In this Edition

• Setting up your week: Energy Check in practice
• Brain skills in the Age of AI (FREE Webinar) - Last change to register

Hi Reader,

I was catching up with a friend over the weekend, half venting about how much there is to do. About how much landed last week with back to school, and the on ramp into true busy season. And somewhere in the middle of it, I actually laughed out loud. Because I caught myself in the spiral that I coach and advise others how to get out of.

It reminded me of my Chief of Staff days. Back when I wore overwhelm and all the doing like a real Girl Scout badge of honor. As I started to feel more and more unwell, I thought it was a combo of being busy and just how I was wired. To always be in go-mode.

What I didn't see at the time was just how much wasn't mine to carry. And I don't just mean the hustle culture mentality engrained in so many of us from a young age.

I mean all of the stress and pressure I was absorbing from everyone else.

My job was to make things work.

So inevitably, I was the first stop when things felt chaotic, broken, misunderstood, dysfunctional. Always the optimist, I always leaned in to the fixing, without acknowledging all of the feelings I was carrying. I was constantly absorbing the stress of the entire team, literally holding it in my body, and calling it my job.

I only recognized it when I was forced to stop. And more so once I was on the other side of it.

What I didn't quite realize heading into this weekend was that I wasn't just carrying my own stuff. Week after week, call after call, and headline after headline, it has felt heavier to listen to stories and observe trends of the overwhelm happening in workplaces everywhere.

I needed to acknowledge that, to separate it from my own stuff. And to realize how much it's been weighing on me.

We're officially past Labor Day (here in the US) and ramping up toward end-of-year everywhere. Inboxes are filling up. Calendars are packed and Fall conference season is picking up.

So before you dive in, I wanted to give you two things this week before the overwhelm starts to rise: a quick practice to check in on what you're carrying, and a last-chance invitation for a Free Webinar happening Thursday.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Alison

5-Minute Energy Check-in

The day after a long weekend is tough. Try this 5-minute energy check before you dive in to all the things:

1. What was your biggest energy boost last week?

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2. What drained your energy the most?

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3. Name your Top 3 priorities for this week

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4. Where do you have time for breaks and recovery this week?

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5. Rate your energy 1-10 and the why underneath that number.

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Information is data. Naming how you feel slows your stress response. This brings you back to a regulated state. And in a regulated state you have agency to decide what matters.

After you answer these questions, look ahead to your calendar for the next 1-2 weeks.

-- What needs to move?

-- Do you have a few screen-free breaks blocked off?

-- Check back on the priorities you wrote down. Do you have enough time for focus and deep thinking time carved out against those priorities?

Try this today - pen to paper first and then move to your digital calendar.

Then reflect how you feel when you’re done, and if you feel called to, reply and let me know how it went. I read and respond to every reply. ❤️

Last Chance to Register for this Free Webinar 👇

The McKinsey Health Institute, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, defines Brain Capital it as the combination of brain health and brain skills. In this Free Webinar we'll dig into:

• ​Why brain skills are becoming the real competitive edge: how brain capital, and the brain economy taking shape around it, changes what individuals and leaders need to prioritize in the age of AI.
• ​​How to recognize the signs before you hit the wall: Maria's 7 signals to read your own capacity against your best self, not against everyone else.
• Two tangible practices you can use immediately: Kristaps will lead us in two practices, including a grounding practice to kick-off + an “emergency kit override" to close the session.

The Panelists:

Maria Engström-Eriksson: Founder of Matheva AB and Brain Athlete. For over a decade, Maria has helped ambitious people in demanding roles perform at their best without sacrificing their health or relationships. Her whole premise: the gap between knowing what would help and actually doing it isn't a willpower problem, it's a brain problem.

• Maria is the author of two books, has trained more than 1,000 leaders in brain-positive leadership
• She brings a background spanning industrial engineering, a master's in psychology, and certification in neuroleadership.
• She'll ground us in what's actually happening in the brain under pressure, and how to read the signals before you hit the wall.

Kristaps Kazaks: Certified breathwork and somatic coach, and the person who's lived this from the inside. Kristaps spent years at FIFA through the world's biggest sporting events, reaching the achievement, the status, the recognition, and then colliding with the realization that none of it delivered the inner state he expected.

• Now he helps high performers who've built the career but lost themselves inside it.
• Kristaps has worked two World Cups. In 2022, he burned out. In 2026, with the tools and practices he'll share in this session, it went completely differently.
• Come hear what changed, and what he'd tell his 2022 self.

This event will be recorded and shared with all who register.

Plus if you join live, an additional bonus practice to close the gap between knowing and doing, a self-diagnostic across three levers, biology, beliefs, and environment, so you can name your single biggest drain.

Thanks for being part of the unBurnt community!

You can reply to this email directly to share your thoughts on this edition, or to provide suggestions for future topics to explore. I read and respond to every email.

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