The truth behind burnout isn’t just about stress—it’s about the stories we inherited, the roles we perform, and the pain we’ve never fully processed. Most women don’t burn out because they’re weak—they burn out because they’ve been strong for too long in systems that reward self-sacrifice and suppress emotion.
In this article, I’m sharing the truth behind my burnout—and possibly yours—so you can finally understand what’s really driving the exhaustion, the overwhelm, and the constant need to “keep it all together.” What you’ll learn could change how you view yourself, your past, and your power to break free.
“People are searching not just for answers, but for truth. And the truth is—we are the answer.”
– Jemaine Finlay
Despite our best efforts—scientific advancements, political movements, medical interventions—we’re still fighting wars, battling burnout, and living in chronic dis-ease. Consciousness is the missing link. We are trying to create world peace, while still at war within ourselves. And what we don’t heal within, we continue to recreate without.
That’s what we’re going to dive into here today.
So, keep reading to uncover the real reason we stay stuck in patterns that sabotage our peace, and how you can break free using the 5 levels of consciousness as your roadmap. You’ll walk away with the tools to shift your state, reframe your stress, rewire generational programming, and embody the energy that transforms not just your life—but the world around you.
Why Burnout Happens: It’s More Than Stress
We are at a point in time of unprecedented global stress and economic uncertainty.
The thing is, despite what many think, much of our chronic stress isn’t triggered by the happenings of the outside world. Rather, a projection of what is happening within.
This is why external circumstances may give one person intense anxiety, whilst another experience no effect.
There is a pivotal time in our childhood when we started making meaning of ourselves, the world, and our place in it – typically this is between the ages of 2-7. At this age our brainwaves are predominantly in the suggestive slower wave frequency of theta, and our prefrontal cortex, responsible for logical thinking and the ability to rationalise experience, hasn’t yet fully matured. What science shows us is that this snapshot in time forms the dominant subconscious mind and belief systems that are driving much of our adult lives today.
Without that prefrontal cortex online, we are making meaning of the world not by what is real, but what we feel. And those incomplete perceptions from childhood still show up today – I’m not loveable, I’m not good enough, I’m all alone, no one understands, I’m not capable, I’m not worthy…
I don’t think any of us leave childhood without at least some of this narrative limiting out lives in some way.
The Truth Behind My Burnout
In my childhood, my mum used alcohol to mask her pain—the violence she witnessed as a child and the anger she suppressed would be relived between us every time she drank. When I was eight, I was kidnapped, beaten, and sexually abused. We moved constantly, making it impossible to establish friendships until high school.
At sixteen, I moved in with my dad, who had just lost his house and been told he’d never see his two sons again. By the time I showed up on his doorstep, he had been so hurt by love that he had nothing left to give. Soon after, my best friend died.
I felt completely alone. I believed I had to suck it up and soldier on because that’s what was modelled to me. That belief system drove the very personality that shaped my future reality.
Here’s what I discovered in later years: it wasn’t the “big T” trauma that affected me. It was the deep longing to be loved.
Feeling alone and unsupported, unable to trust anyone outside myself, that didn’t come from the kidnapping—it was modelled to me unknowingly by two well-meaning parents who loved me very much, but who themselves carried pain they were trying to suck up, so they could soldier on.
This is the invisible epidemic.
Whilst my parents thought they were hiding their pain they were only hiding it from themselves. The truth was, I experienced it. Not only through the projection of their behaviour, their disconnect, and the perpetual stress that followed them through life – but through the meaning I made as a child, before I could understand it had nothing to do with me.
As an adult;
I overachieved for acknowledgement – because I felt unworthy of love.
I became hyper-independent and self-reliant – because generalised the idea that I couldn’t rely on others.
I become very skilled at swallowing my emotions, and with time isolated myself because I felt no one could understand.
Cue 👉 recurrent burnout…
Alcohol wasn’t my vice, but staying busy was my escape. I lived with resentment. I felt alone and overwhelmed. That subtle source of escapism took over my health, my finances, my relationships, and my self-worth.
But of course, none of that was my fault, right?
The problem was my boss, my job, my illness, the government, the GP, my partner— I blamed everyone and everything outside of me for the conflict I felt within.
This, is why I am so passionate about liberating people from their own captivity.
Parents carrying unhealed pain inadvertently pass it to the next generation.
Belief systems that run unquestioned direct our attention and behaviour, and that personality creates our personal reality.
It doesn’t just come with a traumatic upbringing. Rather, the incomplete perceptions from childhood that pave the sense of self and others that we carry with us throughout life.
Each of us is operating from different levels of consciousness, making decisions about how we get our needs met based on our unique—and often wounded—worldview.
The 5 Levels of Consciousness:
Your Path to Liberation
Through my work with thousands of individuals over the past decade, I’ve identified five distinct levels of consciousness that most people transition through on their journey to liberation. Understanding where you are—without judgment—is the first step to transcending your current limitations.
Level 1: Primal Consciousness – The Depths of Captivity
At this level, you feel hopeless and helpless. When challenges arise, childhood fear-based beliefs trigger anger, anxiety, or overwhelm. But here’s the trap: you blame your circumstances. Your misery is because you don’t have enough money, someone said something that upset you, your boss is unreasonable. You’re rendered powerless to change because it’s not something you perceive as within your control – “it is the way it is”.
Level 2: Reactive Consciousness – The Awakening of Desperation
The difference here is awareness that something needs to change. It’s almost a point of desperation, but you’re still looking for something or someone to “fix” you. You don’t yet recognize your power to transform your reality. Both Primal and Reactive consciousness keep stress arousing the primal brain—you’re disconnected from logic and intuition, and instead hyper-fixate on the external environment.
Level 3: Wilful Consciousness – The Catalyst of Pain
Here, you understand your pain and use it as motivation to overcome it. You literally will yourself to grow. How you feel becomes the catalyst for change. You realize action is required to get what you’re after. Maybe you start hustling to build a business or pushing hard in the gym. The shift is profound: you’re no longer a victim, you’re a fighter.
Level 4: Intellectual Consciousness – The Power of Understanding
This is where personal development becomes valuable. You start understanding the role of emotions rather than falling victim to them. You ask: “What is this teaching me about myself? What beliefs might still be limiting me?” With this open-minded view, you begin transforming beliefs and rewriting your mental programs.
Level 5: Intuitive Consciousness – The Awareness Awakened
When you reach self-trust and surrender, you arrive at intuitive consciousness. The practice of being the observer becomes natural. You’re consciously aware of what lights you up and what causes you to contract and use this as your guide to make conscious decisions that direct your life. You still get triggered—we all do—but the duration shortens as you contemplate lessons and align back to your natural state of being.
For a deep conversation on how to trust you intuition, listen to Ep. 12 How To Trust Your Intuititve Guidance with spiritual psychotherapist Casey Stevens.
Breaking the Generational Chain
Consciousness isn’t just a spiritual buzzword—it may be the most misunderstood scientific frontier. When we become the observer—when we witness ourselves, our patterns, our pain—we reclaim choice. We step out of the unconscious mind running 95% of our lives on autopilot, and into conscious creation.
I carried my parents’ pain for twenty-nine years because they thought pushing it down would protect me. But our state of being shapes the next generation. The question isn’t whether you’ll impact others—it’s how many generations your consciousness (or unconsciousness) will travel.
How To Become The Conscious Creator of Your Life
Here’s what you must remember: You must become conscious to override the subconscious. Catch yourself before reacting and re-acting automated programming, and instead choose to update the software.
The foundation is simple: OBSERVE.
Identify what causes you to contract and what makes you feel expansive. What people, conversations, environments, foods, activities energize you? What depletes you? What triggers you, and how do you react?
Then apply the three consciousness-shifting questions in every moment:
- What am I focusing on? Is it empowering or disempowering? Does it make the situation and your state better or worse?
- What does this mean to me? Nothing has meaning except the meaning you give it. And whatever meaning you assign produces the emotion that puts you in a state to either act or react.
- What am I going to do about it? When you become conscious in triggered moments, use RESPONSE-ABILITY as your call to action. The moment you take 100% responsibility for your life is the moment everything changes.
If you need a tool kit to quickly bring you our of survival and back into a calm and more conscious decision making state, then check out 5 Fast-Acting Nervous System Reset Tools for Busy Women
The Revolution Starts Within
No one is coming to save us. Not the politicians. Not the doctors. Not the systems. Each person who becomes conscious liberates not only themselves but creates a ripple effect across generations, communities, and cultures.
You don’t need to “do more.” You need to observe more. Heal more. Embody more. Because the frequency you hold becomes the frequency you ripple. Healed people give people permission to heal.
When you realize you have the power to change anything, everything changes.
You are exactly where you need to be for the lessons to take you where you want to go—but the magic only comes with the perspective.
If enough people stop outsourcing power and start embodying presence, we won’t need a revolution. We’ll be the revolution.
The insights shared here barely scratch the surface of what’s possible when you commit to conscious evolution. I am soon launching a comprehensive 12-month membership program designed to guide you through each level of consciousness with neuroscience-backed tools and transformational practices.
In the meantime, if you’re ready to start peeling back the layers—uncovering the core beliefs that may be impacting your health, your bank account, your relationships, and even your sense of purpose—then don’t wait. Grab your copy of the WILD Woman eBook + Audiobook, a powerful guide designed to help you reconnect with yourself, reclaim your energy, and rewrite the story you’re living.
Because the most important work you’ll ever do… is the work within.
Read the Comments +