The Weight of Discouragement: When You Take on Too Much

Questions

1.   Am I carrying responsibilities that align with my true priorities, or am I carrying burdens I was never meant to?

2.   Am I allowing small setbacks to define my journey, or am I learning and growing through them?

3.   If I had to let go of just one thing that is draining my energy, what would it be—and what would that free me up to focus on?

The Weight of Discouragement: When You Take on Too Much

As Achievers, we all do it. We set ambitious goals, stack our schedules, and say “yes” to more than we probably should. It happens nearly every year as we set new and often bigger goals.  Maybe it’s a new business venture, a fitness challenge, a personal commitment, or a dream we’ve carried for years. At first, the excitement fuels us. We feel unstoppable, driven by a vision of what’s possible. Last year I was on a coaching call with Brendon Burchard, and he shared the causation of why I wasn’t feeling in a peak state at that moment. Which was odd because 2024 was when I reached a major goal two years in the making, finishing all six of the biggest marathons in the world, known as the Abbott World 6. Yet, in-spite of that I was feeling defeated. He shared, “When you say yes to too many things, you’ve exposed yourself to more surface area of potential discouragement.” Consider for each thing you say ‘Yes’ to that is another scoreboard.

 

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou

What were the scoreboards? As I typed the following, I had to pause, go back and read these words again while asking myself,

"What was I thinking?"

First, I was training for one of three marathons and not accomplishing all my training runs nor time goals. I’d signed up for the ISSA Running Coach Certification to begin sharing my journey while encouraging others to join the adventure to transform their own health. In addition, decided to learn Strength Training, get certified through NASM as a Personal Trainer, was taking Graduate classes for my Masters in Sports Performance & Coaching, plus coaching Lacrosse, youth football, and Tee-Ball for my three kiddos, while husbanding and running multiple businesses in arguably one of the most challenging economies in decades. Where does one mix up a concoction of feeling like they are losing at everything and feeling defeated? While I’d chip away at a little here and there, nothing was being fully completed checked off and yet why is it so easy to add even more?

When you’re a high achiever, no one tells you about the how nor when weight of the scoreboard starts creeping in. Deadlines loom. Fatigue sets in. Progress stalls. And suddenly, instead of feeling motivated, we feel buried. Discouragement takes root—not just in one area, but in multiple. When we spread ourselves thin, we also expose ourselves to more potential failures, more unmet expectations, and more moments where we wonder, what the hell is wrong with me and why am I feeling this way?

The tricky thing about discouragement is that it doesn’t whisper—it shouts. It tells you that you’re failing. What’s worse is it comes from within your own damn head, you’re your words, and in your own annoying voice. It likes to remind you of all the failed and broken promises and that you weren’t capable to begin with. That you should quit before you embarrass yourself. When you’ve taken on too much, that internal roommate’s voice seems to echo from every direction. Maybe your business isn’t growing as fast as you hoped. Maybe your training feels like it’s plateaued. Maybe your personal commitments are suffering under the weight of your ambitions. It’s easy to start believing that the struggle means you’re not meant to succeed. But here’s the truth: Struggle is not the enemy. Overcommitment is.

As entrepreneurs, leaders, and high achievers, there comes a breaking point—what author Dan Martell calls, ‘The Pain Line.’ He says, this is the moment when the sheer weight of responsibility, tasks, and expectations makes continued growth feel unbearable, so you begin hiding, shrinking, or even convincing yourself to shrink into a smaller life or lower your goals. Many entrepreneurs unknowingly set goals based on ambition and interest, while expecting personal work ethic alone to accomplish the task. They hustle and they grind, and for a while, that mentality works. Until it doesn’t.  

Then the stress, tasks, timelines, expectations of others all pile up, creating an invisible ceiling of exhaustion. Suddenly, the things you once loved and were excited about starts to feel like a burden. You can’t imagine growing because growth would only bring more stress, more responsibility, and more pain. Sound familiar?  

Taking on big challenges isn’t the problem—taking on too many at once is. We often underestimate how much focus, energy, and resilience each goal requires. We assume we can handle everything, and then we feel like failures when the reality doesn’t match our expectations.

But success isn’t about how much you can juggle. It’s about knowing what’s worth holding onto. You may be asking yourself, what do you do when you realize this is happening and why you feel so defeated? If you are anything like me, finding a solution begins with finding a formula back to your peak state or best self.

 

Here’s are the 5 steps I have personally found helps fight discouragement so that you may reclaim your strength:

1. Prioritize What Truly Matters

Not everything deserves your full energy right now. Ask yourself: What is most important in this season of my life? Sometimes, success comes not from adding more, but from subtracting what’s unnecessary. I stopped the educational programs except running and pushed the rest to begin again this year.

2. Redefine What Progress Looks Like

We get discouraged when we measure ourselves against unrealistic timelines. Progress isn’t always linear. It’s okay if growth happens in smaller, slower steps. What matters is that you’re still moving. One chapter, one successful run on time, adding miles outpacing last week, growing one client’s business at a time, focusing on the wins of those around me all provided a world of winning scoreboards to look at rather than the self-centeredness of only looking at mine.

3. Give Yourself Permission to Rest

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. Rest isn’t a sign of weakness. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is pause, recalibrate, and return with renewed strength. This one is huge for me… after an extended period of focus, long distance run, tackling emotional challenges, rest is often the best solution.

4. Remember Why You Started

When discouragement creeps in, remind yourself, why you started in the first place. What was important about the dream, the purpose, the vision that made you say “yes” to begin with. Let that be your compass!

5. Let Go of What No Longer Serves You

If something is consistently draining your energy without bringing fulfillment or progress, it may be time to let it go. Saying no to one thing can be the key to saying yes to what truly matters.

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.” — Ginni Rometty

Discouragement doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re in the thick of the journey. The real challenge isn’t avoiding discouragement altogether—it’s learning how to push through it without letting it define you. So, if you feel overwhelmed, take a step back. Reassess. Adjust. And most importantly, don’t let temporary discouragement convince you to quit on something that still matters to you.

Because on the other side of struggle is strength. And on the other side of discouragement? A breakthrough waiting to happen.

 

“A breakthrough is the moment where the impossible becomes possible.” – Tony Robbins

 

I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Coach Dru