High-achievers don’t always recognize burnout when it hits.
We chalk it up to “just a busy season,” power through, and tell ourselves it’ll pass. But when the season never ends, and everything starts to feel heavier, flatter, and more draining than it should…that’s not normal. That’s burnout.
And it’s exactly what Marie was experiencing.
Marie is a longtime TV Executive. Brilliant. Driven. Respected. But when she came to coaching, she wasn’t herself. She was showing up, delivering, doing all the right things. But inside? She felt numbed out. Tired. Like her spark was flickering out.
Her words? “I’m still functioning. I just don’t feel anything anymore.”
That’s burnout. And it doesn’t always look like crashing. Sometimes it looks like quiet disconnection from your joy, your energy, your self.
Here’s what we did in coaching — and how you can start to shift too.
1. Recognize What Burnout Really Looks Like
Marie’s Challenge: She didn’t think she was burned out because she was still performing. But beneath the output, her energy was flatlining.
Why This Strategy Works: Burnout is more than exhaustion. It’s a physiological and emotional disconnect caused by prolonged stress, lack of fulfillment, and misalignment. And your brain? It starts shutting down the “non-essentials”…like creativity, motivation, even emotional range…to conserve energy.
How You Can Apply It:
- Watch for subtle signs: ➤ Dreading meetings you used to enjoy ➤ Feeling constantly irritated or emotionally dulled ➤ A sense that “nothing really matters” anymore
- Ask yourself: Am I tired from doing too much or from doing too much of what no longer aligns with me?
Example: Marie realized that even though she had time off, she wasn’t recovering. Her mind was always on. Her body was always tense. She wasn’t just overworked, she was overextended in the wrong work. That recognition alone created a shift.
2. Regulate Before You Redesign
Marie’s Challenge: She wanted to overhaul her calendar, make a big change, take action. But her nervous system wasn’t ready. She needed regulation first.
Why This Strategy Works: Burnout puts your nervous system in a chronic state of fight-or-flight. Until you soothe that state, your decision-making, creativity, and clarity are compromised. Healing starts with calming the system, not fixing the schedule.
How You Can Apply It:
- Add 2–3 short reset rituals into your day: ➤ 2 minutes of deep breathing between meetings ➤ Stepping away from screens for short outdoor breaks ➤ Music, stretching, anything that reconnects you to your body
- Focus on recovery, not productivity, during your time off
Example: Marie committed to 10-minute breaks, twice a day, where she did nothing but breathe and walk. It sounded simple. It felt radical. And after just a week, she was thinking more clearly and sleeping better.
3. Reconnect with What Energizes You
Marie’s Challenge: She couldn’t remember the last time she felt excited about anything work-related. That loss of connection to her purpose was fueling the spiral.
Why This Strategy Works: When you’re connected to what lights you up, your brain releases dopamine, which fuels energy, creativity, and confidence. Burnout dims that signal. Reconnecting to meaning helps reignite your internal power source.
How You Can Apply It:
- Reflect: What aspects of your work used to bring you joy or purpose? Can you bring even a little bit of that back?
- Talk to someone who reminds you of your strengths and values…sometimes we forget what makes us powerful
- Make one shift: delegate what drains, reclaim what energizes
Example: Marie realized she missed mentoring creatives. It was always the most energizing part of her job, but it had fallen off her plate. She carved out time for one mentorship session a week and immediately felt more like herself.
Your Next Move: Listen to the Whisper Before It Becomes a Scream
You don’t have to fall apart to be burned out. You just have to feel like you’ve drifted from who you are.
✅ Start by recognizing the real signs.
✅ Regulate your system before making changes.
✅ Reconnect with what gives you life…not just what earns your paycheck.
Marie didn’t need to quit everything. She needed to remember herself.
And you? You might just need a reset.
✨ Want help getting clear on whether burnout is impacting you? Take my free Burnout Radar Quiz to get a pulse check — and personalized guidance: 👉 Burnout Radar Quiz
Meet Phyllis Reagin — the leadership whisperer, mindset shifter, and media-savvy founder of At the Coach’s Table. A former entertainment exec turned high-impact coach, she’s on a mission to help trailblazing leaders in Hollywood and beyond ditch self-doubt or Imposter Syndrome, so they can own their genius. Whether she’s empowering showrunners to lead with confidence, guiding high achievers to use their strengths for the greatest impact, or building buzzworthy courses and assessments, Phyllis blends neuroscience, leadership strategy, with a bold dose of confidence-building strategy. From YouTube videos to coaching to insightful content — if it boosts leadership impact and builds confident leaders, she’s on it!
Want focused and personalized time to finally overcome your burnout? Book a 30-minute strategy meeting with Coach Phyllis and map out a plan! Book here.