49 | 3 Signs You’re Surviving, Not Thriving (And How to Know the Difference)

Feeling like an overwhelmed mom running on fumes? This episode is your reset. We break down three clear mom burnout signs so you can spot when you’re stuck in survival mode—snapping, spiraling, or numbing—and shift toward real peace. You’ll learn how to stop feeling stressed as a mom, filter the noise (reels, opinions, the “perfect” feed), and choose what actually fits your life. We’ll talk practical mindset swaps that support mom life balance, help you stop yelling, and make space for calm without another complicated system or planner overhaul. If you’ve ever thought, “I just can’t do this anymore,” this conversation will help you trust yourself, take one small step, and start moving from coping to calm.

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Transcript

Lisa Covert: 0:00

Filter the noise, you trust yourself, and you choose what actually lines up with your life, not just what looks good on somebody's else's feed. You just heard a clip from today's episode. If you've been running on fumes or numbing out at night, or telling yourself this is just a busy season, this one is for you. Because what if it's not just busyness? What if you're actually stuck in survival mode? Today we're breaking down three clear signs you're surviving instead of thriving, and how to finally spot the difference. Welcome to episode 49. Hey, I am Lisa Covert. Welcome to the Overwhelmed to Empowered podcast, where we stop pretending we are fine and start leading lives we are proud of. No more to-do lists, no more burnout, just real talk, real tools, and the reset your heart has been asking for. Let's talk about it. If you have ever said, I just can't do this anymore, I'm done. I feel like I'm drowning. Or even, why can't I get my life back on track? This one is completely for you. Because here's the truth: most of us aren't failing. We're just surviving. And surviving feels a lot like living on repeat in the same stress, the same lies, the same overwhelm, the same busyness day after day. Today I want to give you three signs you're stuck in that survival mode. I want you to see it and how to spot the difference between surviving and thriving. And I like to say arriving because I've been there when you are stuck surviving, connecting with thriving is like the complete opposite. Don't even know what that is. So that's why I like to say arriving. Survival mode sounds a lot like this on repeat. I'm not strong enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not healed enough. Maybe I don't feel like I'm no one loves me or no one wants me around. Or I'll never catch up. All of those are lies. And if you had that repeating in your head every day, can you imagine that's surviving? These are terrible terrible lies. When you hear them often enough, you start living like they're true. And they keep you small, stuck, and exhausted. Think about it. If you had a friend, somebody was repeating that to them. Or somebody was saying this stuff to you out loud. Those secret things that we're watching, reels and everything, pointing out, oh, I don't do this anymore, or I've done this, or this is the three simple tips to fix this. That is keeping you in a realm of telling you that you're stuck, that you are, say, weak, or you're powerless, or you don't know what to do, or this is just a thing that's going to continue, especially when you see somebody in a reel and at least they have their makeup on, right? Because we don't look like that. Here's the difference when you are thriving, arriving, you're not running from the lies, you're running towards the truth. Things like I am loved, I am capable, I am strong, I am good at things, and I can choose peace. I have a choice. These are running towards something. When you're running away from something, that is survival. When you are running from that, you don't even get to that point where you see the things you're good at, the good things about you. You just keep circling the same track over and over guilt, shame, exhaustion. I'm not this, I'm not that. What we say has a lot of weight on what we identify ourselves with. It's almost like being on the world's worst merry-go-round. And except instead of cotton candy and fun music, it's filled with guilt, resentment, and endless to-do lists. I don't know about you, but I am choosing not to be on that ride anymore. That ride is not giving me a fulfilling life. That ride is done. I'm choosing to get off of it. I want you to think about this. When you know you're surviving, think about how often we trust outside voices. We trust the person on the real. The best is we even trust our GPS more than ourselves. Have you ever had it take you down a dirt road or a way that you know that this is not the direction? What is going on? And you still follow it. But when our own gut tells us something, we question it. That's surviving. In survival mode, you're more invested in what the reels say, what the social media says, and even that friend. You're more invested in what they say than what you feel called to do, what feels light for you. Oh, and the best is here's what happens. You finally make a decision for yourself, and then someone else's opinion sneaks in, and suddenly you're doubting everything all over again. Thriving, arriving doesn't mean you never get input. It means you can filter the noise, you trust yourself, and you choose what actually lines up with your life, not just what looks good on somebody's else's feed. Because let's be honest, even the most real mom on Instagram isn't showing you the science experiment that just happened in the back of her fridge. No one's doing that. And you have to be careful who you talk to. I have friends that I vent to, but those people that I will open up to, they're just sitting space with me. They know that they're not there to solve my problem. They know if I'm sitting there and complaining about my kids or my husband or my life, they help me to see where the next step is. Where am I going to help me get there? I have coaching in my life. I have people that I go to so that I know where I'm going, where I'm headed. I do not let the GPS or a woman on a reel that is showing a part of her life to define how I choose to live my life. Hey, can I just pause for a second and invite you to something that's actually going to help? If you're listening to this, chances are your life feels a little loud right now. You've got the never-ending to-do list, the mental tabs open, your brain running in survival mode, and you're exhausted from holding it all together. I've been there, which is exactly why I created the Empowered Living Six-Week Group Coaching Program. It's your step-by-step reset to get out of overwhelm, reclaim your energy, and finally feel grounded and in control again. We're talking practical tools, real mindset shifts, and a way to show up for your life without the burnout, the snapping at your people, or the constant frustration. You don't have to keep living stuck. I want to invite you to start your reset today at LisaCovert.com and click apply now. Go check it out. Your piece is worth it. This is the big one. In survival, your focus is on stopping the bad. Stop being overwhelmed. Stop yelling. Stop snapping at your kids or your husband. But if all you do is run from something, you always find a version of it waiting around the corner. When you are arriving and thriving, that is completely different. Arriving is knowing what you're running toward. Are you running towards peace? Maybe your purpose. Maybe presence. Maybe joy. Even if you can't see the whole picture yet, you know where you're headed. It's not about having it all together and knowing exactly where you're going. And here's the truth: if you don't name what you want, you'll stay stuck chasing what you don't want. I've been there so many times. So ask yourself, what am I choosing today? Am I choosing to keep fighting fires? Or am I choosing one small step toward the life I actually want? Am I choosing to sit down and maybe instead of working on all that to-do list, maybe looking at the things in my life that I am doing and what things are heavy? And then what are the other things that are light? Instead of feeling like I don't spend enough time with the kids. I want to play games, then you're coming towards decisions. For everything that feels negative and heavy, there's something light. And you can say, oh, well, we still have to do things in life that are hard or boring or not the things we love to do on our list. Yes. However, when I look at my to-do list, I have chosen all that. I mean, literally, my kid just called me a few minutes ago and he asked me to bring his socks to school. Yes, this is the second time this year where I'm bringing something. Last time was a shirt he forgot to wear under his hoodie, and then it turned out to be 80-something degrees and he was sweating. And then today he forgot his socks. Yes, I'm going to run down there. Yes, it's not exactly what I wanted to do today, but that's not a fire for me. To me, that I'm not gonna act like overwhelmed and I'm not gonna get in the car like some fire is underneath me that I need to go there. I'm choosing to. I breathe and it went, okay. I said, but babe, I really need you to start checking your stuff in the morning or leaving some extra stuff in your bag because it's a 20, 15-minute drive there, plus back. But the truth is, I sat there and calm and said, you know what? I'm actually working on fasting today. And after I record this podcast, it would be nice to take a drive and just sit in the car, listen to some music. So that is where we're coming from. I want to be a mom that's there, but I want to be a mom that's also showing them that things don't have to be such an emergency. Like I said, I mean, we don't have to have fires. They're still gonna forget things. Tomorrow there might be something else. But survival never runs out of problems. When you stay in that area, it continues one problem after another. But when you start arriving, it gives you perspective. I see the whole picture because also that same son that called, every year before it would come home crying because he felt trapped because he couldn't call me. Now his teacher actually let him do it. Not only did she let him, but he asked. We're working on his confidence. So I'm gonna reward that because that is where we're heading. That is our arriving, is him being confident enough to ask for what he needs and wants. Remember, just because you're overwhelmed, you're not failing. You're surviving. But you were never meant to stay in this survival mode. We were meant to move on and go to the next season. Your worth isn't how well you juggle or whether it feels like you're surviving some of the time, or where the state you're at right now, or how much you push through. It's in who you are. The courage it takes to start running towards peace instead of away from stress, that shows how worthy you are. If you're nodding along and ready for a reset, here's where to start. Head over to LisaCovert.com slash bootcamp and jump on the waiting list for the next boot camp, which is from coping to calm boot camp. That's where you go a little bit deeper and where we walk this out together. And if you want something you can use right now, grab my free guide at lisacovert.com/ triggers. It'll help you spot the patterns that keep pulling you back into that survival mode so you can start shifting out today. You can always find both of them at lisacovert.com. I will see you in episode 50 and remember, peace is always one choice away.

Her Son: 13:18

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Lisa Covert: 13:29

If this episode made you pause, reflect, or even breathe a little deeper, would you do me a favor? Take 30 seconds and leave a quick review for the show. It helps more women who are stuck in the same overwhelm we've talked about today actually find this podcast. I'm not here for everyone, but I am here for the woman who's tired of holding it all together and ready to live a life that finally feels like her own. And hey, if you're feeling brave, take a screenshot of your comment and email it to me at Lisa at LisaCovert.com. Every month I do a little giveaway drawing for listeners who share or review the show. You never know, you might get something special. Thanks for listening, thanks for being here, and most of all, thanks for choosing to keep showing up for you.