In this solo video, Shanli Liu (CPA, CTP) explains why the common label “burnout” is often misused and how that misuse prevents effective resolution. She argues that people usually mask more specific feelings—such as avoidance, indecision, disengagement, resentment, or low‑grade anxiety—under the vague term burnout, leading them to take unproductive extreme actions (e.g., doing less of everything). Liu shares her personal experience scaling businesses to $100 million, describing a period in 2018‑2019 when she felt overwhelmed, over‑worked, and uncertain about major decisions. A conversation with a friend helped her realize that she was using “burnout” as an excuse to avoid difficult choices. She then outlines a four‑step practical framework for genuine burnout (defined as feeling over‑extended while still engaged and energized): 1) ask for help (different perspectives, delegation, listening), 2) take a clarity break (scheduled days off to reset mental clarity), 3) reprioritize energy (audit how time is spent, ensure a mix of enjoyable and necessary tasks), and 4) inventory thoughts (identify unhelpful mental “fish” and replace them with constructive narratives). Liu emphasizes the importance of correctly labeling emotions, regularly checking for early warning signs (e.g., dread of the calendar), and making incremental adjustments rather than drastic swings. She concludes by urging viewers to stop using the blanket term burnout, replace it with precise emotions, and follow the four steps whenever true burnout arises, claiming the method has always helped her recover.
Chapters
In this video today, what I want to talk about is how I beat burnout while scaling our companies to $100 million. The reason I want to make this video is it's a question that I just get a lot, which is, you know, how do you, how do you handle burnout? How do you manage when you're feeling burnt out? You know, what did you do to avoid burnout? How do you keep going? And I think that a lot of people, I know myself included, have hit that spot where we're just, we feel like almost there's this buildup of pressure or of noise or whatever it is. And we just say like, I'm just really burnt out. And the reason I wanted to share this is because over the years, something I've come to realize is that I don't actually think— I don't really understand— I don't think most people use the term burnout in the right way. Okay. And what I mean by that is I think a lot of the times it's an all-encompassing label and it's not actually leading us to any place of resolution because we're not really describing what we're actually feeling. I think a lot of the times when people use the term burnt out, they mean disengaged, dissatisfied, uncertain, indecisive, tired, whatever, right? But instead we say, I'm burnt out. And it's almost like using the term burnout is like a reason not to do something, right? It's like, well, I'm just burnt out. I just can't. And we're like, but you're here so you can, right? Like, you don't get an excuse to not do something because of how you're feeling. And I think that in society with like all these articles and magazines and everything, it's like feeling burnt out, you know, feeling overwhelmed, how to manage burnout and overwhelm. I think one, they're not getting to the root cause, which is it's often not burnout or overwhelm you're feeling, it's something else and you just don't know how to describe what that is or you cannot articulate it. And so you call it something very general and vague, which actually makes it much harder to figure out and much harder to manage. The second piece of that is I think that people typically handle this feeling in a way that is not productive, which is, okay, I'm feeling burnt out, I must do less. I must do less of everything. And it's like we tend to go from these extremes, which is if you're feeling— you're identifying with feeling burnt out, you might feel like there's way too much on your plate. And so then you swing to the other end of the spectrum. You're like, I need to get rid of everything, right? When in reality, it's like maybe you need to make just a small few changes. Maybe you should start your meetings 1 hour later. Maybe you should end your days 1 hour earlier. Maybe you should take a 30-minute lunch. Maybe you should go on a couple walks in the day. You know what I mean? Like, there's so many other things that we can do, but instead we seem to jump to these extremes because if we are not cognizant while it's happening of what's going on in the meantime while it's building up to this place of burnout, then we're not solving anything. And then it gets to this point where like, I can't stand it, I can't do it. And the truth is you can. And saying that we're burnt out is not productive. It's not going to help us solve the problem. For myself, I know that probably in 2018, 2019, this is when it was most relevant for me because we were rapidly scaling the businesses. I'd never done it before. I was feeling overwhelmed with new information and the fact that I had no experience or prior knowledge, so I had no context to apply the information. So I didn't know what was right or wrong, right? I was just like, felt like everything was a guess. And then I was working more hours than I'd ever worked in my entire life, and I didn't know how to— I made everything too big a deal. I thought that I had to be perfect with everything, and so therefore I kind of amplified the work I did have. And because of that, I think I used the term burnout a lot. And it wasn't until late 2019 when I had a few really big decisions to make where I realized what the term burnout really means and what a lot of times we think it means. And that was when I had a few really big decisions I had to make about letting people go. And I knew that they were gonna be really difficult decisions to make, and I really didn't want to let these people go, and I kind of just like kept avoiding the decisions. And one day I told my friend, I said, I'm just feeling really burnt out. And she said, are you feeling burnt out? Is that like the actual feeling that you're feeling? And I was like, um, no, I actually think that I am uncertain of these decisions and I'm nervous of the consequences in the future if I make them now. And so she was like, so don't you think like maybe burnout is like a good label to use as an excuse so you don't have to do something? I was like, yes. And that was when I realized, I was like, burnout is just this awesome label because people are like, oh, you're burnt out. Okay, you should rest. Like, totally understand. You can't work today. You're burnt out. When in reality it's like, we're probably not burnt out. We're probably not making a decision. We're probably avoiding something. And we're probably actually perpetuating the state of like low-grade anxiety that we're in by calling it burnout because that means we don't have to do anything about it. It's like, oh, the only solution for burnout is that I just need to do less. Which if you are actually burnt out is probably not the answer either. It's probably you need to do things differently. And so when people ask me, how do you manage burnout? I'm like, well, one, do you even know what burnout is? And are you actually burnt out? Because I think we disguise all of these other things that we're feeling with the word burnout. And so it's like, are you avoiding things? What are you avoiding? And that's like one of the things I always ask myself, am I avoiding something? Am I not setting a boundary? Am I doing things that I hate all the time? Like, what is it, right? Or do I just have a terrible mindset about the stuff I'm doing? Like, sometimes, right, we'll say like, well, I have to do this, I need to do this, and because of that I'm so burnt out. It's like, well, do you actually have to? Like, is someone like forcing you at knife at throat to do this thing? It's like, well, no, but that's like what it needs to be done to do this right. And it's like, okay, so you're choosing to do it. You would rather do it than not do it. It's like, crap, yes, I would. But then our thoughts about it, which are like, oh, I hate doing this, I don't like doing this, etc., actually perpetuate the state of low-grade anxiety because we're just thinking all day about how much we don't like something, but in reality we're choosing to do it. That's the first thing I would say is figure out, am I actually burnt out, right, whatever that means, or am I disengaged, resentful, dissatisfied, uncertain, indecisive, in avoidance, right? I think a lot of the times it's probably going to be you're avoiding something or you're indecisive about something. I would say those are the top two for sure. And if you're able to actually label the thing, then you can probably solve for it, right? But if you stay in the state of saying like, I'm burnt out, then you just have nothing to solve for. Because like, what does burnout even mean? How do you solve it? Like, what's the solution? It's very vague. So that's the first part. And I think the second part is understanding like what true burnout is. And I think I've come in time to understand what that is, which is if I'm feeling overextended while I am being decisive, not avoiding things, and holding my boundaries, then that means maybe I need to reconsider what I'm doing. Maybe I need to look at reprioritizing. Maybe I need to say, hey, maybe I just want to take a little bit more time off the next 2 weeks. Maybe I need to say, oh, I really need to actually just pay attention to like, maybe I should be doing different things. Maybe these things no longer energize me. It's really taking inventory of what you're doing and saying, does this serve me today? Is this what serves the business the most today? Am I doing things that energize me every day, right? Am I balancing my days out? And so I think that if you feel overextended while doing things, uh, that energize you, that stimulate you, and that move the ball forward, that was what I would consider burnout, right? And I think that a lot of the times, if you don't have practice, you get to burnout faster because you don't recognize the signs, right? Like getting a little more agitated every day, like noticing that you don't like when you look at your calendar, you're not excited for the days. I think that in the beginning we don't catch those things. And so then they kind of compile and then one day we're like, yeah, I'm feeling burnt out. Like I think I need to take a couple days off. And that's actually how you manage it, right? Which kind of brings me to the next point, which is, you know, I learned how to manage the burnout, right? Which is very simple. It's just easier said than done, right? So it's like, let's say that I'm not avoiding, I'm not indecisive, I'm not in any of those other states. I'm just truly feeling burnt out. What am I going to do about it? The first thing is usually that I'm just going to ask for help, right? And so it's oftentimes I think that help could be a different perspective, help could be someone to listen, help could be someone to help do something that I'm trying to do that maybe I'm not able to do or I'm not yet competent in the skill set. But asking for help, I think that oftentimes people get burnt out because they're not asking for help. And the moment you talk to somebody, maybe you'll even realize that you're not burnt out at all and you have to go back to plan A, which is like, what am I actually feeling? The second thing is taking a clarity break, and I think this is probably one of the most important, and it took me at least 4 years to actually put the discipline into my life, which is being able to take days off just to get clarity. And I didn't realize how important this was until I started actually doing it and realizing how much smarter I was when I wasn't in this, you know, perpetual state of like frenetic energy. Um, because I wasn't slowing down, I wasn't taking time to think, I wasn't taking time to process things. And every time now that I'm starting to feel that way, I'm like, if I'm starting to feel burnt out or like I have too much on my plate, I'm like, I actually need to take some time off. So 2, taking a clarity break. The third thing is that while I'm taking a clarity break, I'll do 2 things, which is 1, I'll reprioritize where I'm putting my energy. So I'm going to say like, am I putting my energy into things that I both enjoy and maybe am not yet good at and don't enjoy right now? I think it's looking at not only doing things that you enjoy because that's impossible, life is 50/50, but am I doing both things I enjoy and don't enjoy? Like I think we can get really good at being miserable, but you know, we have to look at our days and say like, am I also doing things I enjoy during my day? So that we have, you know, highlights and lowlights of the day and of the week and the month. And so that's the third thing I'll do is I'll take kind of inventory of where I'm putting my time and say like, oh, okay, well maybe that's why I'm feeling that way is I actually don't enjoy anything I've been doing for the last like month, so I should probably add some things into my day that I actually do enjoy doing, right? And then the fourth thing is taking inventory of my thoughts, which is I like to kind of visualize them as like there's a little pond and there's all these fish swimming in it. And I want to, when I'm feeling like there's something bugging me or I'm in like a negative mindset, I'm like, what's the thought that's causing this? And I visualize it like I'm gonna go catch the fish in the pond and pull it out. It's like a dying fish or decaying fish. And I kind of do that with my mind, which is what's the thought, where did it come from, and maybe there's, you know, an underlying thought that doesn't serve me anymore. That's the reason that I'm feeling like I'm coming on the edge of burnout. Maybe I liked doing something once and now I don't, or maybe, you know, I just liked doing something and I no longer feel like it makes sense. Or maybe I committed to something I don't want to commit to anymore, whatever it may be, right? I just try to find those thoughts and then either do something about it if it's not something I can— if it's something I can change, maybe do something about it. And if it's something I can't change or I don't want to change because it wouldn't serve me to change it, then I'm like, okay, how can I think more constructively about this situation? Like, what is the thought that does serve me in this situation? And so those are honestly the 4 things I do when I'm actually burnt out. When I'm not feeling disengaged, uncertain, or in a perpetual state of avoidance, and I'm actually burnt out of doing the things that I enjoy doing or that stimulate me, it's like I ask for help, I take a break, I take inventory of what I'm doing, and then I choose new thoughts if I need to. So I hope that helped you. I think burnout is— I would, I would, I would say that don't use the phrase burnout anymore. I'd say like pick more specific emotions or specific feelings when you're talking about how you're feeling in terms of work and in terms of life. Because I think that when we say burnout, it just labels it as something that allows us to stay in a state of stuckness longer than we need to be. And in reality, most of the time, I would say 99% of the time, it's not burnout. It's one of the other emotions that I pointed out. So I would say take that label away. Don't use that. And if you're not using that and you're able to still still say like, hey, I am actually feeling burnt out, go through those 4 steps. I don't think there's ever been a situation where I've been able to— I've not been able to get myself out of feeling that way if I have gone through those 4 steps. So if you like that video, go ahead, hit subscribe, and I will talk more about this on the next one.
