Welcome to Episode #234 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast

Let’s be honest – life doesn’t pause just because we don’t feel great. These past couple of years, I’ve been navigating Lyme disease and the ripple effects that came with it, and I wanted to share what’s actually helped me move through those times when I didn’t feel like myself.

This week’s episode is for anyone going through a season of low energy, unpredictable health, or plain exhaustion – the kind where you still have to show up for work, kids, and everything else. You’re not alone, and yes, you can navigate it with grace.

A few years back, I heard that a personal or professional crisis tends to happen every 2–3 months. At the time, I was deep in burnout mode. I was sprinting from one “emergency” to the next, believing that if I could just push through this one, I’d finally get a break. But the sprints never ended. I was constantly fixing, managing, and holding things together, until my body said: enough.

That’s when the psychosomatic symptoms started. And even after working through burnout while finding ways to achieve big goals while staying grounded, I didn’t realize that chronic illness would ask me to go even deeper.

When I was diagnosed with Lyme in 2023, I couldn’t quite connect the dots. My mindset work, meditation, yoga, spiritual practices…they helped, but I still found myself getting sick more often, more tired, and less like me. I wondered: Is this just Lyme? Hormones? Or am I still pushing in ways I can’t see?

It’s never a good time to feel unwell when life is full and mine was very full. Suddenly, naps were tempting. Joy felt muted. My energy flatlined. Reading old journal entries, I caught a glimpse of my old self – that version who had endless energy – and realized something fundamental had shifted.

So, I stopped doing as much. I noticed travel hit me harder, even the travel for things I loved, like leading retreats or corporate trainings. I had to lie down more, rest more, listen more.

But here’s what that season taught me: I didn’t need to do more, I needed to receive more.

I hired a family assistant. Delegated more to my VA. Spaced out travel. Got clearer on what truly mattered. For so long, I could “do it all” because I had the energy to. Now I had to choose and in choosing, I became sharper. More intentional.

From the outside, nothing looked “off.” I got promoted, my coaching work thrived, my clients grew. But internally, I was meeting my humanity. Feeling the limits of my own energy and realizing that even achievers need to let the wheels slow down before they fall off.

That’s when I started truly leading differently. Asking for help. Letting go of overthinking and perfection because, frankly, I didn’t have the capacity for it anymore. And that was freeing.

Around that time, I also began focusing more on sleep, tracking it with wearables, getting the Eight Sleep, actually honoring rest instead of treating it like a reward. It changed things. I still resist bedtime sometimes (because there’s always more to do), but I finally saw rest as part of the work and not the thing that keeps me from it.

And that’s why I wanted to share this episode. Because so many of us judge ourselves for being tired, unproductive, or behind, when in reality, our energy just ebbs and flows. Seasons shift. Bodies shift. Lives shift.

What matters isn’t pushing through every season – it’s adapting to it. Prioritize what matters most, give yourself permission to move slower, and you’ll find that you’re not losing progress you’re actually deepening it.

This is exactly the kind of work we do inside my Spiritual Achiever® Coaching program.

It’s where we learn how to lead and live in alignment, even when life doesn’t go according to plan. Whether it’s burnout, career transitions, or navigating health challenges, we work on shifting from constant “doing” into intentional “being,” so that success feels sustainable again.

If you’ve been in a season of pushing or if you’re ready to find a new rhythm that honors your energy, your purpose, and your growth, this is your sign. You don’t have to do it all alone.

You can learn more or book a call with me at www.mayempson.com/contact. I’d love to walk with you through your next chapter.

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Want to know more about what happens when you join?

1. When you join Spiritual Achiever® Coaching you’ll be supported for a full year: Career Revelation Academy: A 5-step career change process (if you have a job you want to stay in, I’ll show you how to love it even more) that can launch you into your next career chapter in 30 days.
2. 2x/month group training and coaching on Spirituality, Achievement, Earth Energy and Harmony. You’ll know how to design your days for breakthroughs, create a personal brand and community, lead yourself and others through change, become more physically and mentally fit, reduce stress and reinvent what’s possible in this next chapter of your life.
3. Discover your Leadership Strengths and Branding Workshop: Increase your awareness of what makes YOU different from others and how to become even better at your genius zone.
4. Your Best Year workshop: Create your one year plan and design this next year, no matter what time of the year it is.
5. Your Next 5 Years one-day virtual retreat: Vision what’s possible 5 years from now and break out of your old routines so you can step into new habits, behaviors and routines.
6. Tickets to all in-person Spiritual Achiever retreats (discounted rates): Highly immersive and intimate gatherings where we spend time in nature, experience energy work, eat and move well – all while making big decisions and committing to what’s next for us.
7. Monthly 1:1 Coaching Sessions: To help you break through obstacles, define your individual path, and to work on both strategy and mindset.