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Forget the myth that stress is the enemy. We dig into the physiology behind high performance and show why the real threat is chronic activation without recovery. Stress is a normal, adaptive response that helps us mobilise energy and focus when it matters. Burnout, by contrast, emerges when recovery is repeatedly postponed and the body never stands down. That distinction changes everything about how we work, lead, and care for ourselves.

We unpack what the nervous system needs to thrive: oscillation between activation and restoration. When cortisol stays elevated, sleep becomes lighter, inflammation rises, and emotional regulation falters. You might still deliver on deadlines, but decision quality drops, creativity narrows, empathy erodes, and errors multiply. This isn’t a mindset flaw—it’s physiology. Modern workplaces that reward speed, availability, and constant responsiveness often push us into chronic activation, making recovery seem optional. We turn that logic on its head: recovery is the foundation of sustainable performance.

From there, we redefine resilience as the capacity to move deliberately between stress and recovery. We translate that idea into practical steps rooted in lifestyle medicine: treat sleep as active recovery, use movement to regulate rather than punish, choose nutrition that stabilises energy, set boundaries that protect the nervous system, and build meaning and connection as biological buffers. We share simple prompts to design recovery into ordinary days, not just holidays: small, repeatable rhythms that you can actually keep.

If you’re functioning but don’t feel like yourself, this conversation offers a clear, humane path forward. Subscribe for future episodes, share this with someone who needs a reset, and leave a review to tell us where you’ll build recovery into your day.

Thank you for listening to The Long View with Dr Sunil Kumar.

If this episode resonated, take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with someone who might benefit from a longer perspective.

New episodes are released regularly.
Until next time, take the long view.

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New Year hype meets real-life biology, and the sparks don’t last. We pull back the curtain on why motivation fades so quickly and show how to build habits that survive stress, poor sleep, and messy schedules. Instead of blaming yourself for slipping after a strong start, learn the neuroscience that explains why your brain defaults to comfort and immediate relief when the day runs hot.

We unpack the habit loop trigger, action, reward—and explain why the habit you hate is often your brain’s best available solution to an unmet need. That insight changes everything: remove a habit without keeping the reward and the brain resists; redesign the reward and behaviour shifts with less friction. From there, we contrast goals with systems and demonstrate how environment, energy, and stress load quietly decide what actually happens on your hardest days. If the unhealthy option is easier, your brain will choose it. So we make the healthy path easy by default.

You’ll hear practical, science-backed tools for 2026: identity before intensity; environment design that puts trainers in sight and phones out of bedrooms; starting smaller than feels sensible so consistency compounds; and regulating sleep, stress, movement, nutrition, and connection before chasing optimisation. We round it out with better questions—What system am I operating in? What is this habit trying to help me with? What one small change makes the right choice easier?—so you can build routines that last.

Ready to trade white-knuckle willpower for a smarter system? Listen now, subscribe for the long view on behaviour change, and share this episode with someone who needs a gentler, more effective path. If it helped, leave a quick review and tell us the one small change you’ll make today.

Thank you for listening to The Long View with Dr Sunil Kumar.

If this episode resonated, take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with someone who might benefit from a longer perspective.

New episodes are released regularly.
Until next time — take the long view.

Send us a text

New year, new you is a catchy slogan that rarely survives real life. We open the door to a calmer, sturdier approach: choose direction over resolutions and build systems that fit the week you actually live. Drawing on years of lifestyle medicine and coaching, we unpack why change so often collapses under stress, deadlines, illness, and family demands—and how small, well-chosen shifts compound when they align with your environment.

We talk through the pillars of sustainable health: movement you can maintain, nutrition that nourishes, sleep you protect, stress you regulate, and relationships that buffer the load. Then we widen the lens to work. Burnout doesn’t stem from weak willpower; it stems from misaligned systems that push output and starve recovery while tying identity to performance. By asking how you want to feel about your work ten years from now, you start designing rhythms, boundaries, and recovery that support long-term creativity and excellence.

You’ll leave with three fast prompts that create immediate clarity without pressure: identify one unsustainable “success,” pick one small shift that makes life easier to live, and picture five years of the status quo to test your trajectory. We also share what’s ahead for The Long View—solo reflections and grounded conversations on health, work, burnout, leadership, identity, and modern life—always focused on perspective over hype. If the annual sprint has left you tired and second-guessing, this is your invitation to a truer direction and patterns kind enough to repeat.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a gentler start, and leave a review with the one small shift you’re choosing today.

Thank you for listening to The Long View with Dr Sunil Kumar.

If this episode resonated, take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with someone who might benefit from a longer perspective.

New episodes are released regularly.
Until next time — take the long view.