Your Not Burned Out: The uncomfortable truth about burnout

I’m tired… but I’m not failing — and that’s something most people don’t understand.

In this episode, I’m showing up exactly as I am — no prep, no script, just real life.

Because right now, I’m in a season of transition.
 Working more. Sleeping less. Building my business alongside everything else.

And instead of spiralling, overthinking, or telling myself I’m doing something wrong…
 I’m just being honest.

I’m tired.

This episode is about the difference between being exhausted and being in survival.
 Because they are not the same thing.

We talk about:

•  why tired doesn’t mean you’re failing 
•  how to show up without shaming yourself 
•  what it actually looks like to build self-trust in real time 
•  and how to honour your capacity without losing momentum 

This isn’t a polished episode.
 It’s a real one.

And if you’ve been feeling stretched, overwhelmed, or questioning everything…
 you’re probably not broken.

You might just be tired.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Heavy, it's the strategy podcast, hosted by me and the if you're ready to write on it, and it's on it. Get ready to go fight the body. Put in your headphones, turn up the volume, and let's go in the way.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

This is probably going to be my most riffed out episode today, and my most relatable and real episode because I have not prepped for this episode today. If I'm gonna be entirely honest with everybody that is listening, is the fact that I am exhausted. Um, you know, life is currently stabilizing in the terms of I've picked up a job full-time, I am still doing bits on the farm because we have a busy season, I'm still trying to run a business, and it's like suddenly I've got all this flexibility to having less flexibility but more happiness. But in this current transition, I am exhausted, you know. I feel absolutely exhausted. I'm currently running off about four to six hours sleep every night, and I'm not hating it, you know, I'm not miserable, I'm not unhappy. I absolutely love my life, but I am just tired. And that is a huge difference between having nervous system capacity and the person that has healed their trauma over someone that is consistently living in survival. Because when we are living in survival, a moment like this would look like, oh my god, I'm failing. It would look like, oh my god, I'm still not doing enough. It would look like I'm never gonna be successful, and all of the panic, all of the fear, all of the worry, over quite simply saying, I am just tired. I am going through a life transition right now, and I am just tired. And I think this is the biggest shift that you can possibly have because there is no shame. I have zero fucking shame that today is my only day in my business, but for this next month, I am completely okay with as I stabilise out my life, saying if I need to have a nap in the afternoon, I'm gonna have a nap. You know, because I've gone from being that girl that was in bed at nine o'clock at night to not being someone who's in bed till midnight. And that's the thing. And it's it's that it's when you have that nervous system capacity, when you are no longer living in that level of survival, and you can say things exactly as they are, there is no guilt around resting, there is a kindness to ourselves and a love towards ourselves in saying I do not need to give this 110% right now. I can give this 70% and be absolutely okay. And sorry today, guys, but I'm showing up in my 70% because I didn't even want to jump on the podcast today. I've re-recorded this episode probably like three times, but it really does come down to sometimes how you show up when no one is watching. No one is fucking clapping for me right now. You know, some people probably think that I'm failing, but fuck it, they're not in my bank account. And this is the thing, it is how you show up when nobody is clapping, it is how you show up, even when you're tired, in a way that doesn't shame yourself. You know, you it's not about doing it to impress other people. You are doing it for you because you know that doing these things will be the very thing that takes you that step closer to your biggest vision. It's got nothing to do with anybody else, it's about taking the step for you to your biggest vision. You know, for me, the podcast is a level of self-trust building. The fact that I told myself I was gonna start a podcast and that an episode was gonna be out every single week. So here we are, we're doing the episodes every single week, and that is the thing, it's following through for you, but not shaming yourself along that journey. So it's allowing yourself to really give that legway to be able to say, Yes, I am tired, but I am not shaming myself in that process, and being able to let life flow. Like I know right now, some people will listen and go, Oh my god, you're contradicting yourself about burnout and sleep and everything else. And in essence, yes, but I also know that I have the awareness to know the signs of when I'm burning out. I have the awareness to sit and say, you know, this is what I actually need to stop doing, and this is what I need to start doing. And for me right now, it's about being able to say, right, okay, what are the basics I need to be doing in my business in order for me just to get by right now? What content do I need to make that makes my life extremely easy? What things do I need to be doing with the podcast to make my life extremely easy? And instead of stressing and panicking, just going with the fucking flow of life and enjoying it, like I am thoroughly enjoying being the probably busiest I have been in life for so long, you know, and that's okay. Like I'm I'm loving every minute of it, and it's got so many benefits. Like, um, you know, I mentioned on the podcast last week of going back into a pub job, and I love it. It's bringing out so much of my personality, and it's really making my content so much easier. So I know within myself that this is part of the journey. You know, so many of us step into that level of oh my god, I've got to control the outcome. Oh, what am I gonna do? This looks terrible. People are gonna judge me, and it's like fucking just calm down, relax, and just let it flow. Like, enjoy yourself, see the benefits, see the lessons, understand what you're learning because when you truly believe that everything that is desired by you is destined for you, you're never gonna sit and let something as trivial as going back to a job or things not quite going the way that you wanted them to, or that you had planned to get in your way. You're not gonna keep gripping onto them because you know that you will get there when you are meant to be there. And yes, it's natural to have questions. I think, you know, something that I've really experienced over the last 24 hours because I'm tired is I've questioned if I'm even meant to be a business owner, I've questioned if being a coach is the path that I'm actually meant to take and that I'm seeing the vision of the outcome that I want in my life. But is this the vehicle to actually get me there? Like I'm questioning it if I even want to do social media anymore. And it's so natural to question all of these things in your life. But if you're forcing yourself to find the outcomes, if you're forcing yourself to create the outcomes, you're gonna lose them all because you're building from that survival, you're not holding the nervous system steady, you're not bringing in that level of capacity to say, This is who I am. I know that I am okay, and I know that I'm gonna get there, and that every single stage is just as important as the other. But the most important thing that I can always do is look after my body, look after myself, and everything else will fall into place because I have done the hard fucking push. I've done the hard push of seven days a week, 16, 17 hour days, high dialed in on the business, never giving myself a day off, and not even getting to experience life and I burnt out, hated life, nearly lost on my relationship. It really isn't worth it because at the end of the day, what is the point in trying to build freedom when you're not even willing to let yourself have it? So it comes back to um wrapping that round to your own sense of safety, trusting your own journey, knowing that you will get there when you are meant to be getting there, of being honest with yourself and saying, okay, well, what tasks am I perhaps avoiding in my business? Why am I avoiding them? And building that sense of safety within our system to start taking the steps to create and do those tasks, and then being able to say, Well, actually, am I just tired? Am I just overwhelmed? And being very honest and very clear about where you currently actually are and the capacity that you currently have to show up in. Because if you are then overextending yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure. And I think this is so, so important. So I know this was short, I know this was rift, I know that this episode today was extremely, you know, um unrevised, unplanned. But we showed up. And I think if you take anything from this episode today, is we don't always have to show up messy, but we do just have to keep the promises that we made to ourselves in the capacity that we can do on that day, knowing that better days are coming because we keep those promises to ourselves. Okay, amazing guys. I will see you on next week's episode in the hope that I have more energy. And I love you all so much. Thank you for tuning in. Bye. Alright, guys, if you love today's show, if it resonated with you, please drop a rating below. As this always helps more amazing women like you give us amazing advice and wisdom. In the show notes, I've got my social links and other episodes that will help your journey so you can send your way and take every step you need to level up your business and become a successful online place.