This past spring break, my son Keane and I were swimming in the ocean, lying by the pool, and just talking. Nothing pressing. No agenda. Just the two of us, present with each other.
I was not burnt out. Not even a little.
And I've been sitting with why that is, because I think it points to something most people feel but rarely stop to name.
The answer is meaning. That trip had it running through everything. Every afternoon by the water, every conversation that actually went somewhere, every moment of just being together was adding to me rather than taking from me. When something means something to you, it doesn't drain you the same way.
I think about that a lot when it comes to work.
A few years ago, I left an organization I had genuinely loved. Good people. A mission I believed in. I had given a lot of years to that place. But somewhere along the way, the meaning dried up for me personally. Not because the work stopped mattering in the world. It still mattered. It just stopped mattering to me the way it once had.
I remember dreading the meetings. I remember feeling physically tired in a way that had nothing to do with how hard I was working. I would leave at the end of the day not worn out from effort but worn out from indifference. That's a different kind of tired, and honestly, it's a harder one to shake.
That's what burnout actually is, in my experience. It's not about too many hours or too much on your plate. It's about doing work that you can't connect to anything worth doing.
Here's what I know to be true: some of the most meaningful work is also some of the hardest. And yet it doesn't wear people down the same way. It does the opposite. It pulls you forward. When the work is tied to something you actually care about, a purpose, a person, something you helped build, it starts to feel like fuel rather than weight.
That's been my experience with the businesses I've built. Especially with ColsenKeane. There are hard days, absolutely. But I get to be part of something I helped create. I get to work alongside people I genuinely love. The work has roots in something that matters to me. That changes everything about how it feels to show up.
So here's what I want to ask you.
On Monday morning, when the alarm goes off and the week is out in front of you, what do you feel? Are you ready? Maybe even a little excited? Or are you already watching the clock and wishing it were Friday?
There's no shame in the honest answer. But I think it's worth paying attention to, because it tells you something real. If you're running on empty and the work you're doing has no meaning in it for you, that's not a scheduling problem. It might be pointing you somewhere.
For a lot of people who read this blog, that nagging feeling, that sense that there's something more out there, is worth taking seriously. Building something of your own is not the right path for everyone. But it might be the right path for you.
Don't ignore that.
