Why High Achievers Feel Stuck: Nervous System, Self-Worth & Taking Up Space

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Sometimes you’re not stuck because you don’t know what to do — it’s because you don’t believe you’re allowed to have it. 

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In this episode of the Weekly Recharge, Renae shares a powerful experience from The Powerful Living Experience with David Bayer — and how what started as a search for financial clarity uncovered something deeper: a belief around worth, visibility, and taking up space.

This episode breaks down how limiting beliefs aren’t just one thought — they’re layered patterns rooted in identity, past experiences, and nervous system conditioning.

You’ll hear how stepping outside your comfort zone doesn’t just prove that nothing bad will happen — it teaches your nervous system that good things can happen when you trust yourself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why high achievers feel stuck even when they “know what to do”
• The difference between making money and believing you’re allowed to receive it
• How your nervous system drives patterns of playing small
• Why taking up space feels unsafe — and how to retrain it
• How vulnerability creates alignment, connection, and opportunity

If you’ve been doing everything right but still feel stuck, this episode will challenge how you think about burnout, self-worth, and growth.

Because burnout isn’t just a mindset issue — it’s often a reflection of deeper identity patterns and systems that were never built for the human experience.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the audio version of the weekly recharge newsletter. I'm Renee, founder of Wayward Wellness Coaching, where I help high achievers avoid burnout, regulate their nervous systems, and find a more sustainable way of success without throwing away their careers and their lives. If you howl over here from the Hustle Rebels podcast, welcome. I want to invite you to join and subscribe the weekly recharge newsletter, and you can do that by following the link in the show notes. Otherwise, I'm just gonna get right into it. Sometimes you're not stuck because you don't know what to do. It's because you don't believe you're allowed to have it. What we'll cover this week are why your limiting beliefs aren't the real problem. The moment I realized it wasn't all about money at all. What happens when you actually take up space? This week's nervous system challenge and a quick update and how to go deeper. Last week I mentioned that I was going to an event put on by David Bayer. And if I'm being honest, I thought I had an idea of what to expect, but I didn't know the full extent. The event conference thing was called the powerful living experience. And I thought I was walking into something that was going to teach me about business practices, mindset shifts, and give me a chance to network. Because I know he focuses a lot on shifting limiting beliefs, I went in with the intent of gaining clarity around any financial abundance limiting beliefs that I might have. And man, I was blown out of the water, which is ironic because the resort was the largest indoor-outdoor water park, and I had more waterworks than the water park itself. See, when you want to achieve your full potential, it's not usually one limiting belief. It's layers. The best way I can explain it is it felt like a glass full of rocks, with crevices in between. And with each session, it was like pouring water into that glass. The water would seep underneath into the next crevice, exposing another limiting belief, then another, and then another, until it finally got down to the root. And what I realized was this I don't have limiting beliefs around having money itself. I have a limiting belief around accepting it, around believing I'm worthy or deserving of being paid for my abilities and talents. And even further, I didn't believe I was allowed to take up space. See, as an overweight individual most of my life, I learned to shrink myself as much as possible to make up for the physical space I was taking up. So I shrink everything else too. My dreams, my desires, my income, even parts of myself. Blending in, not drawing attention. But during a morning meditation, I was led to take up space that day. And I made the decision that I would follow every punch I felt in my chest. And to not allow my brain the five seconds it needs to let that doubt creep in. So when there was an opportunity to volunteer to share in front of 1,200 plus people, I raised my hand every time. Not intending to be chosen, because honestly, I didn't think my nervous system could handle that. But to remind my nervous system that bad things won't happen if one, I take up space, and two, I draw attention to myself. So I did. Every time he asked, I raised my hand. And I didn't get struck by lightning, I didn't get judged, I didn't get snarked at, and I didn't get called on. Until I did, on the second day, he called on me. He even commented on my glasses to confirm it was me. And I just about shit myself. I panicked so hard I don't even know what he had asked, because the whole time I had been doing it for myself. To remind my nervous system that nothing bad would happen. Because that's what I teach. That we need to train our nervous systems to be reminded that bad things won't happen when we release old identities to step into the new ones. But here's what actually landed. Not only was I training my nervous system that bad things won't happen, my nervous system learned in that moment that good things will happen when you one, listen to your intuition and your body, and two, step out of your comfort zone. Now the wisdom I received from David in that moment was great. And I'm glad my friend recorded it because I think I blacked out. But that's not what stuck with me. What stuck was the alignment of community that stepping out of your comfort zone creates. People resonated with what I said. People told me that because I was vulnerable, they felt empowered. I made deep, lasting friendships. I made business connections that are going to lay foundations I never even considered. Unfathomable outcomes are now fathomable. All because I listened to that little voice that said, It's time to help your nervous system learn trust. So here's the nervous system challenge this week. Learning to listen to your own voice is hard. I overrode mine for 15 years, and what I thought I lost in the fire department actually started way earlier than that, back in church, when I was told that because I was a woman, I wasn't allowed to say, do, or be a part of many things. It wasn't until a brain spotting session that I realized I was still carrying those identities, and it changed the trajectory of how I listened to my own voice. So here's your question this week. What is one way you're overriding your own voice that could be holding you back? Sit with it. If you need help answering that, I would love to guide you through it in a brain spotting session. I also have Burn the Blueprint Identity Reset, my four-week self-paced program that includes four brain spotting sessions for$497. The four sessions alone are worth well over that price. That offer will only be available for the next two weeks. You can learn more here by clicking that link that's inside of the newsletter. And if you're listening, it's inside of the show notes as well. If you want to start with Burn the Blueprint Masterclass, which is a three-day video training, about 30 to 45 minutes each, it's a crash course to help you answer that question for only$27. You can learn more about the Burn the Blueprint Masterclass video by clicking the link in the newsletter or the show notes as well. And for this week on the Hustle Rebels podcast, in case you had missed the last episode, this week's episode breaks down the viral CEO Burger Challenge and what it actually reveals about leadership, burnout, and broken systems. Because it's not about burgers. It's about what happens when leadership becomes disconnected from reality and everyone else carries the weight. If you've been doing everything right but still feel exhausted, this one will hit because burnout isn't a mindset flaw. It's often the result of systems that were never built for the human experience in mind. You can listen to that by also clicking the link in the newsletter or the show notes. And if you're new here or you're just feeling nostalgic, you can check out some previous newsletters as well. As always, I appreciate you guys, and I'm always here if you have any questions or if you want to chat. Share the weekly recharge with a friend so that they can be regulated just like you. See you guys next week.