17. Burnout as a Portal: Reclaiming Rest, Agency, and Purpose
What’s new:
This episode flips the burnout script. Coach and systems thinker Michelle Kay Anderson invites you to stop seeing exhaustion as failure—and start seeing it as a signal.
Why it matters:
Burnout isn’t just about overwork—it’s a systemic issue deeply rooted in hustle culture, perfectionism, and mission-driven environments. This episode offers a powerful reframe: rest is resistance.
What you’ll learn:
The hidden cost of “proving” your worth through productivity
How your Enneagram type reveals your burnout pattern
Why rest isn’t lazy—it’s revolutionary
A 5-step invitation to shift from depletion to presence
This episode is for you if:
You’re tired of self-care checklists that don’t work
You work in a nonprofit or purpose-driven org
You’re ready to reclaim your energy and purpose
🔗 Book a consult with Michelle or bring her to your team
📥 Bonus: Download the burnout pattern cheat sheet for Enneagram styles (Notion document 👉)
Have a favorite podcast player? Here are direct episode links to: Apple | Spotify
Transcript
Opening: Disrupting the Burnout Narrative
What if your exhaustion isn't a sign you're broken—but a wise messenger?
Welcome to Upleveling Work. I'm Michelle Kay Anderson—executive coach, systems thinker, and your guide to making work more human. This season, we're exploring what it truly means to create a big, juicy life—especially for those of us committed to mission-driven work that often feels increasingly overwhelming.
In our recent episodes, we've talked about imposter syndrome as a signal you're operating in systems not designed for you, the anxiety that comes from seeking certainty in complex environments, and how confusion is actually part of the learning process. Today, we're going deeper into something that affects nearly every leader I work with: burnout.
But I'm not here to give you another "self-care checklist" or tell you to just "manage your time better." Instead, I want to offer a radical reframe that builds on everything we've been exploring together.
Personal Story: Over-Functioning and the Cost of Proving
Let me start with a story from my own life, because I think you might see yourself in it…
The reality is that I know this story intimately.
In my first years building a solo coaching practice—right as I was becoming an empty nester—I found myself falling into old patterns: over-functioning, saying yes to every opportunity, and measuring my value by how much I could do for others. I watched my two kids, exploring their own careers, wrestle with the same questions: "Am I doing enough? What does success really mean?"
Even as a coach who should "know better," I was burning out—caught in the very hustle culture I wanted to disrupt. I realized: I was trying to earn my worth, not embody it.
The Reality of Burnout in Mission-Driven Work
If you're listening, you might feel this too—especially if you're in the nonprofit space where the current landscape feels increasingly discouraging. The scope of your work keeps expanding while resources shrink. Everyone around you seems to be freaking out, especially with what is going on geo-politically.
You care so deeply about the people you work with or the mission you're committed to that this part of your life consumes your energy—mentally, physically, emotionally. It shows up as:
Overworking, over-functioning for others—poor boundaries, saying yes too much, always available
Exhaustion so deep you "can't even deal" anymore
Physical symptoms: illness, chronic pain, complete energy depletion
Feeling on high alert all the time, irritable, or overreacting because you're so sensitive
Maybe you're
Hitting snooze repeatedly, starting your day already frantic or dreading what is to come
Working vampire hours—before dawn and late into evenings
Living for weekends but still feeling tired when you rest
Feeling on the verge of tears—or maybe just numb
Getting triggered by small things
Worrying constantly, finding daily life overwhelming
Fantasizing about escape
If you are nodding along to any of these, I want you to know: Burnout isn't your fault.
Beyond Individual Failure: The Systemic Roots of Burnout
We live in a world that tells us to just work harder, push through, or "treat yourself" with a little self-care. But if that worked, you wouldn't still be feeling this way.
Burnout isn't just about working too much. It's about having your emotional resilience—your capacity for handling life's challenges—run completely dry. And when that happens, even small stressors feel overwhelming.
Let's be clear: This isn't just happening in your head. You're operating in systems that:
Ask you to do more with less
Don't truly prioritize human wellbeing, even when they claim to
Were designed with productivity, not humanity, as the central value
Treat rest as a reward for productivity, not a fundamental human right
For those working in mission-driven organizations, this is compounded by the weight of addressing systemic problems that seem to grow more urgent and complex by the day.
The Enneagram: Your Unique Burnout Pattern
So, how does this show up for each of us? This is where the Enneagram has been a game-changer for me and my clients… Each of us has a unique stress signature—predictable ways we react when our resilience is depleted:
1s become increasingly critical, rigid, and frustrated—their inner critic on overdrive
2s experience deep resentment while continuing to overextend themselves—giving until there's nothing left
3s who normally thrive on achievement check out or avoid goals, overwork while ignoring personal needs, and become obsessed with image and competition
4s withdraw into emotional intensity, become moody or self-absorbed—feeling uniquely misunderstood in their suffering
5s detach completely, becoming overly cerebral and disconnected from their bodies and emotions
6s spiral into anxiety, suspicion, and indecisiveness—productivity plummets as worst-case scenarios consume their thinking
7s frantically seek distractions, becoming impulsive and scattered—doing anything to avoid negative emotions
8s become confrontational and domineering—control becomes the only way to manage vulnerability
9s withdraw and numb out, becoming complacent or passive-aggressive—disappearing even while physically present
Recognizing your stress pattern isn't just interesting—it's the first step to interrupting it. When you can name what's happening, you gain the power to choose differently.
But here's what's crucial: Each type is driven by unconscious needs that make us feel whole:
1s need things to feel perfect and right
2s need to feel needed and loved
3s need to feel successful and admired
4s need to feel authentic and unique
5s need to feel competent and capable
6s need to feel supported, secure, and guided
7s need to feel free and independent
8s need to feel powerful and in control
9s need to feel harmony and peace
The irony? Our ego patterns—the very things we do to try to meet these needs—often prevent us from actually fulfilling them. We expend enormous energy optimizing for the wrong things.
Rest as Resistance: The Radical Reframe
This is where I want to introduce a powerful idea from Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and author of "Rest Is Resistance."
Rest isn't just about recovering so you can work more. It's a form of resistance against systems that profit from your exhaustion. When we rest, we disrupt the logic of capitalism and white supremacy, both of which see our bodies as machines and our value as tied to output.
"Rest is a form of resistance because it pushes back and disrupts white supremacy and capitalism. Our bodies are a site of liberation. Naps provide a portal to imagine, invent and heal. Our dream space has been stolen, and we want it back. We will reclaim it via rest."—Tricia Hersey
This isn't just philosophical—it's neurological. When you're chronically stressed, you literally cannot access your prefrontal cortex—the part of your brain responsible for creativity, complex problem-solving, and empathy. The very qualities needed to address the complex challenges in your work.
Rest isn't laziness. It's the prerequisite for:
Deep listening to yourself and others
Hearing the future that wants to emerge
Breaking free from reactive patterns
Accessing your unique gifts and wisdom
Creating truly innovative solutions
For those of you working in nonprofits facing increasingly complex challenges—rest isn't a luxury. It's the foundation of effective action.
The Pathway to Presence and Liberation
Here's where this connects to everything we've been exploring in previous episodes:
Those imposter feelings? They're amplified when you're exhausted and operating from your stress patterns.
That anxiety about uncertainty? It becomes overwhelming when your nervous system is depleted.
The confusion that's part of learning? It feels unbearable when you have no resilience left.
Rest interrupts these destructive patterns by:
Restoring your nervous system - allowing you to respond rather than react
Reconnecting you to your body's wisdom - where your intuition and deepest knowing reside
Creating space for the questions that matter - "What truly needs my attention?" rather than "How can I do it all?"
Allowing you to notice and interrupt your Enneagram stress patterns - choosing responses aligned with your values
Opening you to collective wisdom and support - remembering you don't have to do it all alone
Practical Invitation: Beyond "Just Rest More"
I know telling you to "rest more" might fall flat when your to-do list is overflowing and the world seems to be burning around you. So I'm not just suggesting you take more naps (though that would help).
I'm inviting you to a radical experiment:
Identify your personality’s stress pattern - What's your first sign that you're depleting your resilience? (I'll include a guide in the show notes)
Create a 10-minute rest ritual - Not as a reward for productivity, but as an act of resistance and reclamation. What would it look like to claim 10 minutes of your day as completely yours?
Ask the liberating question - "What if I'm already worthy, exactly as I am?" Notice how this question disrupts your particular pattern of proving or striving.
Experiment with presence - For one conversation each day, practice being fully present—not planning your response, not multi-tasking, not rushing. Just listening with your whole being. and letting it be enough.
Join me next week for a deeper exploration - In our next episode, we'll talk about how to actually increase your capacity—so you can grow and thrive, not just survive.
Closing: From Burnout to Portal
What if burnout isn't the end of your story, but a portal to a more authentic, powerful way of being and working?
What if your exhaustion is actually an invitation to reclaim your humanity in systems that have forgotten what truly matters?
What if rest isn't just about recovery, but about revolution—both personal and collective?
I believe the future that wants to emerge through you—through your organization, through your mission—requires not your depletion, but your wholeness. Not your exhaustion, but your clarity. Not your sacrifice, but your sustainable, joyful commitment.
If you're ready to explore this path—to move beyond burnout to true liberation and impact—I'd love to support you. Book a consult call or invite me to work with your team. Let's make work work better—together.
Until next time, remember: Your worth is not in what you produce. Your power is in who you are.
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