If you're a Founder for long enough, the question isn't whether you'll get burnt out - it's if you'll understand how to recover.
In order for us to do what we do, which is create something from absolutely nothing, we have to have a superhuman amount of energy and focus. Yet what we do daily saps that energy, and at some point, it's very difficult to get it back.
So when we're completely fried, and vacations and breaks are no longer doing anything for us, how do we get that spark back?
### A Vacation Isn't a Break
There's a point where simply taking a vacation isn't the break we need. A vacation implies we just need some rest, but once we've gotten some rest, we'll have all the energy we need.
But I'm guessing you've already tried that, and it didn't work. It helped for a few days or a few weeks, but soon after you were just as fried as you were before the break. It's not that you didn't book a sweet enough vacation - it's because a vacation wasn't the problem to begin with.
Our DNA as Founders isn't to seek rest. Rest is fine, but what motivates us to change the world isn't "because we'll get to take time off." It's because we're meant to operate at our highest level, which we can only do when we're not totally fried.
Which brings us to the real question - what were we doing that fried our batteries to begin with?
### The Wrong Work Is a Deadly Killer
We get fried from doing the wrong work. That doesn't mean we don't have to do it - a lot of the "wrong work" is necessary, but it's also what's draining us daily. The "wrong work" could be fighting with investors, it could be trying to jam the product into market fit, or it could just be long, boring meetings that go on endlessly.
No one ever gets burnt out on having fun. We get burnt out doing stuff that sucks. So we have to figure out what would make things fun again. What can we work on (and avoid) that would give us that spark we once had?
I've found the best way to start is by taking inventory of what's draining us. Sometimes, the removal of bad energy is the best step toward recreating energy. That could mean everything from reassigning our work to completely resetting who is working there at all.
### Bring Back the Energy Sources
Once we've identified the energy killers, our next job is to identify the energy sources. What is it that gets us so pumped up that we can't wait to come to work? We need that back. That could be a new product direction, different teammates, or just more personally challenging work.
Often those energy sources have little to do with what we're currently doing (which is how we got here), so when we think about what would drive new energy, we often have to think about what we are NOT doing right now.
I've found that my source of energy comes from purpose. The more I feel like what I'm doing has renewed purpose, the more I can't wait to get back to doing it, no matter how hard it might be. So it's not just the work, it's how the work motivates us that matters.
Reset, Re-calibrate, Restart
If we want our energy back, we have to rebuild the conditions that create it. Not with another break, not with another escape, but with a reset that puts purpose back at the center.
We don’t need to step away from our startups.
We need to step back into them as the version of ourselves that’s fully alive again.
That’s the real recovery.
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