The quiet moment that changed everything
What if burnout doesn’t show up with drama?
What if it sneaks in so quietly that you don’t even notice…
until you’ve lost yourself?
That’s exactly what happened to me.
We were on a family road trip.
It was supposed to be a time to relax, reset, and enjoy being together.
Instead, I couldn’t stop talking about work.
Then my husband turned to me and said:
“I think you need to leave your job.”
It hit me like a punch to the gut.
Because deep down, I knew he was right.
I just hadn’t been ready to hear it.
The Burnout I Didn’t See Coming
I didn’t have a dramatic collapse.
I didn’t break down in front of my boss or quit in tears.
My burnout was slow and silent.
And it was disguised as ambition.
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I dreaded Mondays… and eventually Sundays.
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I snapped at my kids for just being kids.
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I thought about work constantly, even at bedtime stories.
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I lived from one vacation to the next, just trying to survive.
And the worst part?
I thought this was normal.
I thought this was what success looked like.
What Changed It All
That one sentence from my husband woke me up.
I had become a stranger to myself.
So I made one decision:
To put myself back on my own priority list.
Not as a reward.
Not at the bottom.
But at the top.
And when I started doing that—just small things like taking lunch away from my desk, blocking thinking time, cooking healthy meals—I discovered something surprising:
The world didn’t fall apart.
My team didn’t suffer.
My family actually got the best version of me back.
The only thing that suffered was the burnout itself.
Why I’m Sharing This Now
Because this isn’t just my story.
Just last week, a client told me through tears:
“I physically can’t do this anymore.”
She’s smart. Accomplished. Respected.
And completely depleted.
I see it all the time.
Brilliant women in tech, pushing through exhaustion, waiting for permission to rest.
But here’s the truth:
The permission won’t come from your manager.
It has to come from you.
A Question for You
What is your burnout whisper trying to tell you?
Maybe this episode is your quiet wake-up call, too.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here:
https://limorbergman.com/podcast
▶️ Prefer video? Watch it on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@LimorBergman
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If this story resonated, please share it with someone who might need to hear it today.
Let’s normalize rest. Let’s normalize enough.
Let’s listen before the burnout screams.
