The Invisible Weight of Stress: What You’re Carrying That No One Sees

What if the stress that’s draining you isn’t the loud, obvious kind — but the silent weight you’ve been carrying so long it feels normal?

In this episode, Jacqueline unpacks the hidden cost of “quiet stress” — the jaw tension, late-night emails, and constant mental checklists that no one else sees. She shares her own story of looking polished on the outside while running on fumes inside — and why naming the weight is the first step to shifting it

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This episode digs into:

• How invisible stress shows up in your body, decisions, and relationships.
• Why high performers often carry the heaviest loads without asking for help.
• A guided pause to name what stress has quietly taken from you.
• A simple exercise to reframe one weight you’ve been holding alone.

By the end, you’ll know: you’re not weak — you’re overloaded. And with the right systems and support, you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.

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Transcript

Episode 2: The Invisible Weight of Stress 

INTRO

This is The Strategic Hustle — the podcast about the human side of stress, and what it really takes to build a life and business that work for you.
I’m Jacqueline — mom of four, former corporate leader, now running two purpose-driven businesses.
Around here, we talk about structure, clarity, and those moments you finally admit… the way you’ve been working just isn’t working anymore.
Let’s get into it.

EPISODE 2 - WELCOME & INTRO

Hey there — welcome back to The Strategic Hustle Podcast.

I’m Jacqueline, founder of The Strategic Hustle, MBA, systems strategist, and someone who spent nearly four decades inside high-stakes corporate environments before building two mission-driven businesses of my own.

So if you’re an entrepreneur, or just someone trying to hold your life together with less chaos and more calm — you’re absolutely in the right place.

Today I want to talk about something that sits under the surface for almost all of us.
 It’s not the stress that explodes, or the stress that breaks windows.
 It’s the stress that sinks in quietly.
 The kind that becomes so normal… you don’t even see it anymore.

PART 1 — THE STRESS THAT HIDES

You know the kind I’m talking about.

It doesn’t look like panic.
 It doesn’t even look like struggle.

Sometimes it looks like — nothing.

It looks like you doing the dishes with your jaw locked so tight you’d swear it was cemented shut.
 It looks like answering emails at 11 PM because the idea of letting someone down triggers something so deep in you, you can’t stand the thought.
 It looks like being at your kid’s soccer game physically, but your brain is racing through a checklist you can’t seem to turn off.

It’s invisible.
 And it’s heavy.

PART 2 — MY OWN QUIET STRESS STORY

When I was still in corporate — I was great at hiding it.
 I was polished. I showed up to every meeting. I mentored my team. I hit the targets.

From the outside, I looked like the poster child for a high-performing executive.

But under the surface?
 I was running on empty.
 Every day felt like I was pouring from a cup that was bone dry.

I didn’t have time to process my own needs — honestly, I wouldn’t have known how even if I’d tried.
 Asking for help wasn’t in my vocabulary.
 Stress had become my baseline.
 Not a peak. Not a crisis. Just… the standard operating condition.

I wasn’t falling apart — but I also wasn’t okay.

PART 3 — WHY THIS MATTERS

Here’s the thing:
 That version of stress?
 It doesn’t usually get anyone’s attention.

Because from the outside — you’re still performing.
 You’re still producing. Still leading. Still giving.

So people keep piling things on you, thinking you can handle it.
 And truth be told — you probably can.
 But at what cost?

Because that kind of hidden stress?
 It’s corrosive.

It shows up in your sleep.
 It shows up in your shoulders.
 It shows up in how you react to the people you love most.

It slowly eats away at your capacity to dream, to enjoy simple things, to actually feel like yourself.

PART 4 — A GUIDED PAUSE

So let’s do something radical for just a moment.
 Pause.

Wherever you are — driving, folding laundry, sitting at your desk — just take a breath.

I want you to ask yourself:

• What has stress quietly taken from me?
• What am I carrying right now that no one else sees?
• What parts of me am I pretending don’t hurt?

It’s not about judgment.
 It’s about recognition.

Because until you name what’s actually happening, you can’t shift it.

Take a couple seconds.
 Let it land.

🎵 [Soft 5-second music cue]

PART 5 — STRESS DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE WEAK

Now listen closely:
 Stress doesn’t mean you’re weak.
 It means you’re carrying too much — without enough support.

And that’s exactly why I started The Strategic Hustle.

I saw too many people burning out, trying to duct-tape their way through life and business, confusing productivity with purpose.

You deserve systems that support you — not just systems that squeeze more out of you.
 You deserve a foundation that actually holds the weight of your goals — so your body doesn’t have to.

PART 6 — HOW THIS SHOWS UP FOR ENTREPRENEURS

And if you’re a business owner, this hits even harder.

Because your stress doesn’t just live in your body.
 It seeps into your decisions.

When you’re overloaded, you’re reactive.
 You chase shiny objects.
 You make desperate sales.
 You drop the ball on delivery.
 You promise things you don’t even have capacity to deliver.

And then the stress multiplies.

I’ve watched it happen over and over.
 Owners stuck in a cycle of panic, short-term thinking, hustling without direction — until they finally burn it all down.

It’s not that they didn’t care.
 It’s that they never had the systems to take the pressure off.
 They never paused long enough to build a structure that could carry the load.

PART 7 — A MINI EXERCISE: NAME IT & REFRAME IT

So I want to give you a tiny tool right now.
 A way to start moving out of silent stress and into intentional calm.

Grab a sticky note. Or type it in your phone.
 I want you to write down the answer to this:

• What’s one thing I keep trying to hold alone?

Maybe it’s managing every piece of your client experience by yourself.
 Maybe it’s carrying the emotional load of your family — never letting them see you crack.
 Maybe it’s money worries you’ve told no one about.

Write it down. Just one thing.

Then I want you to add a second line:

• What would support look like here?

Is it a tool? A process? A person? A boundary?

This is how we start.
 We name the weight.
 We imagine another way.

PART 8 — SO WHAT NOW?

If you’re nodding your head right now, thinking “Yeah, that’s me,” I want you to know this:

You’re not broken.
 You’re just exhausted.
 And you’re not alone.

That’s why I created Work Smarter in Life & Business.
It’s our Launchpad course — the first step on the path.

Inside, we start clearing mental clutter.
 We build simple systems to hold your goals.
 We give you space to breathe, think, and show up with more clarity, calm, and confidence.

It’s not magic.
 It’s structure.
 And it works.

You can find everything at thestrategichustle.com.
Doors for the next round close soon — I’d love to see you inside.

CLOSING

In our next episode, we’re going to tackle the myth of “balance” — and what you should actually be focusing on instead.

Until then, give yourself permission to feel it.
 Let yourself be human.
 And remember — there’s nothing wrong with you.
 You’ve just been carrying too much for too long.

I’m Jacqueline — and this is The Strategic Hustle Podcast.

 © 2025 The Strategic Hustle. All rights reserved.