After burnout: reigniting the flame.

One of the byproducts of the recent recession has been professional burnout. Even though economic conditions are now improving, the sheer length of the downturn took its toll.

If you feel you have reached the point of burnout, it is critical to rekindle the "spark" that drives you to succeed.

Learn from the experience

Start by taking an honest look at why you feel the way you do. No doubt some issues were beyond your control, but you may find there also were responsibilities you could have handled more effectively. Perhaps you set an unrealistic deadline for performing an assessment of a client's internal control environment, which created obstacles to the project's successful completion and led to additional …