How to Avoid Entrepreneur Burnout (How to Not Hate Your Business!)

*Disclaimer 1: I wrote this in Dec 2022. But it'll make sense to you whether you read it in Jan 2023 or... Jun 2069. (In that case, is the earth still turning? Did dinosaurs come back from the dead? Do we have flying Tesla? I'm dying to know!) "

*Disclaimer 2: I originally wrote this as a Love Letter for my mailing list. Subscribed readers get my best stuff. Get my email here.

“This is just too fucking hard. This is just too fucking hard. This is just too fucking hard."

I'm curling up on my bed in a fetal position. I'm crying but also trying to keep it quiet not to alarm the guests downstairs.

After a 3-week trip across the globe to my partner's hometown in Uruguay, we just came back to our home in Kuala Lumpur. Our friends are here to catch up with us as we offer them Uruguayan cheese and salami.

Meanwhile, Elisa is being Elisa: a needy 2-year-old who has become extra needy due to all the changes in her environment and epic jet lag.

Meanwhile, I am being me (or maybe a less conscious version of me): a recovering workaholic 32-year-old who expects herself to "hit the ground running" the moment the airplane touched down.

Instead, I hit the ground, crashing.

The word "exhaustion" doesn't quite capture it. I feel like a plant being pulled up from the earth, my roots dangling, my leaves and branches flailing.

But that's not the problem.

The problem is that my flagship program is scheduled to launch in 2 weeks. My team has been working towards it. My Asana to-do list is getting longer.

I feel like I'm on the wrong track. I'm moving fast.

And all I want to do is to jump off the fucking train.

"Damn it. I should just quit it all."

I heard the thought running through my head.

And that's when it hit me.

I've done enough inner work to know my red flags when I'm nearing burnout, one of them being the impulse to "fuck it all". Shut down my business. Delete my social media. Move to a small city in Vietnam. And probably change my name.

I also know that when I'm in this place, what I need isn't to follow that impulse and explode my life. The real medicine is to reconnect with my soul.

Burnout doesn't happen when we simply work too hard.

Burnout happens because somewhere along the ride, we cut ourselves off from our inner source of wisdom and life force.

So the following morning, I sat alone with my eyes closed.

I breathed into my legs, into my feet, into my ten toes.

I imagined beautiful roots growing from the bottom of my feet, reaching toward the center of the earth.

The more I stayed in the meditation, the more I felt held and grounded.

A clear message gently rose from my lower belly: "Drop it."

The moment I heard the message, I knew what it meant.

My inner wisdom is telling me to drop the launch in December. The thought makes my shoulders drop, and my chest softens. Liberating!

But another voice chimed in:

"But December is always your best month. Remember last year you made $30,000! What if you're wasting an opportunity? You are investing a lot. You will need the cash flow."

I tensed up again.

My past “me” would have probably let this fearful voice override my inner wisdom. But this time, I refuse to do so.

I choose to follow my inner directive, even if that triggers fear.

In the following days, I wrote to my team about the decision to postpone the launch. All of them showed their full support. In our meeting, we even listed "dropping the launch" as a win.

I'm proud of my decision to refuse to pursue growth for growth's sake. We can get too caught up in the building of our business that we forget we're also making a life. And good life-making ultimately leads to good business building. The reverse isn't always true.

We need to back our business into the life we want to live. Not the other way around.

We don’t have to choose between money and well-being.

The word "wealth" comes from Middle English "welthe", which actually means well-being anyway.

True well-being - financially, physically, and emotionally - comes alive when we tap into our inner source, especially when it brushes up against fear, ego, and social pressure.

This is a kinder, gentler, and ultimately more sustainable approach to entrepreneurship. A detox from toxic capitalism where the extraction of resources is done blindly, no matter the cost.

I don't want to "finish the year with a bang."

I want to land softly on the earth, feeling the soil beneath my toes.

I want to exhale and feel I've arrived.

I've done enough.

I am enough.

And so are you.

With love,

Milena

P.S. It takes a village to build a coaching business.

The coaches I support have gone from zero to confidently sharing their work online, impacting the lives of real paying clients and earning happy money.

Many have successfully quit their job to devote full time to their coaching business, having the freedom they once only dreamed of.

If you've been feeling the pull in your heart to step outside of your comfort zone and let your light shine, you need support to make that happen.

That’s why I created the FREE “7-Part Enrollment Session Success Blueprint.”

Click the image below to download the guide! I’ll see you inside.

I help YOU get paid to change the world.

Hey, fellow purpose-driven human!

I’m Milena. When I was 24, I said no to corporate job offers to “do my own thing.”

9 years, some major fumbles, 3 TEDx Talks, 1 published book, 50,000 followers, and hundreds of clients (from 15+ countries) later…

I make a multi-six-figure living as a coach while spending most of my time walking barefoot in my apartment. #introvertgoal

I know you want to make a difference.

I’m here to help you turn that calling into a financially sustainable coaching business — while staying away from the hustle, and skipping the pitfalls that trip up most new coaches.

Quit your 9-to-5. Move to a paradise island. Slow yoga every morning. Work from sunlit cafes. Make time for loved ones (including yourself). Grow your influence. Wake up excited about your day. And serve only the clients who light you up…

All of that (and more!) is possible, once you have the right support.

Let me help you shine.

that’s not enough, tell me more!