10/21/2025
I’ve always been an “all in” person.
Need someone to champion a new product? I’ve got you.
New initiative that needs buy-in? I’m your girl.
Problem that needs solving? I’ll work tirelessly to fix it.
…to the point that I’ll kill myself trying to do it all, perfectly.
And THAT is the problem.
Here’s the pattern I keep living on repeat:
I don’t tend to burnout and recover. Instead, I burnout and redirect.
I lived in such constant stress at my corporate job, that I had to leave it after it started destroying my physical health.
So I threw myself “all in” to volunteering: PTA committee leader, garden parent, soccer coach, Girl Scout troop leader, AND starting a business.
Then someone told me I needed to show up consistently on social media to build my business.
So I went “all in”: posting 3-5x per week, engaging 3+ hours daily.
Until I burned out again and disappeared from the online world (and my audience) for 2 months.
See the pattern?
Most high achievers I know are “all in” people.
We say “yes” to things we shouldn’t. We forget when it’s okay to let the ball drop. We don’t know how to step back and let someone else say “yes” instead.
Then one day we wake up overloaded, overscheduled, and overwhelmed.
So we swing to the other extreme: hard boundaries, saying no to everything, building up guilt with every decline.
Here’s what I’m learning the hard way:
“All in” people don’t have a natural ‘sustainable setting.’
We only know ON or OFF.
But life isn’t all or nothing.
The skill I’m now working on now isn’t “better boundaries.”
It’s learning to how to operate at 70% (which is exceptionally hard for this straight-A student).
To show up consistently without overdoing it.
To contribute meaningfully, without making it my entire identity.
Someone recently reminded me: “Consistency is better than perfection.”
Turns out, consistency requires knowing how to be “mostly in” instead of “all in.”
Still figuring out what that looks like for me.
Can anyone else relate to this exhausting cycle?
