why burnout keeps coming back - and what it's trying to tell you
We’ve had a lot going on lately.
Life with a toddler. My husband navigating a full plate at work. My business growing and expanding (with some really exciting events and podcasts coming up). Birthday celebrations for both Adam and Caleb. Keeping up with our home, our bunny Gus, family, friends, house projects… you know the kind of season I’m talking about.
Full. Beautiful. And… a lot.
On top of that, I took on more than I usually do—managing groceries and meal prep, planning two birthday celebrations. And I want to be really honest about this:
I knew I was overgiving.
This wasn’t unconscious. It wasn’t me slipping into old patterns without awareness. I could see it happening in real time. I was choosing to take on more than truly felt good to me.
And still… burnout crept in.
This is how burnout actually happens
Not because you’re doing life wrong. Not because you’re incapable.
But because of a very simple pattern:
You have a lot going on
You choose (consciously or not) to overgive
You don’t receive the support you need
Burnout happens
That’s it.
And the part most people miss?
Even when you know you’re overgiving, burnout can still happen—if you don’t compensate for it.
What I didn’t do (that mattered more than anything)
I didn’t ask for—or take—the support I needed.
There were so many small ways I could have supported myself better:
Putting Caleb in school an extra day
Asking for help (even just emotional support) from family or friends
Taking intentional time for myself—even two minutes to reset (Though I will say, I did meditate one day… with Caleb. A story for another time.)
When I really started to feel the burnout, I finally called in support where I could—getting help with meals, which honestly felt like a lifesaver in that moment.
But the bigger shift wasn’t logistical.
It was awareness.
Burnout isn’t failure—it’s feedback
This is why I care so deeply about burnout work:
Because it still shows up for me too.
Burnout isn’t something you “fix once and for all.” It’s a pattern your brain uses—especially when you’re growing.
Every time you step into a new level of life or business, your brain tries to pull you back into what’s familiar. What’s comfortable. What feels “safe.”
And often, that looks like overgiving.
So when burnout creeps in, it doesn’t mean something has gone wrong.
It means you’re expanding.
The shift: I caught it faster
Here’s what’s different now:
The moment I really noticed what was happening, it took very little to shift it.
No spiraling. No weeks or months stuck in it.
Just a simple reset.
What I did to feel better—fast
I did four things:
Prioritized something just for me (I signed up for an event I genuinely wanted to go to)
Got more support (I added an extra day of school for Caleb)
Shared how I was feeling (I talked to Adam so I could feel seen and heard)
Acknowledged my growth - our brains always want to skip this one (I recognized how quickly I caught it—and what that means about who I’m becoming)
And that was it.
Within a day, I felt completely different.
This is the part that changes everything
The old version of me would have stayed in that burnout for weeks… even months.
Overthinking. Ruminating. Wondering what I was doing wrong.
But now I understand something I didn’t before:
We are always evolving.
What you need changes.
What your capacity is changes.
What your boundaries are… change.
And sometimes, you don’t know your boundary until you cross it.
That’s not failure.
That’s learning.
So when burnout creeps in, do this:
Prioritize something just for yourself
Get more support
Let yourself be seen and heard
Look for evidence of how you’re growing
Because burnout isn’t the end of the story.
It’s a signal.
A redirection.
A sign that you’re being asked to do things differently at this next level of your life.
And honestly? That’s a beautiful thing.
Ready to stop getting pulled under by burnout?
This is exactly the work I teach inside my audio course, The Burnout Protocol—so you know how to catch burnout early and shift it quickly, every time.
Instead of losing weeks or months to it… you learn how to reset in real time.
You can check it out here.
