If you've ever felt that quiet exhaustion creep, that sense of burnout, even in the middle of something you love, like your work or parenting, this episode is creative. Today we're going to explore how motivation can quietly turn into burnout, how to recognize when you're on that path, and what to do before it escalates into giving up on something you actually care about and want to keep doing. Welcome to Roots of the Rides with me and Sarah Hope, where spiritual wisdom means practical tools in short episodes. Each one is a taster, not a deep dive, meant to spark curiosity and guide you toward authentic alignment. We've been conditioned to believe that success only comes through force, hustle, and exhaustion. But aligned action, action rooted in trust, clarity, and inner resonance, is far more powerful. It doesn't mean you don't work. It means you work from a place of peace versus pressure. Today I want to talk about that cycle we can all get into that starts with motivation, turns into pressure, and results in burnout. You start with being profoundly motivated. You have clarity, inspiration, a goal. You feel energized, focused, and excited. Your nervous system is in a regulated, mobilized state. You're in what we might call the green zone or a flow state, engaged, present, clear. You might think things like, this is it, I can totally do this. This feels completely aligned, or I'm ready. But then something happens. That initial spark gets co-opted by internal narratives, fears, perfectionism, or even simple exhaustion. The joy of the idea starts to get buried under expectation, either from yourself or others. Now, instead of being pulled forward by inspiration, you're being pushed by pressure. This can look like unrealistic to-do lists, the need to do it perfectly, fear of failing or disappointing someone, being consumed with doubt, thinking I'm already behind, comparing your pace to someone else's. You're now moving out of flow and into a state of chronic activation. Your body may be running on adrenaline or cortisol. You're functioning, but not sustainably. And this is what leads us to burnout. You know, eventually the system says, no more. Your nervous system flips into a protective state. Shutdown, disassociation, fatigue, fog, avoidance. I mean, this is your body trying to help. It's trying to give you signals and feedback that maybe you're doing a little too much, but it can feel like failure. You know, burnout, it doesn't start as burnout. Often it starts as something beautiful. It starts as inspiration, devotion, excitement. I mean, you care deeply. You want to give your best. But without balance, care can quietly turn into control. Passion turns into pressure. And what once felt expansive begins to feel constrictive. So burnout isn't proof you don't care. It's proof you've cared too much for too long without enough restoration. Symptoms of that might include things like procrastination or paralysis, irritability or numbness, wanting to get numb, wanting to veg out or escape through, you know, television, doom scrolling, eating, feeling like everything is too much, that sense of complete overwhelm, even having a loss of motivation, even for the things you really deeply care about. This isn't laziness or lack of alignment. It's overdrive, finally collapsing into the freeze response. To make matters worse, we often judge ourselves at this point. We say, why can't I just push through? I was doing so well. What's wrong with me? And that guilt creates another wave of pressure, and the cycle begins again. So what do we do about it? The first thing you want to do is to try to catch the shift as early as possible. This is where mindfulness practices come in really handy when we've honed our ability to notice our experience. We want to notice when excitement starts turning into that pressure. That's the moment to pause and ask, wait a minute, am I still enjoying this or am I gripping? And this is when we can step into the question I posed on Monday. What's my motivation? Finding the why behind the what can be extremely powerful. Just take a breath and notice right now, is this hitting a chord with you, making you think of something going on in your life right now? When you think about it, are you feeling open and present or tight, shut down, numb, feeling avoidant? There's no judgment here. This is simply your body giving you information. And the more quickly you can recognize the shift, the sooner you can intervene with kindness and intention. Next, we want to soften the expectations. We want to shift from I have to to I get to, break things down, choose just one small action to continue moving forward. I just heard Dr. Beggie from uh Good Inside, she wrote the good the book Good Inside, uh, which is talking about kids, but she has so many messages that are good for all of us. And she referenced something one of her elementary school teachers taught her that she still uses and that I will now too, because I love it. She said, if something feels too big, too overwhelming, it just means that the first step isn't small enough. So find a smaller next step. Chunk it down until it feels completely doable. It doesn't mean the action as a whole is out of alignment. It just means you've got to make that first step smaller. This is echoed in so many people's work, like James Clear Atomic Habits talking about habit formation, how sometimes we just need to make the first version of that habit very small in order to make it feel doable. All right, third, get playful. Another mindset that can really help release the pressure is what I like to call the eff it mentality. Or if that doesn't resonate, you can ask yourself, what can I get away with? When you say eff it, you're letting go of the need to be perfect or control the outcome. Whatever happens, happens. The important thing is taking the action, even if it's messy, imperfect, or scary. I can do this sometimes feels heavy because it asks, what if I can't? What if I fail? But what can I get away with brings us back to curiosity, playfulness, courage. It brings us back to our rebellious years, or, you know, back when we were kids and we were willing to try and fail. It's permission to do that. It's permission to attempt something, to stumble, and to keep going without the weight of perfection on your shoulders. It's the, I'm gonna try, I might stink at this, I might really embarrass myself, but who the F cares? I'm doing it anyway. And if your mind starts running away with negative thoughts, focusing on all the way things might go wrong, telling you all the potential horrible outcomes. Here's a silly little trick a client taught me. She said, if you want to think a negative thought about yourself, do it in a cockney accent. It's impossible to stay self-serious for long when your inner critic sounds like a Monty Python character. So give that a go. Fourth point, give yourself a reset. Providing yourself with standing time to reset can be very helpful. At the end of every week, spend 15 minutes reviewing how the week went. Look at what worked, what didn't, what got in the way, and what you want to do differently next week. This sets you up for being able to see patterns and themes that are consistently helping and hindering you. It also helps you reset for the next week. Instead of ending the week feeling woefully behind, you reframe it as setting yourself up for the following week to be on track and aligned. You're not catching up from last week, you are setting a course for the next. And then point number five, build in recovery. We all need it. You can only go, go, go for so long before you lose momentum and crash. Overwhelm and burnout aren't always a sign you're off path. Sometimes they're signs you just need to take a break. And recovery doesn't have to mean taking a week off. Sometimes it's just three deep breaths between tasks, stepping outside, pausing to stretch. You know, for me, it's my daily meditation practice. When I start feeling that I gotta do this sensation, it's a red flag that says it's time for me to step back and meditate. I cannot mention recovery without at least giving a shout-out to sleep. So often, even when we're feeling overwhelmed and burned out, we sacrifice sleep for accomplishment. We say, no, no, I can sleep when I'm dead. I'm just gonna stay up tonight until midnight to get this project done or whatever it is. And that's not a good trade. We do not function well when we are sleep deprived. There are a billion studies out there about it. It's so important. It's actually even more important when you're feeling stressed out to prioritize your sleep. I'll link the episode about that in the show notes. So whether you are focusing on getting enough sleep or figuring out small ways to reset during your day, stretching, you know, in between different tasks, going for a 10-minute walk, getting your meditation in. Those tiny pauses, they tell your body you're safe and you will get back to work more clear and connected. I promise. One last thing that is helpful at all times is working on your self-compassion. You know, offer compassion and grace to the part of you that thinks everything rides on your performance on this moment. Remind it, you are allowed to be human. That part of you that wants to do it all, it's kind of a beautiful part of you, even though it might be causing some difficulty. It's just trying to protect you. And it learned somewhere along the way that love or safety had to be earned. So meet it with gratitude instead of shame. Let it know it doesn't have to hold everything together anymore. You know, burnout is your body's way of saying you've been giving from an empty cup. When you remember your why and pair it with the rest, your work becomes not just sustainable, but sacred. So the next time you feel that shift from I love this to I have to do this, just pause. Catch the shift, remember your why, soften your expectations, get playful, reset, and recover. Through it all, be self-compassionate and remind yourself you don't have to push your way to purpose. You can let purpose pull you. Next week, we're going to talk about another form of burnout. The kind that happens when you've been doing the inner work for a long time and it feels like it is never going to end. Make sure you subscribe or follow so you don't miss it. Thanks for listening. Remember, know who you are, love who you've been, and be willing to do the work to become who you're meant to be. Just a quick reminder this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I am not a licensed therapist, and nothing shared here is meant to replace the guidance of a physician, therapist, or any other qualified provider. That said, I hope it inspires you to grow, heal, and seek the support you need to thrive.