I'm Burnt Out But Can't Take A Vacation.

Hey Unfiltered Folks,

Answer: Burnout means you had the wrong expectations.

Reality check needed. You thought you'd build something, hire people, and coast. That's not leading. That's fantasizing. Leadership is relentless. It's decisions, fires, problems, and pressure. Daily.

If you're burnt out, you expected something different. The work isn't changing. Your expectations need to. Or you need to leave.

Question to Consider: What did you think leading was going to be?

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Why: You thought you'd build something, hire people, coast. That's not leading. That's fantasizing.

Leadership is relentless. It's decisions, fires, problems, pressure. Daily. If you're burnt out, you expected something different.

Here's what you thought: build to a point, then it runs itself. You hire good people, they handle it, you're free. That's the fantasy. The reality? It never stops.

There's always a fire. Always a decision. Always a problem. Always pressure. That's leadership. It doesn't get easier. You get stronger. Or you quit. But the work stays hard.

If you can't accept that, you're in the wrong role. Don't blame burnout. Burnout is your expectations colliding with reality. Reality won.

Now you either adjust expectations or leave. Both are fine. But don't stay while resenting the job for being the job.

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Action: Accept reality first.

This is the job. It's hard. It takes everything.

If you can't accept that, sell the company or step down.

But if you're staying, here's what you do: offload one mundane task this week. Give it to someone else completely.

Next week, delegate one decision. Keep doing that until you've cleared 20% of your plate.

Then reset your expectations.
Stop expecting balance.
Stop expecting ease.

This is the cost of building something. If you want normal hours, get a job. If you want to build, accept the grind.

Stay Unfiltered,
— Andy

P.S. Leadership is Relentless, What did you expect it to be?

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