The Advice I Wish I Got Sooner (Before the Burnout Began)

What I wish someone had told me back when proving myself felt like survival

If I could go back and offer my younger self one piece of advice—
not just at the start of my career, but during those early years of overachieving and over-functioning—it would be this:

“You don’t have to prove your worthiness by burning yourself out.”

Long before my first full-time job, I had already tied my value to how much I could carry, achieve and hold together for everyone else and I wanted it to look effortless.
It showed up in university, in part time jobs, in leadership positions, in internships, in the way I filled every gap and never said no.

And honestly?
Everyone accepted it.

I even had a boss once who was “coaching” me on leadership and told me about what she called the piggy test:

“Give someone work until they squeal—then you’ll know their maximum capacity.”

I was stunned.

It went against everything I believed in and valued—care, empathy, well-being.
And then I realized: that was exactly what she was doing to me.

It felt like a game of chicken—two drivers headed for a single-lane bridge, waiting to see who would swerve first.
Only neither of us was swerving.
And my mental health was tanking.

No one warned me it was a fast track to exhaustion, disconnection and a quiet identity crisis.

The Warning Signs No One Talks About

Looking back, the signs were there:

• I couldn’t relax without guilt or having a feeling of angst

• I associated “rest” with weakness or laziness

• I found comfort in chaos—it made me feel important and like I was doing something

• I was constantly raising the bar for myself, even when I was already drowning

But because I was still producing results, no one questioned it. Least of all me.

That’s the dangerous thing about high-functioning burnout: it hides behind gold stars, job titles and “success.”

What I Wish I Knew Back Then

If I could go back, I would tell myself this:

• Your worth isn’t tied to your output.
  You don’t have to earn rest. You don’t have to justify your value with performance. You are enough, today, just as you are. You always have been.

• Being the strong one all the time isn’t sustainable.
  You’re allowed to need support. You’re allowed to pause. It can be a gift to others in your life when you turn to them and allow them to return the favour of being a support system or a listening ear.

• Overfunctioning isn’t leadership—it’s self-abandonment in disguise.
  Real leadership includes boundaries, alignment and self-trust.

Why It Matters Now

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and it feels important to say this out loud: High-achievers are not immune to burnout. In fact, we’re often the most at risk—because we’ve trained ourselves to override every signal that says “slow down.”

At Kate Hanson Co., I work with high-performing professionals and leaders who’ve hit a wall—professionally, emotionally or personally.
Not because they failed. But because they succeeded in a way that wasn’t sustainable.

This month is a powerful reminder that success without well-being isn’t really success at all.
My work now is about helping people create a version of success that doesn’t cost them their health, identity or joy.

💬 Let’s Talk

What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you before you burned out—or before you believed overworking was the price of success?

Let’s open that conversation.
The more we normalize this, the more we build lives that support us and sustain us.

🔗 Ready to Recalibrate?

If you’re feeling the nudge to realign, we’d love to support you.

👉 Book a Discovery Call with Gia, our Membership Coordinator

She’ll help you explore which support path is right for this season of your life, work and leadership.