When the Fire Flickers
The Link Between Passion and Burnout
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
I made it to the car just before the tears fell.
Jiu-jitsu, writing, running a business — I’d been grinding away at the things I loved for years. For the most part, I thrived on the challenge. But that day, it felt like everything was caving in. Maybe it was that I’d just gotten beat up for hours on the mats. Maybe it was the extra pressure of the holidays weighing on me. Or maybe it was the overwhelming realization of how far I still had to go in everything. Whatever the reason, the work I loved now felt like it was suffocating me.
Luckily, my burnout hadn’t hit its breaking point. A week of rest over the holidays, a few days without setting an alarm, and a little positive feedback was enough to reignite my motivation. When I came back from my holiday break, I felt refreshed — my head clearer, my nagging injuries healed, my spark reignited.
But burnout isn’t always that easily fixed. Left unchecked, it can cause you to fall out of love with your passion — or even walk away from it entirely.
In fact, if you’re going to pursue a passionate life, you have to accept that burnout is part of the deal. Nearly every passionate person I’ve interviewed for On Fire has faced it. No matter how much you love your chosen path, you’ll likely hit moments where the fire starts to flicker.
The Link Between Passion and Burnout
Burnout isn’t just about working too much — it’s about working too hard for too long without the space to recover. It’s the exhaustion that builds when you’ve poured your energy into something you care about, only to find yourself running on empty. Passion can fuel the grind, but without balance, it can also drain the joy that started it all. This is how I felt that day in the car. Suddenly, it was all too much.
Burnout can feel like a betrayal — the thing that once lit you up now feels like it’s turning against you. If you care deeply about something, it’s easy to tip into obsession and let other parts of life fall away.
Recognizing burnout as a normal part of being passionate can make it less scary. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost your passion forever — it’s just a signal to step back and make space for it to thrive again. and forget about other areas of your life.
How to Recognize Burnout
Burnout has a way of sneaking up on you. One minute, you’re in the zone, fueled by passion; the next, you’re dragging yourself through tasks that used to light you up. It builds slowly, over weeks, months, or years, until even a small trigger — like my breakdown after jiu-jitsu — can tip you over the edge.
Burnout doesn’t look the same for everyone, but here are some signs to watch for:
Emotional: Exhaustion, irritability, lack of motivation, or feelings of detachment.
Physical: Fatigue, frequent injuries, or trouble sleeping.
Cognitive: Difficulty focusing, loss of creativity, or questioning your purpose.
The earlier you recognize these signs, the better. Catching burnout in its early stages gives you the chance to step back, recalibrate, and take action before it completely takes over.
How to Prevent and Manage Burnout
If burnout is a natural risk of living passionately, how can you prevent it? Here are some things to be aware of:
Avoid Tunnel Vision Obsession: Passion shouldn’t mean sacrificing everything else. Short bursts of intense focus can be powerful and necessary, they’re not sustainable long-term. Make space for friendships, family, nature, or even unrelated hobbies. Set boundaries if you need to — whether it’s a time limit on your workday or blocking off space for people and activities that ground you. And remind yourself: living a full (semi) balanced life fuels creativity and helps you sustain your passion.
Embrace Repetition: Passion often demands repetition, whether it’s practicing scales, drilling techniques, or writing draft after draft. As sports psychologist Alex Auerbach says, boredom is part of growth. Each rep or practice isn’t busywork — it’s sharpening your craft. When you reframe monotony as progress, it becomes easier to stay engaged.
Shift Your Perspective: External outcomes like trophies or recognition can be motivating, but they’re not enough to sustain your passion. Auerbach advises focusing on internal growth — becoming the best version of yourself. It takes practice, but this shift can transform your passion into something fleeting into something lasting.
The Grit to Recover
For passionate people, rest often feels like the opposite of progress. We thrive on the grind. We tell ourselves passion means pushing forward, no matter what. But rest isn’t stepping away from your passion — it’s how you protect it keep showing up.
You can rest the way I did — when you’re dangerously close to burnout, forced to stop. Or you can rest strategically, building recovery into your routine to protect what you love (as I’m learning to do). Rest will look different for everyone, but here are a few approaches to consider:
Set a hard stop for your work: Even if you’re in the middle of something exciting, stop at a set time. Leaving a little unfinished energy can fuel fresh momentum for the next day.
Plan deload weeks: Just as athletes schedule lighter training to avoid injury and burnout, treat your passion the same way. A week of lighter effort can create space for breakthroughs.
See rest as part of the process: My friend Steven Kotler calls this "the grit to recover" — the discipline to recharge, even when it feels counterintuitive.
Burnout isn’t a failure; it’s a reminder. A sign to recalibrate, step back, and create space for what refills you.
Because living a passionate life isn’t about proving how hard you can push. It’s about learning how to pace yourself, so you can keep showing up — again and again — for what matters most.
Resources
Here are some of my favorite books and resources about power of rest and preventing burnout:
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
The Clearing by Katherine May
Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness