You used to love this. Building something from nothing. Making decisions. Seeing ideas come to life. The rush of closing a deal or solving a problem.
But somewhere along the way, it stopped being fun. Now it's just... hard.
You're working 60-hour weeks. You're checking email at midnight. You're thinking about the business when you should be present with your family. You're irritable. You're exhausted. Nothing feels like a win anymore because there's always another problem waiting.
You tell yourself it's temporary. Once we hit this milestone, things will calm down. Once we grow past this stage, it'll get easier.
It won't. Because burnout isn't actually about how hard you're working. It's about how you're thinking about the work.
The Burnout Cycle
Burnout doesn't happen overnight. It's a cycle, and most business owners don't recognise it until they're in deep.
Stage 1: High expectations, unlimited energy.
This is the beginning. You're building something. You're willing to work hard because it matters. You're excited. You're okay with long hours because you believe in what you're doing.
This is healthy. The energy comes from meaning, not just effort.
Stage 2: First setback.
Something doesn't work. A hire doesn't pan out. A deal falls through. A market shift catches you off guard. It's disappointing, but it's normal.
The problem is how you respond. If you think, "Okay, what did we learn? How do we adjust?" you move on. If you think, "This is my fault, I should have seen this coming, I need to work harder to fix it," you start slipping.
Stage 3: Increased effort, decreased results.
You're working harder to make up for the setback. But the harder you work, the less clearly you think. You're making worse decisions. So results get worse. So you work even harder.
At this point, you're not energised by the work anymore. You're just pushing through.
Stage 4: Cynicism and detachment.
You've been pushing hard for months. Results still aren't where you want them. You start becoming cynical. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this." "Maybe nothing I do matters." "Maybe the market is just against us."
You're disconnected from your team. You're going through the motions. You're stuck.
Stage 5: Crisis or collapse.
This is when burnout reaches its end point. You get sick. You have a panic attack. You snap at your team. You take a big loss. Or you just... stop. You can't keep going.
The business suffers because you're not present. Your team suffers because you're exhausted and cranky. Your family suffers because you're not there.
And the cruel part? At this point, you're so burned out that even stepping back doesn't feel like relief. It feels like failure.
How to Spot It Coming
The good news is that burnout is predictable. And preventable. But only if you know what to look for.
You stop celebrating wins.
Remember when you closed a deal and it felt great? Now you close one and immediately think about the next problem. Wins don't feel like wins anymore because you can't stay with them. This is a sign that you're disconnected from the meaning of the work.
You measure success only by metrics.
Revenue. Growth rate. Team size. These are becoming the only things that matter. And they're never enough. You hit the number and immediately set a higher target. You're always failing.
But the business exists for a reason beyond the metrics. If that reason disappears, so does the fuel.
You're working more but thinking less.
You're in reaction mode. You're going to meetings, answering emails, handling crises. But you're not actually thinking about strategy or future direction. You're just managing urgencies.
This is a sign you've lost control of your calendar and your priorities.
You're irritable and cynical.
You snap at your team over small things. You're suspicious of their motives. You're cynical about whether anything you do matters. This is burnout talking. And your team feels it. Your culture suffers.
Your relationships suffer.
You're not present with family. You're not calling friends. You're isolated except for work. This isn't busyness. This is burnout. Busyness is situational. Burnout is systemic. It takes everything.
You can't imagine taking real time off.
You can take a vacation where you work, but you can't imagine actually unplugging for a week. The idea of being unavailable feels terrifying.
This is a sign that your identity has collapsed into your business. Who are you if you're not working?
If you're seeing multiple of these signs, you're sliding toward burnout. The good news is that it's fixable. But not by working harder.
How to Actually Stop Burnout
This requires both tactical and mindset shifts.
Separate your identity from your business.
You're not your business. Your business is something you've built. It's important. But it's not who you are.
If you lose the business, you don't disappear. You don't become nothing.
The healthier your separation between identity and business, the more clearly you can think about what's actually happening and what needs to change.
Define what success actually means to you.
Not revenue. Not growth metrics. What does success actually look like in your life and in your business?
Maybe it's: "We're profitable, my team is happy, I work 45 hours a week, and I have time for my family."
Maybe it's: "We've hit $5M revenue and we have a leadership team that can run without me."
Maybe it's: "I've created 50 jobs and we're making a difference in our industry."
Define it. Write it down. Make it real.
Then use it as your actual measure of success, not the metrics that never satisfy.
Get back to meaning.
Why did you start this business? Not "to make money" (though that's part of it). The deeper why. What problem are you solving? What impact do you want to have?
When you're burnt out, you lose touch with this. You're just grinding.
Reconnect to it. Let it fuel you again instead of external metrics.
Delegate or eliminate.
You're working 60 hours. Some of that work shouldn't be done at all. Some of it shouldn't be done by you.
Go through your calendar. What could be eliminated? What could be delegated?
I know you've heard this before. But burnout usually means you're doing work that could and should be done by someone else. Let it go.
Take real breaks.
Not vacation where you work. Real breaks where you're unavailable.
Start small. A weekend completely unplugged. A week where you don't check email. Then extend it.
Real breaks aren't selfish. They're necessary maintenance. You can't think clearly or lead well when you're exhausted.
Talk to someone.
Don't hide the burnout. Talk to a coach. Talk to a mentor. Talk to your partner. Talk to a therapist.
Burnout often comes with shame. Like you should just be able to handle it. But you can't think your way out of burnout. You need perspective from outside.
What Happens When You Address It
One of my clients was deep in burnout. Working 70-hour weeks. Cynical. Disconnected from why he started the business.
We didn't try to make the business more efficient. We didn't try to make him work smarter.
We did three things:
First, we reconnected him to what the business was actually for. Not the revenue. The impact. Why it mattered.
Second, we looked at his calendar. We cut out 20 hours of work per week that either shouldn't be done or shouldn't be done by him.
Third, we gave him permission to take real time off. Not guilty vacation. Real vacation.
Within three months, the shift was visible. He was present again. He was making better decisions. He was leading better. And his business results actually improved because he was thinking clearly again.
Burnout is deceptive because it feels like hard work that should be paying off. But it's actually just spinning wheels. The moment you address it, clarity comes back. And clarity changes everything.
What To Do This Week
If you're seeing signs of burnout, don't ignore them.
First, identify the signs. Are you celebrating wins? Are you thinking about the future or just reacting? Are you present with your family? If the answers are no, you're sliding.
Second, define what success actually looks like. Not metrics. What does a successful life and business look like for you?
Third, look at your calendar. What 10 hours could you eliminate this week? What could be delegated?
Fourth, take one real break. This weekend, or this week, be completely unavailable. No email. No work. Just present.
Fifth, talk to someone. A coach, a mentor, a therapist. Someone who can give you perspective.
Burnout doesn't fix itself by ignoring it. But it fixes itself remarkably fast once you actually address it. The goal isn't to work harder. The goal is to remember why you started and to build a business you actually want to run.
Ready to Build a Business That Doesn't Burn You Out?
Burnout doesn't mean your business is failing. It usually means something is broken in how you're running it or thinking about it. And it's fixable.
This is what I work on in the Mastering Business Expansion Program, helping you build a business that scales without burning you out, and reconnecting you to the meaning of the work.
Here's what we work on together:
We look at what's actually draining you and what needs to change. We help you define what success actually means so you're measuring it against reality, not an endless treadmill. We work on delegation and elimination so you're not doing everything. We reconnect you to why the business matters. And we build practices that let you actually step back and think clearly.
Over time, the exhaustion lifts. The cynicism fades. You remember why you loved this. And you build a business that's actually sustainable.
Your first session is free. We'll talk about where you are, what's draining you, and what needs to shift for you to rebuild the connection between work and meaning.
If you're burnt out and you're ready to build something that doesn't destroy you in the process, let's talk.