Breaking The Burnout Cycle
Are you a female entrepreneur who is currently spinning your wheels, doing all the right things, yet continuing to find yourself hitting an invisible wall that is keeping you from the success, fulfillment, freedom, & happiness you want?
You’ve read the books. Taken the courses. Implemented the strategies. You know the “how to”...but somehow they either don’t work for you when you apply them OR you can’t get yourself to stay consistent with them to get them to work for you.
And because of that there is a part of you that wonders deep down
“Why is this working for everyone else but me?”
“Maybe I’m doing something wrong? What am I missing?”
“Am I not doing enough?”
…or worse - “Is something wrong with me?”
And because you’ve only learned one way to achieve success, you now find yourself believing that the only way to achieve your goals is to work even harder. To push and push and push, like nothing else matters, not your health, not your family, not your life.
Here’s the truth: You’re not broken. You’re just burnt out from doing success the way you were taught — the hustle-harder, push-through, ignore-your-needs kind of way.
Breaking the Burnout Cycle is the podcast that finally speaks to you. Hosted by Dr. Reana Mulcahy, subconscious reprogramming coach and former hustle-addict turned aligned success mentor, this show is your permission slip to stop over-functioning, start honoring your truth, and finally create the next level of success from a place of alignment, not exhaustion.
Dr. Reana over the past 4 years has been high achievers, like yourself, break free from the burnout cycle by teaching brain-based tools, rooted in neuroscience and neuropsychology, to help you identify, understand, and break free from subconscious habits that are keeping you from the success, fulfillment, and freedom you crave.
Each week, we dive into subconscious mindset work, nervous system healing, and the invisible beliefs that keep high achievers stuck in survival mode — even when they look “successful” on the outside. You'll hear solo episodes, client breakthroughs, and expert conversations designed to help you rewire your beliefs, reclaim your energy, and rise into the results, relationships, and reality you know you’re meant for.
It’s time to stop chasing success that costs you your peace. It’s time to break the burnout cycle — for good.
Subscribe now and let’s rewrite the rules of success, together.
Breaking The Burnout Cycle
Episode 59: Rewiring Indecision - The Truth About Why We Get Stuck on Big Life Choices
Ever found yourself caught in the quicksand of a major decision, where the more you think about it, the deeper you sink? That paralysis isn't what you think it is.
Contrary to popular belief, indecision rarely stems from not knowing what you want. The surprising truth is that indecision happens when you actually DO know what your heart desires, but you've been conditioned not to trust that knowing. Through years of education, family influence, and societal pressure, we've all absorbed the message that there are "right" and "wrong" choices – and that the wrong ones lead to failure, rejection, and disappointment.
Your decision-making lens was shaped long before you faced today's choices. If your parents struggled financially, you likely absorbed different beliefs about "safe" career paths than someone raised by entrepreneurs. These tribal influences run deep, creating an unconscious filter that overrides your intuition when it points toward something that contradicts your programming. Your brain's protective mechanisms are essentially pulling the emergency brake to keep you from potential harm or rejection from your "tribe."
In this illuminating episode, Dr. Reana shares a powerful two-step exercise that cuts through the noise in just five minutes. First, identify what choice you'd make if success, acceptance, and resources were guaranteed. Then, get curious about exactly what your brain fears will happen if you follow that path. This simple process reveals the specific conditioning blocking you from trusting yourself and making aligned decisions.
Ready to break free from the exhausting cycle of indecision? Listen now, try the exercise, and share your experience with us on Instagram @Dr.Reanamulcahy . Your most aligned path forward is closer than you think.
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If you have ever found yourself struggling with making a decision, where you constantly are finding yourself going back and forth in indecision, then today's episode is for you, because today I am about to share with you the number one reason why indecision happens in the first place and the number one skill that I teach each and every one of my students to be able to combat that in five minutes or less. That's all coming up here on today's episode, so stay tuned. Hi, I'm Dr Riana Mulcahy and, after burning out not just once, but twice, I've uncovered that burnout becomes a never endingending loop unless you uncover the subconscious beliefs at the root of it all. Each week, I'm bringing you brain-based tools and strategies that will help you to identify and rewire subconscious blocks keeping you from the success, happiness and freedom that you really want. This is Breaking the Burnout Cycle Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome in. This week.
Speaker 1:I'm excited because we are talking all about indecision, and when I talk about indecision, I'm talking about indecision around big choices that we have to make in our lives, whether that's a choice of, okay, what college am I going to say yes to, or a choice of what direction am I going to take my business, or a decision of what is the right career path for me. So we're talking big life decisions here, and if you've ever had to make one of those decisions and you found yourself stuck in indecision, where you didn't know which direction or which choice was the right choice, and it caused you to maybe spiral for days, sometimes even weeks, sometimes even months, where you are constantly doing all of the pros and cons and you're revisiting it over and over and over again. You almost seem like you can't take your mind off of the decision at hand then this episode's for you, because that is the level of indecision that we're talking here, where you find yourself unable to focus on anything else and you're constantly ruminating on the pros, the cons of both decisions and yet you still don't know which decision is the way to go. And I wanted to talk about that this week because there was a student in the physical therapy department you know that I teach at and she brought up a really interesting like. She made a really interesting comment, where she not comment, but a question, excuse me a question and she asked me. The question she asked me was did you always know that you wanted to be a coach that helps high performers to rewire their minds so that they can achieve success while working less hours and not burning out. And I smiled at this question. Because I smiled at this question? Because you know, I have been doing this coaching business now for three, going on three and a half years at this point, and if you were to ask me if I thought that my life would look the way it looks now, the simple answer would be no, look the way it looks now. The simple answer would be no. In fact, if we were even to go back a little further, I didn't even know that I wanted to be a physical therapist. I actually thought I wanted to be a med student. I thought I wanted to go into medical school so that I could become a.
Speaker 1:I remember so distinctly every moment on my journey where I had to make a tough decision of is this the aligned path for me or not? Is this the right choice or not? Is this the wrong choice or not? Am I going to regret the decision that I make a year from now, two years from now? The decision that I make a year from now, two years from now, 10 years from now?
Speaker 1:And I remember each and every pivotal moment in my life, in my career, leading up to this point, it felt like it was a do or die situation. It felt like if I didn't have the right choice, then I would fail or everything would like, secretly seeking for approval of my decision over and over and over again, even though they're like we support you no matter what. Or I would find myself knowing what the answer is and yet not trusting it, and I would constantly, you know, be spinning in circles, almost like ruminating on the same decision for weeks, sometimes even months, and just kind of feeling like I couldn't do anything else, I couldn't think about anything else except the decision at hand. And not only was that exhausting, but it also is just like this constant feeling of anxiety with, like this black and white decision in your mind, of the, you know, the weight of it hanging around on your shoulders, and it's a lot of pressure. And that is one of the reasons why so many people get exhausted, especially when they're stuck in these thought loops and these thought cycles around indecision of a choice. And so you know, when that student asked me that it brought to mind all of those moments where I was stuck in indecision and, I think, one of the misconceptions that I see time and time again with students is that they believe that indecision is a sign that they do not know what they want.
Speaker 1:And here's why that's false. The reason why it's false is because if you truly didn't know what you wanted, then the decision most times would be easy. See, the reason why indecision happens in the first place isn't because a lack of knowing what you want or don't want. It happens because you actually, in your heart of hearts, know what you want, but you don't trust it. What you want but you don't trust it. And the reason you don't trust it is because we have been indoctrinated in this, like you know the societal norm that we have to know the right answer, there's a right and a wrong, that if you make the wrong choice it could lead to failure. Wrong choice it could lead to failure, rejection, embarrassment, possibly even criticism.
Speaker 1:And just think about that. How many times have we grown up taking tests where there's a right and a wrong answer? How many times have we been told like just even think about, in high school you had to know what the right career path was for you, what you wanted to become, what you wanted to do for the rest of your life so that you could do all of the volunteering and the extracurriculars and all of those things to set yourself up for getting into the right college. And, when you get into the right college, right declaring the right degree. That would line you up for success in the career path that you were supposed to know, and I think that's just so astronomical. You know that's a rant for a whole nother episode, but just think about how much pressure that creates, starting from very young ages, where, first off, our brains are not even fully matured to know what is best for us. But, second off, just think about how we are learning about ourselves in each and every moment of different phases of life.
Speaker 1:And so what I see time and time again is that what it all boils down to, what indecision typically always boils down to, is not a matter of not knowing what you want, but it's a matter of not trusting what you want because of the fear of potential failure, rejection, criticism, embarrassment, etc. And all of the negative emotions that are associated with that. See, our brains does not like that. Our brains will do everything in our power to protect us from that, and so this is where indecision stems from, where it will literally get you to pull the e-brakes, to stop to question your decisions, even though, in your heart of hearts, you know what you want. And typically when I'm with my students coaching them through indecision, there is often a story of a fear of what their parents might think or a fear of what you know their colleagues will think, or a fear of what society will think. And I think that this is what brings us into our next point of the question that I get asked all the time, following the understanding that they know what they want, is.
Speaker 1:The question that I often get asked is why is it so hard for me to just make the decision and essentially stick with it and to trust myself that I know what I want and to trust that I will be okay? And the reason why that happens, why it is so hard, if you are finding yourself you know, you know what you want, but you just can't find yourself trusting it it's not your fault. The reason why this is happening in the first place is primarily just because just think of all of the ways that we have learned of what is safe and what is unsafe. Right, like, how many times have you heard building a business is hard. How many times have you maybe also heard a story along the lines of you know, say you wanted, you had this desire where you were like I want to become an artist and cue your parents telling you how that's going to be a rough road to go down, how you could be a starving artist, how you're going to have to work hard and how it's competitive and how not.
Speaker 1:You know all of the logical reasons why it is not the right choice, and that goes beyond just career choices but it goes into, you know, all of these other choices that we're trying to make in our lives of what is the most aligned choice. And meanwhile we're having all of this external noise that then becomes internal noise, but essentially external noise and feedback from members of our tribe like our parents, our grandparents, our teachers, the people closest to us, who are telling us whether or not it's a safe choice or a right choice and giving us all of the financial and logical reasons why it's not. And I share that. You know it's not to blame them, but it is to say like they want the best for us and at the same time, if we are to truly exterminate and get rid of burnout, then we have to know for ourselves what is the best choice for us, because no one else knows that answer except you.
Speaker 1:But growing up, we're relying on other people to keep us alive, to keep us safe, and their perceptions and their fears and their limiting beliefs become ours. And that is the number one reason why I see people unable to trust their own gut, to trust their own intuition, because they are afraid not only that they're making the wrong choice, but they're also afraid, essentially, that if I make the wrong choice and if I fail because I make the wrong choice, because I went against what all logic told me, because I went against what my parents taught me or what society taught me, then not only do I risk the potential of failure, but I risk the potential to let those people down in my life. So let my tribe down. And if you remember me talking on almost every single episode but if you don't, that's okay I talk a lot about how, on a very primitive level, we are tribal beings.
Speaker 1:We do not want to let the tribe down, because in caveman days, if you let the tribe down, if you fail at what your one job was to do to provide for the tribe, then you risk the potential of getting kicked out, and so we don't want that on a very primitive, subconscious level. And so if you think to a decision at hand that you could potentially be going against what you learned from your parents on what is a safe job, or learned from you know society on what is it, that is what success should be, then your brain doesn't know what is wanted change versus unwanted change, and your brain will automatically go into protection mode to essentially say this is the wrong choice. Here are the logical reasons. We learned yada, yada, yada. And so when my students come to me in their indecision, in their overwhelm around the decision that they have to make, in their minds it feels like Armageddon. It feels like it is do or die, that there is a right and a wrong choice.
Speaker 1:And here's what I have come to learn. I have come to learn that there is no right or wrong, but that it is all a matter of perception, a matter of what lens you grew up viewing money, success, safety, all of those things from your tribe. There's a reason why right, like if you grew up with parents who are entrepreneurs, for example, then their tolerance for uncertainty and going after your dreams in a business is a lot different than if you grew up in a family that essentially struggled to get by, to make ends meet, and how they had to work hard and, even though they hated their jobs, continue going in day in and day out. Those are two very different mindsets that you know two people from different tribes could hold, which essentially would lead to different decision making skills. And I bring that up because, right, that just is proof for your brain that not everyone's story is the same, and it all comes down to a lens that we look at things when we're making these decisions.
Speaker 1:So if the goal is to figure out how do I make the decision, and not just make the decision, how do I trust my decision, then it starts with first understanding your own perception, your own reason for what your brain's trying to protect you from when it comes to making that decision. And so to do that, all you have to do is grab a piece of paper. So if you're listening to this and you want to play along, then I highly encourage you to do that, because this allows you to see what your brain is essentially having in the background the entire time that you're trying to make a decision, I want you to lay out option A and then option B. Now, typically, those are the only two options that your brain will give you. Brain will give you what your goal is to do.
Speaker 1:Next is to then ask yourself if I had all the money in the world, all the time in the world, all of the resources in the world, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that, no matter which decision I chose, I would be loved, I would be safe, I would be accepted, I would have success which one would I choose? And watch when you change those circumstances and try it on, just like how you try on a pair of shoes. When you try it on, essentially, you are going to see which one is the aligned choice. Which one do you gravitate to, naturally knowing that if you could wave a magic wand, that it would be okay, that this would be the choice that you would want to go with. Okay, that's step number one.
Speaker 1:Step number two is to then get really curious on what is it that my brain is fearing about following this choice? What is it saying will happen if I follow this choice? So what that's going to do is show you exactly what it is your brain is perceiving as a threat. It's going to show you the lens at which you are making this decision through and it's going to show you, if it helps you, even, what societal norms, what cultural norms, what norms from your parents and your tribe did you get indoctrinated in, either knowingly or unknowingly, and does it serve you or not, or unknowingly, and does it serve you or not. And then it's about learning brain-based tools to essentially rewire those so that you can make aligned decisions, because the number one thing that I see time and time again is people believe burnout is a result of doing too much.
Speaker 1:But I would also argue that it is your soul's telling you, your soul level, your higher self, your heart telling you that we are not doing things that are for the higher good, that are what is meant for me, and that is what I truly believe causes burnout, and that is what I truly believe causes burnout. So if we're to break the burnout cycles, if we're to break indecision, then we have to know exactly what is it that our brain is fearing, so that we can change the script. And if this is something that you're looking to get help with, I want you to shoot me a DM on Instagram at Dr Riana Mulcahy. Try the exercise, let me know how it goes and I will see you guys on another episode. But until then, have a great rest of your week and I will see you next week. Bye for now.