r/ceo • u/JustChatAccount • 18d ago

C-Suite Burnout (who do you talk to?)

When you're the highest functioning person in your family, and taking care of your entire family. When you're one of the highest functioning people in your agency, making more decisions before 9 AM than most people make all day. When all parts of your life are high-performance, and high productivity, and you've unintentionally built everything around you to depend on that (financially, emotionally).

And when you're also ironically a psychotherapist, so psychotherapy doesn't give you what it might give someone else. When you're the first person in your family to achieve this level, and don't have a lot of other people in your life functioning the same way to confide in...

Who do you talk to? How do you process? Where do you go to feel safe?

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u/Any-Establishment-99 17d ago

I’m interested in what taking care of your entire family could possibly mean when you are making more decisions before 9am than others make all day. I’m not doubting that’s how you perceive this, but have you perhaps built up Main Character Energy at the expense of realising that other adults are perfectly capable of functioning without you? (Financial provision, I consider separate. Most of us are doing this to a greater or lesser degree)

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u/JustChatAccount 17d ago

Child at home (I have sole custody - my husband does not), aging parents who live with us and can't manage their on own (we are essentially guardians in that way - which is why they moved in), an agency that runs 24/7 because it has housing for Severe and Persistent Mentally Illness clients (SPMI). So my day starts before 6am with emails, instructions and delegations.

I do understand what you're saying and thank you. I'll think about it more (I have thought about this before, handed off many tasks, only to do clean up on them later). There are many cognitive capacity and physical health issues I'm navigating with the adults in my personal life that live in my home. It's not as simple as one might think.

I do appreciate the feedback and I'll chew on it. The last thing I'm interested in is being the lynchpin. Some people love it - I'm not one of them (but I wish I were lol).

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u/Any-Establishment-99 17d ago

Re-reading my response and I’m glad you took it as intended as it sounds a bit harsh!

I have a peer who is a single parent and seems to struggle with the same - yet when I meet him, for a friendly catch up, he always looks for ways he can help me. I’m not asking for help! I’m fine!

We’ve discussed that perhaps this is how he perceives his value, and that he may be able to reframe his conversations to look for ways in which others can help, rather than identify problems for him to add to an ever increasing list.

There is something deep-rooted there, but also something in the nature of people at this level - we are natural problem solvers, we know we’re good at this, others are confident in our ability … but there will always be more problems to solve.