Let's Think About It Podcast

Episode 74:Stop Dragging Burnout Into 2026 - Start With Self-Awareness

• Morice Mabry • Season 3 • Episode 74

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Episode Summary 

December 2025 moved fast, and if you’re a high achiever, it probably burned you out more than you want to admit. In this episode, Coach Mo and Coach A-Mo break down how to use self-awareness as your first rep in the S.W.A.G. cycle so you don’t drag the same burnout into 2026. They unpack what it really means to “anchor yourself,” how to read your burnout in real time, and why resets are the antidote to draining your energy. From irritation and frustration at work to that inner voice that tells you to just “push through,” you’ll learn how to pause, breathe, reset, and decide on one clear non-negotiable focus for 2026. This is your call-out: stop firefighting your way through the year and start leading yourself with intention.

Key Takeaways

  • Read your burnout, don’t outrun it
    How to identify your “state of being” in burnout: irritation, tuning people out, internal annoyance, and the subtle ways your energy starts to crack.
  • Reset is the antidote to draining
    Why real-time resets (breathing, pausing, stepping away) break the loop of burnout and inner critic chatter so they can’t coexist in the same moment.
  • Define your personal reset strategy
    Practical reset options: box breathing, walking, exercise, time with family, or even pet time—and why you need a version you can use at work under pressure.
  • Decide on one non-negotiable for 2026
    The power of choosing a single clear focus (like limiting burnout) so you stop scattering energy and start building momentum with reps.
  • Call out the punk-ass inner critic
    How that old version of you uses fear, comfort, and distraction to keep you stuck—and why entering the S.W.A.G. cycle weakens its grip over time.
SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Let's Think About It podcast, where high achievers stop performing and start transforming. I'm Coach Mo, certified core energy leadership coach, founder of the inner arena, and creator of the Swag Framework. Self-awareness, high power, aligned action, and grit. Around here, we train your mindset, challenge your limits, and turn pressure into purpose. Subscribe now and join me on YouTube at Swag Coaching. So let's get your reps in.

SPEAKER_00:

We're going big, gonna be gonna big, gonna be big, go and big, go and big.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to another episode of the Let's Think About It Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Mo. And I'm here with my co-host, Algie Mosley, aka Coach A Mo.

SPEAKER_03:

What's up, brother? What's up, Coach Mo? It's Coach A Mo here in December 2025, brother. It's 2025. Man, I met you in what year?

SPEAKER_02:

Man, everything is just flew by. It flew by. The year 2025 has flew by. And it's a blessing, though, because we're still here.

SPEAKER_03:

I am truly blessed to be here, brother.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, man. Absolutely. And I want to continue the momentum that we created from the last episode because the last episode I brought up now is the time to start planning. We're in the month of December, your goals for 2026. So when January hit, you already have momentum because you've been working through some things yourself in December this month. Where are we at right now? So I want to continue that momentum. And last episode, I brought up four areas that you need to like really embrace to start to create that momentum. And I talked about the side, I talked about understanding your purpose, I talked about visualizing the outcome of achievement and determination. And I tied it to the swag framework: self-awareness, why power, aligned action, and grit. So I want to continue moving forward and breaking that down. And so this episode, I want to focus on the self-awareness piece, the decision piece, and specifically for this episode. What are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_03:

The first thing that comes to my mind as you were talking about time going by so quickly as we get older, we can realize that, right? So my first thoughts are you gotta anchor your movement in something bigger than you. And I say that, anchor, right? Whether it's God, whether it's love, service, legacy, family, or humanity, right? Momentum grows when it's rooted in meaning. And I think when your why is somewhat spiritual or your how be your how becomes unstoppable, right? So as we're talking about swag, the first thing I'm thinking about as I move in 2026 is to anchor myself to stop and realize that I have a vision that's bigger than me.

SPEAKER_02:

Total sense, bro. It makes total sense because when you say anchor yourself, it takes self-awareness to be able to know to anchor yourself. That's and what does anchoring myself really mean? How do I do that? And that's the self-awareness piece. And that's the element that I want to discuss today because we talk about the side, right? So right now, some of us may not even be thinking about setting goals for 2026. Some of us may have certain fears that's hesitant to even want to set goals for 2026. Or some of us are just putting out so many fires that we're not even thinking about setting goals for 2026. You know what I'm saying? But then you're talking about to anchor yourself, like some of us just don't have the awareness to know how to anchor ourselves, or not even thinking about that. They're just in firefighter mode and just trying to get through the year. I just gotta get through the year, man. I just need to make it through the year. Okay, make it through the year, then what? What is it?

SPEAKER_03:

We're beyond 2025 and it's 2030 now, man.

SPEAKER_02:

So I think when I talk about self-awareness, I that's what I want to dive into. I'm gonna dive into that right now. And it ties to making a decision, decide, right? And some people right now may not have that on their awareness that I need to make a decision on the goal right now, or that's not even important to me. I'm just gonna continue to ride what I'm doing and continue to put out fires. That's cool. But I think what I would like to do is just continue to put awareness on this stuff, man. So I'm gonna come at it from the angle of burnout. 2025 was fast, a lot of firefighting, and you want to maybe get your balance back a little bit. Reclaim some of your energy that you feel you you continue to lose. So, how do you do that?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, like you said, I'm gonna start with self-awareness that you need to know that you gotta do that. And in my mind, begin to start with clear, non-negotiable focus. What I mean, just pick one thing I want to accomplish in 2026, and then have a clear, non-negotiable focus that this is what I'm gonna achieve. Create the environment for success, whether that meant getting an accountability coach. For me, Mo it brings me back to that story. I think we talked about it. The beauty of accountability, being there accountability.

SPEAKER_02:

That's you know what though, bro? That's one of the most powerful, simplest things we can do is just have someone that's gonna hold you accountable, and not that people pleasing accountability partner that's yes to everything. No, you want somebody that's gonna be in your ass. That's that's that's gonna nah man. You said you was gonna do this. That's unacceptable. You didn't get that, you didn't follow through on what you said you were gonna do. That piece, that's what's needed. So I like you brought that how you brought that up, but let's let's let's continue to focus on that whole burnout piece, right? Because it's hypothetically, because I want to like really help break this down, but just have a certain example as we walk through this, and burnout is what comes to my mind because a lot of leaders and professionals, high achievers are dealing with that with all the changes that's happening in our society, probably in their companies, in their businesses. It's just burnout because you're high achiever and you're trying to navigate this stuff and you're trying to move as quickly as possible. And so maybe it hasn't even been a goal of yours to reduce the burnout going into 2026. But regardless, I'm putting some awareness on it. So, how do you decide though? And that's the first piece of this. How do you decide that I want to move forward and limit the burnout that I feel? Okay, so the first thing is what is your current state as it ties to burnout? What does that look like for you? That's what you have to do to start the self-diagnostic process. When I say, and this is for my listeners right now, just to as you're listening to this, think about this. That's what this is about, right? Let's think about it. Let's think about it.

SPEAKER_03:

Imagine that.

SPEAKER_02:

But in relations to burnout, what is your state of being right now? What is your state of being as it pertains to burnout? And maybe at the time that we're recording this, you're good. But when you experience it, then during the course of this week, what is that state of being? How what's the energy in that moment of the burnout? What triggers are becoming present when you are experiencing burnout?

SPEAKER_03:

For me, I start feeling like I don't have a purpose, like I'm misaligned, I might feel like I'm unsupported, um burnout. I have so much on my plate, I have this to do. Mo, it's Christmas time. I've got kids that are coming home from school. I've got the boss got a new assignment. A lot of the boss giving me initiatives for 2026, and I haven't even gotten through 2025. So stress becomes part of my how am I gonna do this? And then everything starts becoming a thought process, and that makes it even worse.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh and that's all I'll need you to do, is just put awareness on it, right? So when I start to feel burnout coming, irritation starts to come up with me, right? I feel very irritable. I can feel a little bit of frustration coming on before it actually appears. Meaning in conversations, I either one start to tune people out, or two, internally I start just feeling this annoyance about the conversation that I'm particularly in. That's how I can register burnout in that moment is showing up for me.

SPEAKER_03:

So, what do you do in those moments when that burnout shows up? You recognize it, right? That's a self-awareness.

SPEAKER_02:

It is, and in that moment, I consider it to be like I need a reset, a reset. And a reset in that moment can be in so many different forms. And I think people need to define what a reset is for themselves. But I will give you a very high-level definition of a reset. A reset is the ability to self-regulate in the moments when your energy is, and when you learn how to reset, you reground yourself just in that moment so that you can be at a better state of being, if that makes sense. So I'm feeling this irritation, this annoyance internally while I'm in a conversation, or while I'm in the process of completing a task, whatever. I feel it coming on, okay? And your question is what do I do about it? Reset. Okay. So in that moment, I would just pause and take a few deep breaths. I do teach the Black's breathing technique. Four, four, four, four, four. Inhale for four seconds, pause for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, pause for four seconds. But in that moment, I don't necessarily go through that cycle because I'm so conscious of my breathing like that. So I would just naturally pause and I will take a deep breath, but it wouldn't be the 444. But I would just pause, take a deep breath, and exhale. And then while I'm exhaling, I'm asking myself or telling myself, just be swag. Just be swag. That's what I tell myself because I know what my swag framework means to me. And that's the reminder to myself calm your ass down. Telling my punk ass inner critic, because that's what it is. Calm your ass down. I got this. You know, this is gonna pass us by. That's what I do for myself.

SPEAKER_03:

It reminds me of you're an athlete, right? So sometimes I used to hear my mom say, Boy, go in there and take a cold shower. Believe it or not, it relieves the pressure. When I took a cold shower, it was like resetting is the antidote to draining. It's like the water going out of the shower cleanse all of the worries, all of the stressors. So, as you were talking about resetting, I just and away goes trouble down the drain. That'll commercial. So I do believe you in regards to resetting because that is the key.

SPEAKER_02:

It comes in so many different formats, man. So the way that I described it in my example is kind of real time and it literally takes seconds. But sometimes resets can be a little bit more strategic, right? So maybe exercise is your jam, and you go exercise, and while you're exercising, you just feel good, you feel clear, you start feeling grounded, or maybe it's going on a walk, getting outside in this fall air weather in that cool air hitting you on the head, walk, you know what I mean, hitting your face. Yeah, maybe you're a pet lover, and you just are so adored by your pets, and picking up your pets and just petting them, letting them lick your face. I'm cool on licking my face. But pet lovers, they whatever it is, right? But that's that that creates a time for you. Maybe just being present with your family, maybe that's a reset for you. Maybe just take a pause. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be with the kids, I'm gonna go outside. You define the reset, and so then that's the piece that we all need. But then the burnout typically happens though in real time at work when you're in the mix of got these priorities and things like that. So, how do you define that reset for yourself? Because I like to think of resets. I'm gonna go hoop, I'm gonna go game on the line down to about 10 seconds, three, eight seconds left in the game, and you foul to try to tie the game. And now you're at the line with three seconds left on the clock to tie the game, and you're on the away team, so you're in the other team's arena, and the crowd is going crazy for you to miss these two free throws, right? You gotta do a reset. That's true. You have to do a reset, you're at the line and you see it all day, every day. They take this deep pause, they dribble, right? They take this pause and then they breathe. They visualize, they visualize because even before the ref passes them the ball, guess what they're doing? They're visualizing their form. That's right. They're doing that, right? That's right.

SPEAKER_01:

And then they take a deep breath, and then they get the ball, and then they take another deep breath, they pause, and they breathe it out, that's right. Swish.

SPEAKER_03:

You forgot one piece, Coach Mo. What's that? In that pause, they're reminded of who they are.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. But that's part of the visualization, though, man, because they're visualizing the ball going in the hoop through the form, and that's who they are because they've done that since high school elementary, but that's the reset, that's the real-time reset.

SPEAKER_03:

But in the midst of that reset, I gotta ask you this question, Coach Mo. What's that? I'm sitting there and I'm visualizing, and I'm imagining it going in, right? But all of a sudden, I'm dealing with this punk ass critic. It's the crowd. So, how do I deal with all of that pressure?

SPEAKER_02:

It you have to do the reset because it can't coexist. If you don't reset, the inner critic will be there. If you do reset, the inner critic isn't there, it doesn't coexist simultaneously. So leading up to okay, you're fouled, and I want to stay in this scenario. Yes, sir. I'm fouled, I gotta go to the line. The critic is now loud. The critic is now loud. I get filed, and I'm going to the line. Oh, you remember what happened last time when you went to the line. You missed.

SPEAKER_03:

You missed the coach calls a timeout.

SPEAKER_02:

Hey, man, prime example. I don't know, and I'm I'm sorry I'm going a little bit over on sports, but this is a great example of this, of what we're talking. I remember Ben Simmons played for the Philadelphia 76ers, and it was a playoff game. I don't remember who they were playing. I think it was Atlanta. And he got filed, and he's not a good free throw shooter. And the inner critic was in his head. That punk ass inner critic was in his head. And I remember he was doing everything possible not to go to the free throw line because he didn't have confidence that he would make those key free throws. And so there was a couple of plays where he was in the lane to do a layup and he passed it up because he didn't want to get filed and have to go to the free throw line. And he didn't want to deal with the public and the crowds chanting about him missing those free throws or going to miss the free throws, and he didn't necessarily have that confidence. Just YouTube it, you'll see it. But my point is, though, bro, and I got off a little bit of off topic. Um, come on. But that's the reset that we as men and women in leading ourselves need during times of burnout. And so what I'm saying is if burnout is something that you want. To be able to effectively manage for yourself in 2026? What is the state of it right now to start thinking about it in December? So you have a plan come January. That's right. And the consciousness on this, the self-awareness on this, what's your current regulation, regulating strategy, and how you navigate burnout when you experience it? Let's put awareness on that. As we discussed, for us, when we start to feel burnout, it triggers a certain emotional state. Annoyance, frustration. When that emotional state starts to become present and it's draining our energy, what becomes the strategy to navigate that? We said reset. Reset. Reset. And then what does a reset look like? Breathing. Breathing, right? And we gave a couple of examples. 44444, box breathing, the analogy at the free throw line, right? Or finding your own version of a reset, whether it's exercising, walking, listening to music, whether petting your pet, spending time with your family, all of that. But the real question is in real time at work in critical moments, you're feeling burnout, what's the reset? That's what you need to put conscious on. That's correct. That's what you need to start planning right now in December, so that you can have the goals and how you're gonna maintain this going through 2026. Because what we really need, Coach Amo, what we really need, honestly, real talk, we need reps on this shit, bro. That's correct. You gotta put reps in because, yeah, man, this is great. I'm really inspired. Thank you for sharing that. And then you go back into your world and you do none of it, you stay in the same cycle, and you continue to be frustrated and just burnt out. So it's about reps, it's about reps. What can you exhibit for yourself that's gonna help you remember in real time, in real time, when you're triggered in burnout to get a rep in so that you're not feeling burnt out? That's self-awareness. That's what I'm trying to help people learn today, right now. Put the awareness on that, then make the decision. Make a decision. Like 2026 is literally a few weeks away. What you deciding on for 2026 for yourself. Let's put some awareness on it right now. Real talk. Real talk. And if you are avoiding putting awareness on it right now, that's because the punk ass critic is present. Real talk. It's swaying you from having this conversation with yourself because it knows that if I have a strong ability to better elevate myself, it helps diminish the punk ass inner critic. But the punk ass in a critic is gonna do whatever it can do to help itself stay present and be a part of the riding shotgun. That's correct. Always, that's correct, and the punk ass inner critic, brother, is part of the old version of you. That's correct, and so anytime we're about to make change, we get this uncertainty, like feeling that we have, and that punk ass inner critic is gonna try to sway you to stay comfortable. You don't have to do it right now, yeah. But that that when Coach A Mo and Mo is talking about that's great, that sounds really great, but we don't need to do that right now. We're good.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's turn on the game. Coach Mo. I remember me and a friend of mine, we were having a conversation about this. And I don't know if we talked about this on one of our other sessions, but we were having this conversation, and what came out of the conversation was the realism of Duism. As you were saying, as you reset and pontificate 2026, what are you gonna do? And out of that, I spoke it into my phone because I wanted to come back and it just in case to remember that, right? Because the dullest pencil is smarter than the sharpest mind, right? So I wrote it down, the realism of duism, or at least I spoke it in my phone, and then I came back later on because I couldn't remember it, and there it was. And it didn't say the realism of duism. You know what it said? What is it saying? The realism of do is him. What does that mean? Help us understand what does that mean. Well, in a sense, there's a lot of folks in church today, you know, and the realism of do is him that the works that you do on planet earth has a lot to do with your spirit and your faith in God. And so as you start to think about 2026, because God is love and love is God, right? What are you gonna do on a daily basis to get you to that vision that you have? What swag are you gonna have? What are you gonna do? What goals are you gonna set to make you a better you on a daily basis to get you to that vision?

SPEAKER_02:

I I love that coach. I really do. But here's also I want to just take it a level deeper. What you said, what do you need to do on a daily basis? How do you remember to do it on a daily basis? Whatever it is.

SPEAKER_03:

For me, I'm goal setting. I write it down, I keep a journal, I got a calendar that reminds me. I getting a coach, those things can expediate that whole process. Somebody to hold you accountable, right? As one of my employees came up to me, he said, Algie, Algae, I get it, I get it, because I was just that type of coach and I was that type of manager. He says, I get it. It's in your name. A L G I E. Accountability leads to greatness in everyone. And that was my management style. And from our units, everybody grew, everybody would prosper from that. Want people to grew to be supervisors, managers, etc. They were able to fulfill their dream and prosper. And you know what happened around that building? Other people saw it. Not only did they see it, they felt it, and they wanted to be part of that mission. Yeah, is that deeper for you, Mo?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. What I want to keep digging, because this is let's think about let's go. I really do, man. I really want to keep digging a little bit. How do you how does one who's on the fence, how do they decide? Let's just go back to the burnout, right? They know they feel in burnout in the in 2025 was just really draining. And so now we're asking, just decide. And we're using burnout as an example. But people will decide on whatever goal that they want to go after, but going back to burnout, and they're on the fence of deciding to make that a goal because their uncertainty that they will be able to mitigate the burnout in 2026 because there's just so much shit coming at them. That's where I want to help at. How do I decide, right? In that moment and trying to create these goals. And it goes back to what we've been talking about is the self-awareness, right? So we have to remember first, just remember the experience of the burnout for yourself and how is it coming up for you? How has it come up for you in the various incremental stages throughout 2025? How has burnout come up for you? Okay, so that punk as in a critic has memory for you on that. That's right. That's right. Because it's always going to try to remind you that you gotta work harder because it creates this judgment that's gonna help enhance the burnout that you may be feeling. What's the plan to limit that that version of burnout that you've experienced throughout 25? That's where I'm trying to get to this at. What's that plan? How what's the tweak that needs to be made so that you feel a better version of yourself in those moments of when the burnout is coming in? How do you navigate to that state of being or start with a reset? Just start with a reset. And we've already talked about that. When you can start with the reset and experience the calm that came from the reset, that enables you to take one step closer to decide that I'm gonna move toward limiting burnout in 2026. Just start there. And then if you say to yourself, you know what, Ma, you're right. What you're saying makes a lot of sense. And for 2026, I'm gonna limit burnout. That's what I'm gonna do. So check this out. Next week, when you tap in, we're gonna discover your purpose and why you are deciding to limit burnout for 2026. I'm not gonna go into that today, but today was just about the awareness piece of it. You feel me? So we and you don't have to use burnout as the goal. I'm just using this as an example because most high achievers experience some form of burnout. And maybe your work-life balance is a little bit off in 2025, and you want to get a little bit of that back in 2026. So that's why I utilized that example of limiting burnout for 2026, and that first step is to decide. And then we spent this whole episode talking about self-awareness and how they get to making a decision, and so that's it. And so now, whatever goal you have for 2026, just decide. Don't let that punk ass inner critic create this fear and hesitation that you can't do it. Just decide. And next week, we'll get into the why power of this. And when your why power is so strong that punk ass inner critic don't have a shot, bro. And that's what we're gonna get into next episode. Final thoughts as we get ready to get up out of here.

SPEAKER_03:

I think you're absolutely correct on that, Coach Mo. And I thank you for taking us a little deeper on that thought. Because momentum creates clarity, right? And burnout thrives in chaos. Right. And I think there's a lot of leaders out there, I think there's a lot of fathers during this time of season. But when you know you're one focus, you stop scattering your energy in many different directions. Burnout is often the result of trying to do everything for everybody. So clarity prevents overload. So I think I'm a little bit excited for this next episode. This is Coach A Mo signing off. Thanking you, Coach Mo, because yeah, 2026 is not designed for us to burn out.

SPEAKER_02:

Exactly. And I I appreciate this conversation. Like I said, I'm always so passionate about helping people get out of their own damn way, man. And that's just real talk. It's all it all ties back to getting into the swag cycle, self-awareness, white power, aligned action, and grit. Check me out on MauriceMavery.com. I got free resources there, your swag framework cheat sheet. I even have a burnout mirror that gives you when you take the short five-minute assessment, it it prints out some archetypes for you that kind of define what type of burnout that you might be experiencing. So that's on my website too. All that Maurice Maybry.com, M-O-R-I-C-E, M-A-B-R-Y.com. There it is, brother. I appreciate you. Thank you. That's another rep in the inner arena. You didn't just listen, you leveled up your swag. Self-awareness, why power, aligned action, and grit. If this hit home, share it, subscribe to the Let's Think About It podcast, and lock in with me on YouTube at Swag Coaching. Until next time, stay aware, lead with your why, act in alignment, and keep your grit strong.