There’s a group of people no one even thinks to check on.

People who function so well, it never occurs to anyone they could fail.

The overachievers. The hyper-functioners. The people breaking generational cycles, achieving, succeeding, and seemingly “doing it all” well.

But, despite their brilliance, competence, and wisdom – these are precisely the people most likely to burn out.

This week we’re checking on the people no one else does.

If I strip away the capability, the achievement, the relentless productivity…take away the hard work and the hustle, and the grit — what’s left?

The Monarch Method starts with that all important question. With claiming your identity. Your true identity.

Not the one you built for survival or the role you’ve been playing, or the capable, competent, always-handles-it person the world has come to rely on.

But, your deeper identity. The one that actually informed your survival skills. The part of you that knew you needed something you didn’t have & went about building it with whatever raw materials it could find. The you – behind what you survived.

You did everything that needed to be done. You checked the boxes, created value, saw your friends, maybe even received some positive feedback on your work.

You’re good at what you do. Known for being good, in fact. The person everyone relies on to get the hard stuff done. The default adult in every group.

Your reputation used to make you proud. But, you stopped feeling accomplished a long time ago. Now, you’re just playing the role. Living in the skin of who you used to be.

And, spending most of your time – active, productive, achieving – but somewhere on a continuum between frustrated and numb.

You are surviving your life. Running it on sheer will, momentum, & survival skills. And, like most high achievers, it’s all you’ve ever known.

Your nervous system is driving your reality whether you realize it or not. But, it doesn’t have to stay in charge.

This week, we’re talking about how to reprogram your nervous system to learn the crisis is over.

Burnout in high achievers doesn’t look like it does for everyone else. There’s no big crash. It’s a loss, a disconnect. A lack of access to the very skills you’ve always relied on to make you great.

Sara shares what burnout feels like – from the inside. And, how to prevent it.

high achievers start to notice familiar symptoms getting louder than before.

Weight gain

Stiff joints

Generic inflammation

Autoimmune disorders

3 AM wake ups

Chest pains, racing hearts

Minds that can never slow down

When it started happening to me, I was at the top of my professional game – the peak of my particular mountain, having accomplished nearly everything I had set out to do.

You survived the trauma. Did the therapy. Read the books. Burned the sage. So, why does life still feel like this?

This week, Sara walks us deeper into what happens when cycle breakers and survivors live in a constant state of bracing – and what to do about it.

Many of the strongest among us got that way by growing up too soon. This week, Sara shares more of her own story and introduces the all too common practices of “bracing”.

I have not traditionally been a fan of Valentine’s Day.

But, as I’ve gotten older, my perspective has changed. I still think Valentine’s Day is kind of absurd, but not because it celebrates love. Because it focuses on celebrating the wrong kind.

We spend so much time thinking about romantic love—hoping for it, finding it, keeping it, optimizing it—that we completely miss the relationship that determines the quality of every other relationship in our lives.

The one with ourselves.

There’s a moment many of us reach after we’ve “made it.” The hardest parts of our life are behind us. The resume is impressive. The goals are achieved. The family is well. And yet— something still feels…off.

Everything around us says we should be thriving. But we’re not.

We fought so hard to get to a place of healing but it feels like we’re just surviving our beautiful, miraculous, and accomplished lives. Not that long ago, that was me.