People who are winning externally, but slowly disconnecting internally. I was coaching my hedge fund manager this week. Sharp guy, disciplined, driven, successful by every normal standard. But in the middle of the session, he said something that kinda stopped me cold. He said, “Ferg, I don’t even know who I am when I’m not producing.”

And man, right there is the problem, because somewhere along the line, everything became performance. Work became performance. Fitness became performance. Networking became performance. Even rest, when you’re supposed to shut it down, became performance. And when your whole body gets tied to achievement, peace starts feeling suspicious.

A lot of people think they’re burned out, but honestly, some people aren’t burned out from work. They’re burned out from constantly feeling like they have to prove their value. [00:01:00] That’s different, because now your nervous system shuts off. You sit down and feel guilty. You take a day off and feel behind. You go on vacation, your brain still feel like it’s in the office.

That’s not ambition anymore. That’s identity drift. That’s you becoming so attached to output, you forget about simply existing without producing something. And listen, I love discipline. You know me. I love standards, I love execution, I love pressure. But not at the expense of your identity, not at the expense of your humanity, ’cause if success costs you yourself, that’s a bad trade.

So here’s the coaching nugget. Performance is something you do, it’s not who you are. And the moment you forget that, you start living like a machine instead of a human being. So here’s a couple things I challenged him to do that week. First, do one thing this week that has zero return attached to it. No monetizing, no tracking, no optimizing it, no posting it.

Just do it because it makes you feel alive again. And second, pay attention to how uncomfortable stillness makes you. That discomfort is the data, because some of you are not [00:02:00] addicted to work, you’re addicted to avoiding what shows up emotionally when everything gets quiet, and that’s real. And third, start building a life where performance serves your identity instead of sacrificing your identity for a performance.

That’s the mission. Not just winning, alignment. Because I’ll tell you right now, squad, I do not want you becoming more successful and less alive at the same time. That’s not what we do here. So all right, Varsity Squad, if this one hits home for you, share it with somebody who needs it. And remember, in life, you don’t have to be perfect.

You just have to s- inch by inch is a cinch, close the gap. And if you’re feeling like you’re overworked or you’re just not making the best of what you have of your downtime, please reach out to me directly, 248-739-6362. Again, that’s 248-739-62, and we’ll set up a, an hour of power, a complimentary, where we’ll work together and shine a light on that blind spot.

Or you can visit www.timetoshinetoday.com/hop. [00:03:00] Again, that’s timetoshinetoday.com/H-O-P, and that’s for hour of power. So until next week, let’s level up, stand common, smile, serve, and get after it. Absolutely love your guts.