Picture the night you finally hit the number you’d been chasing. Now picture yourself lying in bed that same night, too tired to feel any of it.

That was me the year I crossed the million dollar mark. “Yep. This is amazing. Yep.” Running on nothing but fumes.

“My business is finally working. So why am I this exhausted?”

If that’s you, meet Melinda Cohan. She co-founded The Coaches Console from an idea scribbled on a napkin, grew it into a multi-million dollar company, and sold it. After 20 years of watching every flavor of burnout, including her own, she wrote Sustainable Success. And the first thing she did on this episode was take apart a story I’d been telling myself for years.

Watch the Full Episode Here:

You’re Not a Control Freak. You’re Addicted to the Doing.

For years I swore I wasn’t micromanaging. I was “just here to help.” I even shared a story on this episode I’ve never told in public: a therapist once looked at me and said, “Wow. It must be hard to be married to you.”

Melinda’s correction changed the whole conversation:

The lesson: The habit that built your store is the same habit that’s burning you out. That’s why you can’t see it.

The Four Boxes on the Floor

Fifteen years ago, Melinda’s business coach taped a four-square grid on the floor and made her physically stand in each box, answering the same questions from each seat: What are your concerns? Your goals? Your needs?

Then she watched her colleagues for years and saw the pattern:

The lesson: The rut between the employee box and the manager box is where burnout lives.

Take this action: Grab painter’s tape and make the grid on your floor. Pick one real thing happening in your store, stand in all four boxes, and answer out loud. Notice which boxes feel like home and which you’ve barely visited.

The Mantra That Builds Your Store and Then Burns You Out

Melinda’s four levels of consciousness gave me language for something I’d lived but never named:

For you: There is nothing wrong with achiever mode. You find out what you’re capable of there. Just don’t set up permanent residence.

The lesson: I thought I was doing everything right because I wasn’t a victim. I was proud of being an achiever, right up until I burned out.

The Warning Signs Most of Us Push Through

Melinda’s book maps burnout as a spectrum: early indicators, attention getters, high alert alarms, and 911 distress signals. On the episode, I checked myself against every one:

The universe was yelling at me through a megaphone, and I kept treating every signal like a badge.

And here’s the definition that opened the whole episode, from Melinda’s colleague Michelle Falzone: burnout is doing the thing you love, but there’s no more joy in it anymore.

The lesson: If the joy is draining out of the store you built, that’s not the price of success. That’s an alarm.

Why This Matters for Your Store

Your Millie Moment

This week, before you add one more thing to your to-do list:

Awareness comes first. You can’t choose a different identity until you can see the one you’re standing in.

Resources & Links 

💚 Remember: Burnout doesn’t mean you’re failing. It’s a signal that your current approach needs recalibration. What got you here was wonderful. You just have to change to get there.