Burning Out and Fading Away

Every­one suf­fers, soon­er or lat­er, in a way that effects their performance.

How do you live your pas­sion? How do you have great suc­cess and a great life?

Why do some high achiev­ers thrive, while oth­ers burn out or fade away?

I’ve always been fas­ci­nat­ed by how some peo­ple can sus­tain the excite­ment and pain of grow­ing a com­pa­ny or a career – and oth­ers burn out or fade away. In fact, it’s been the inspi­ra­tion behind my coach­ing prac­tice and my book Your Oxy­gen Mask First.

Over the last cou­ple of years, as I’ve been speak­ing about the prin­ci­ples in my book, gain­ing insights from my clients, and doing research with thou­sands of lead­ers – one-on-one, and in polls at keynotes and work­shops – I’ve learned that there’s a bet­ter ques­tion because essen­tial­ly every high-per­form­ing leader of a high-growth com­pa­ny burns out along the way.

No-one escapes the pains of growth – and they don’t nec­es­sar­i­ly talk about it because of per­ceived weak­ness and shame. After all, burnout seems the oppo­site of what hap­pens to strong, bold alpha lead­ers. But, in one way or anoth­er, in some shape or form, I’ve learned that it hap­pens to all of us. Some recov­er, some come out twice as strong, some are destroyed.

It’s just part of the game. What mat­ters is how you han­dle it.

So, the new ques­tion is:

How do you keep thriv­ing know­ing you will burn out and ensure you nev­er fade away?

The Chal­lenge

I’d like to col­lect more sto­ries about how peo­ple have expe­ri­enced burn out and who have come back stronger.

Do you have a sto­ry to tell or know some­one who has a good sto­ry that oth­ers should hear?

PS If you are feel­ing in a rough spot, at the moment…

• Resilience Rit­u­als are a great place to start to get stronger
• If you are real­ly in a bad place and don’t know where to turn, reach out to us, a doc­tor or a psy­chol­o­gist. Ask­ing for help is a good thing.