Instagram @annemorriss