There is no glory in sacrificing all of your energy in an attempt to keep up with some arbitrary pace you’ve set for yourself.
It is not sustainable, it does not serve your goals in the end, and above all: it does not feel good — it’s not an ideal way to live.
No one knows how you’re feeling as well as you, which means that no one can be as effective at protecting your energy and preventing this scenario as you.
The path to excessively draining your energy has a way of sneaking up on you, often occurring through the accumulation of individually harmless but collectively harmful commitments: saying yes to some meetings only to realize later that you’ve taken on a few too many, committing to doing certain things… only to realize that you’ve committed to so much that you can no longer realistically get everything done in time.
In general, this is all well-meaning: we see our commitment to others as a bona fide way of aligning with our desire to be a good partner, colleague, or friend.
Where this breaks down is when we find ourselves stretched too thin, restless, and burnt out.
The solution is remarkably simple, often-advised, but something we often feel discomfort doing: saying “no”.
