Fuel or Burnout

 

Burnout is the shadow of passion.

It’s tempting to believe that fire alone will keep you going. That if you care deeply enough, push hard enough, stay up late enough, the universe will reward your effort with results. But passion without sustainability is self-destruction with good intentions.

The hardest thing for the driven is learning when to rest. We equate rest with laziness, with softness, with slipping. But fuel must be replenished. Even a sacred flame goes out when oxygen is gone. Burnout doesn't arrive with warning bells; it creeps in through exhaustion disguised as devotion.

The key is discernment. What fuels you? What drains you? Are you giving from overflow or from depletion?

Leaders who last are not the ones who burn the brightest—they are the ones who learned to tend their flame. This means building rhythms of restoration. Protecting space for silence. Recognizing that withdrawal is sometimes wisdom, not weakness. You cannot save a world you’re barely surviving.

So if you feel yourself flickering, don’t see it as failure. See it as a signal. Even the most powerful fires need tending.

Next: Leading from the Scar, Not the Wound—Why true strength comes from what you've healed, not what you're still bleeding.