Myth: Burnout is the Price of Ambition
Last week I was talking to a client who said something eye-opening to me:
"Laura, I know I should be grateful. I've worked so hard to get here. Everyone says this is just what success costs."
She's a VP at a Fortune 500 company. Big corner office. Six-figure salary. The whole package.
And she's completely exhausted.
Not the good kind of tired you feel after a challenging workout or a meaningful project. The bone-deep, wake-up-tired, can't-remember-the-last-time-you-felt-excited-about-anything kind of exhausted.
When I asked what she thought was causing it, she said, "Well, burnout is just the price of ambition, right? If I want to keep climbing, this is what it takes."
That's when I knew we had to talk about the biggest myth we high-achievers tell ourselves.
What’s the myth? Burnout is the price of ambition.
If you're not exhausted, you're not working hard enough. If you're not sacrificing your health, your relationships, your peace of mind, you must not want success badly enough.
This myth has created an entire generation of high-performers who confuse exhaustion with excellence.
We wear our burnout like a badge of honor. We compete over who got less sleep. We compete over who {insert your metric}...We justify the cost by pointing to our achievements.
But what I KNOW FOR SURE after 30,000+ interviews:
Burnout isn't the price of ambition. It's a signal that you're out of alignment.
What Burnout Is Really Telling You
When was the last time you felt genuinely energized by your work? Not the adrenaline rush of a deadline or the temporary high of recognition, but that steady, sustainable energy that comes from doing something that fits who you are?
If you can't remember, that's not because you're not “tough enough” for success. It's because you're trying to succeed in a way that doesn't match your inner truth.
Think about it: when you're aligned with who you really are and what genuinely matters to you, work doesn't drain you the same way. Yes, you get tired, that's normal. But you don't wake up dreading your days or wondering if this is all there is???
Burnout happens when there's a disconnect between your external achievements and your internal wisdom. When you're performing a version of success instead of living your authentic one.
The Real Path to Sustainable Success
I've watched thousands of high-achievers make a simple but profound shift. Instead of pushing harder when they feel depleted, they start asking different questions:
What if this exhaustion is information helping me, not a weakness?
What would sustainable success actually look like for me?
How can I achieve my goals in a way that energizes rather than depletes me?
We finally get it on the other side! Sustainable success isn't about having superhuman endurance. It's about creating alignment between who you are and how you work.
When you're aligned, you still work hard. You still have ambitious goals. But you approach them from a place of authenticity rather than performance. Your energy becomes renewable instead of finite.
Your Micro-Move This Week
Ready to test this for yourself?
Pick one area of your work where you feel most drained. Instead of pushing through or trying harder, ask yourself: "What would this look like if I approached it from my authentic self instead of my performing self?"
Maybe that means having a different kind of conversation with your team. Perhaps it means restructuring a project to leverage your actual strengths. Maybe it means saying no to something that doesn't feel right in your gut. Having the courage to say what’s actually on your mind.
Try one small experiment this week. See what shifts when you stop confusing exhaustion with excellence.
To every high-achiever I've worked with who has made this transition…bravo! And you are here to help others figure this out too: you don't need to choose between success and well-being. You don't have to sacrifice your health for your career or your authenticity for your achievements.
But you do need to stop believing that burnout is the inevitable cost of ambition.
Your exhaustion isn't proof that you're working hard enough. It's proof that you're working out of alignment.
The good news? Once you recognize that, everything can change.
Ready to explore what sustainable success looks like for you? I'm here when you're ready to make that shift. [Book an Activation Call]
With deep belief in your magnificence,
Laura
P.S. If this resonated with you, you're definitely not alone in feeling this way. So many high-achievers are discovering there's a different way to succeed, one that actually feels good on the inside. We're figuring this out together, one authentic step at a time.