Episode #126
How High Achievers Catch Burnout Before It Becomes a Crisis
What if the exhaustion you keep pushing through is not a time management problem, but a message you have stopped listening to? In this episode, Susan Drumm sits down with Iris van Ooyen , a Dutch life transformation mentor, keynote speaker, and author of Radiant: How to Have All the Energy You Need to Live a Life You Love, to talk about why so many high achievers look successful on the outside while quietly running on empty. Iris shares her own burnout story at 24, the moment a naturopath told her she had four hours of real energy a day and was running the rest of her life on willpower, and the pattern she calls being comfortably miserable, unhappy enough to notice and not quite unhappy enough to change anything. In this episode, you'll learn: Why looking successful does not mean feeling okay How to find your signal spot, the first physical sign your body gives you before burnout hits Why being comfortably miserable is more dangerous than an outright crisis A simple daily energy inventory for spotting what drains you and what restores you How grounding yourself helps you set boundaries that actually hold This is a candid conversation for executives, founders, and high achievers who want to lead with more energy, clarity, and self-awareness, without waiting for a health scare to force the change. Learn more about Iris van Ooyen and her book Radiant at irisvanooyen.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, self-awareness, and unlocking your potential.
