How to break free from burnout

This post will teach you how to pinpoint your source of burnout and break free from the chains of burnout holding you captive.

How to break free from burnout

At first it will piss you off, then the truth will set you free.

I’m about to dive right into something that can get me super duper FIRED up, so you are warned in advance. Hehe

Did you know that we’re NOT created to work ourselves into burnout (even if you’re chasing a result)? 

Did you know you don’t have to create a life that you’re constantly in need of escaping? 

Did you know that you (as a woman) don’t have to choose between being successful at your career and your home life? It doesn’t have to be an either/or?


I ‘think’ deep down we know this, but we sure don’t act like it. Which, in all reality means we don’t truly, deep down believe it’s possible. 


  • We see massive financial success and think it has to be hustle mode  24/7 to get there. 

  • We see a Pinterest like home-life and think we have to give up our careers in order to make that a reality. 

  • We see someone in shape, and think, ya right I don’t want to have to live in the gym, eat asparagus & tilapia only, and have it overtake my life.

What do you want from life?

Guess what?! I want you to CHALLENGE it all. Challenge what you don’t think is possible and put what YOU want into the mix and make it your own. We’ll dive deeper into this a bit later, but just try that on. 

YOU have the CHOICE to follow your brain’s patterns of thinking that everything is hard, impossible, and NOT for you...or, you can shut that piece down. Oh, and shut other people’s thoughts, beliefs, lives, results, etc down too. 

I was breed to believe that you have to basically kill yourself in order to get results in life. Life taught me that. Successful people taught me that. And I would go after all of these goals/results and get there, and be so burnout I couldn’t function (or at least I had no desire to). Then, with the inner nudge to keep up with hustle culture, I would get up and go chase something else in order to achieve the result (and just create another case of burnout). 

It was an insanity cycle I couldn’t get off of because I was addicted to getting it right, at the expense of my mental sanity. I was attempting to prove my worth (just like I had my whole life with my body, relationships, etc) with my business success. 

I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be this way (trust me). it’s not worth it to work so hard, get there, and not have anything else left in you to love those that matter most to you, take care of yourself, and also the ability to create more if it’s all been depleted. 

 
 
 
 

How burned out are you?

Stop right now, and give me a number indicative of where you’re at on the burnout scale? 1 (low) to 10 (high). 

Now, why is your number that number you choose? 

What do you need more of?

What do you need less of?

A deeper dive into eliminating burnout

Alright, we’ve got your burnout # figured out & the why behind it. Now, we’re about to dive deeper. 

But first, let me just address that yes, you have to work. You have to put some action behind your dreams. I’m not about to say you don’t have to do any of this. 

I’m simply addressing hustle culture and why I’m soooooooooooo against it now, for sustainability purposes. For those that aren’t there (yet), just keep going at the pace you’re at and eventually it will catchup with you. 

I watch people literally killing themselves in order to achieve, and it makes me mad! Frustrated! Shouting Stttoooopppppppppppp it’s not worth it!!! Your relationships are not worth that. 

Burnout breakthrough

A few years ago, I stumbled more deeply upon a coach that I almost worked with back in 2015 before she hit it big (Stacey Boehman). She was coming upon $8 MILLION in her business (now she’s at 13 million, married, and pregnant) & she was able to be a part of this revolutionary group of women, changing & challenging the trajectory of success in a sustainable manner. Then, I started devouring her own coach’s podcast (Brooke Castillo, she’s created the most successful life coach school to this date with massive success...on her way to a $100 million business). And guess what, she practices what she preaches. 

I’d never in my life SEEN anything like what they have done and how much they are revolutionizing sustainable success in this realm for women (and men).  They’ve shown me what is possible and also introduced me to some of the most incredible bold coaches, who value so many things that I do and are paving the way. I’m in an amazing mastermind, taught by one of the most brilliant, bold,  and amazing coaches: Lindsey Mango. 

Everyone preaches taking care of yourself first (it’s cultural & a non-negotiable in this coaching realm) and doing it in a way that is sustainable without constantly burning yourself out. It’s truly remarkable. 

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor

The reason I share this, because in a time of life where fatigue, burnout, and sacrifice is a badge of success, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. 

For over a decade & a half, I remember despising my body &  going through diet after diet, all the workout regimes, and anything that could get me more success with my body, yet my mental sanity suffered. 

Then I got to a point in my life where I kicked any type of diet to the curb and vowed to NEVER go back to measuring, counting, weighing anything in my life to that degree again. 

Breaking free of burnout by setting healthy boundaries

I had to put MAJOR boundaries around what I WAS DOING, because although I had internally changed, the EXTERNAL world was still the same and baiting me with various ‘fixes’ that could get me results (with a side of mental instability). Although I had made the shift inside, it was still new, so the temptations were still there. Yet, I had found a way that worked for me, where I had a relationship to my body, food, and working out, that I LOVED. It wasn’t an obsession like it had been in the past, full of punishment, extremes, shame, and working harder, it was freeing, empowering, and life giving. 

That’s the similarity between what I had learned a few years back about sustainable success. I had to put boundaries around my decision because hustle culture was still attempting to bait me and make me think that I could only achieve business success by doing all the things X  10000000 in order to achieve the desirable results. 

With my body, food, workouts, as I put that boundary up around what others were doing, I began to find my rhythm with what worked for me AND allowed me to enjoy life. It wasn't one or the other for me. 

The same is true for business for me (or anything else for that matter). One of my highest values is peace of mind. If I don’t have that, 2 of my other most favorite things on earth don’t happen at the same richness: connection & creativity. 

Now, it’s become a thing for me to really put boundaries up around the way that I do things with business so that I can have sustainable success with not just my business but also my husband, Joie, and anyone else I love to connect with. They mean so much to me that I would never want them to feel like I had placed them on the backburner of my life. No one’s opinions matter more to me than theirs. 

 
 
 

A huge shift for me that I’ve noticed even now, is  I notice when I start to get defensive around my beliefs in this area, or fired up when I watch others reaching that Gary V “success” but knowing they’re burning the candle at both ends and REMIND MYSELF that that isn’t what I’m after. ***Love the guy, but that extreme life is NOT for me. 

I’m after that ‘AND’ life. Success at business ‘AND’ in my home. 

Sustainable success

I don’t have to choose one or the other as long as I always keep ‘sustainable success’ at the forefront of my mind and ditch the hustle-to-burnout-culture. 

  • What’s your relationship to burnout? 

  • What does your relationship with yourself look like when you’re operating in burnout?

  • What does your relationship to your family  look like when you’re operating in burnout? 

  • Do you have success with work AND your home? OR is that a battle?

One of the most undervalued skills you can possess, in my opinion, is the ability to say “no” when you truly want to say no, or some variation of “that’s not for me,” or “no thank you” or “not at this time.”

Or, my husband’s go-to: “I don’t think so, but if something changes I’ll let you know.” 

If we don’t clearly define our boundaries + what we want/don’t want for your life, the world will decide for us. And, I don’t know about you, but that’s scary. 

In other words, YOU must decide ahead of time or else that decision will be made by default, by the world.

All it takes is a decision, and a little inner thought work. That’s it. 

Your inner thought life

What do you want your relationship to work to look like? 

What do you want your relationship to your home life to look like? 

What do you want your romantic relationship to look like? 


Now, if your current relationships above don’t match what you want them to look like, what are your thoughts about the situation? THAT is where the WORK needs to take place. 

Take a minute and think about what needs to change in order to make what you want, a reality. It doesn’t have to be hard, it just takes a little thought work + intentionality. 

To help out in this area, I’ll share mine:

Relationship to work:

  • Fulfilling- helping clients get out of their own way and create bulletproof relationships

  • Systems in place to maximize: 

    • Creative & Connection

  • Dedicated work hours (since I work for myself) 

  • Reminder : My work doesn’t my self worth

Relationship to home:

  • Peaceful & loving 

  • Organized and a safe & nurturing space

  • A place that brings people together 

  • Presence 

Romantic Relationship: 

  • Peaceful & fun

  • Loving & intimate

  • Bffs & My favorite human 

  • Always exceeding each other’s expectations & fulfilling love languages 

Don’t live by default

 
 

So this is just a little bit to help you out, but it doesn’t have to be hard. When something isn’t what you want, you simply need to see what’s standing in the way, and figure out what needs to change. 

If you don’t know how to do something, don’t let that stand in your way. There’s this thing called “Google” and lots of people out there that probably have what you want that you could simply ask. 

Don’t live a life by default. Live a life by design

 (your life, not what others' want of you). 

Are you ready to thrive?

Are you ready? THIS is how I help you take the reins of your life back & learn how to have the most epic relationship with YOURSELF (which is the root foundation to all other relationships). 

I help women create the relationship that they want, faster.

Let’s chat! Click to book a consult call now.

Meg Smithson, Life Coach

Meg coaches women by identifying areas of self sabotage, helping them break up with the shame that usually accompanies that, and then shows them how to set boundaries around the emerging 2.0 version they want to become, and live that life, unapologetically.

Click to schedule a life coaching consultation with Meg.

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How to go from Broken to Breakthrough