Life coach reveals it can take FIVE YEARS to recover from burnout

A life coach has revealed that it can take up to three to five years of active recovery to bounce back from burnout, explaining that chronic stress changes the chemicals in the body. 

Niki Puls, 29, from Nebraska, stunned her followers on TikTok earlier this month when she shared her timetable for recovering from ‘true burnout,’ leading her to discuss her own experience and the changes she had to make to her life in a series of videos. 

The mom, who is known as @niki_jo_ on the platform, explained that she has been studying burnout for years as a certified life coach, as well as someone who has suffered from it. 

The mom, who is known as @niki_jo_ on the platform, explained that she has been studying burnout for years as a certified life coach, as well as someone who has suffered from it

‘Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress,’ according to Psychology Today.   

Work is often the driving force behind burnout, but it can also be caused by other stressors, including parenting or romantic relationships. 

‘Once you have reached the stage of true burnout your body, chemically, is different,’ Puls explained. ‘The chemicals in your body are very messed up. You’ve exhausted your resources. You’re burned out.’ 

‘When I had bloodwork done by my doctor, my cortisol levels, which are your stress hormones, were through the roof,’ she recalled. 

‘So I needed to focus on bringing that down and bringing everything else back up to have a nice equal balance. What this took for me is a lot of rest.’ 

Research suggests that chronic stress also adds to high blood pressure and causes brain changes that may contribute to anxiety, depression, and addiction, according to Harvard Health Publishing.   

Puls explained she had to step away from her coaching business and take a remote job for her ‘sanity,’ recalling how her cortisol levels were ‘through the roof’ during this time in her life

Puls said her issues with burnout started about three or four years ago after she launched her own life coaching business. She loved helping people and ‘quickly became very successful.’ 

When other coaches started asking her to help them build their own businesses, she transitioned from life coaching to business coaching.   

‘I turned my passion into profit, and it no longer became my passion,’ she explained. ‘I really regret that.’ 

Puls said running her business became so stressful that she had to step away from it because it was affecting her health. 

‘I was very unhealthy when I was running my business because I didn’t have time to take care of myself,’ she recalled. ‘What is all that money worth if I’m not even healthy to enjoy it?’

She now has a remote job in social media and marketing that allows her to log off at the end of the day and be done.  

Puls now has a remote job in social media and marketing that allows her to log off at the end of the day and be done. She also has a few private coaching clients 

Puls is an advocate for ‘slow living,’ a mindset that encourages a slower more present approach to everyday life, and she explained that recovering requires ‘active healing’

‘I have time with my family. I have brain space,’ she said. ‘When you’re a business owner, you’re never not thinking about it. Every minute of the day, I was thinking about my business.’

‘I work privately with a handful of clients that I love,’ she added. ‘So I am still doing some stuff on the side, but I’m not running a full-blown business for my sanity.’

Puls is an advocate for ‘slow living,’ a mindset that encourages a slower more present approach to everyday life, and she explained that recovering from burnout requires ‘active healing.’   

‘You don’t just get to sit on your couch for three to five years,’ she said. ‘So many people say, “How can I do this and afford to live? or “I have kids.” You can still do stuff. You’re just going to have to do some inner work. 

‘When true burnout happens, you have exhausted and depleted everything in your body. You’re gonna need to build it back up.’ 

Puls shared that she personally required a lot of rest to recover from burnout, but that didn’t mean she stopped taking care of her personal responsibilities. 

‘Life doesn’t’ stop just because we’re burned out,’ she said. ‘We keep going, but in a much healthier way’

Puls said that taking daily walks, doing breathwork, simplifying her life, and decluttering her space all helped her recover from burnout 

‘Life doesn’t’ stop just because we’re burned out,’ she said. ‘We keep going, but in a much healthier way. We find a job that is much more aligned. We find a job that doesn’t burn us out. 

‘And, here’s a little fun tidbit, if you burned out doing something you love, you probably don’t love that thing anymore. 

‘If you burned out as a teacher, teaching a room full of kids, you’re probably not gonna want to work with kids anymore, which is the really sad part because it ruins a lot of things for a lot of people. 

‘So you’re gonna have to fill your bucket with something else. You’re gonna have to find something new that you enjoy.’

Puls suggested reading a book, staying home, going for a walk as a few examples of ‘active recovery.’ 

She also said that taking daily walks, doing breathwork, simplifying her life, and decluttering her space all helped her heal.  

‘The last step is to get some resources,’ she noted. ‘You can’t just wing it and hope that you are better in three to five years.’