> I'm am fairly convinced that in the majority of the cases it isn't the work load that burns someone out, it is when one put in lots of efforts and realizes it

> I'm am fairly convinced that in the majority of the cases it isn't the work load that burns someone out, it is when one put in lots of efforts and realizes it it doesn't matter at all Absolutely. And that's why having a balance in life is important: it spreads your involvement more uniformly around your activities and lessens their impact on your overall life/health. Having it concentrated on one point can feel great when things go your way, but it will come crashing down once they don't.