What We're Holding Onto: Why We Can't Let Go

"Everything in my life has my claw marks in it."

I ran an e-commerce business for seven years. It was profitable. It was working. And I couldn't do it anymore.

I'd pursued efficiency at all costs—insourced everything, negotiated international manufacturing agreements, built massive complexity. I'd risen to my own level of incompetence. After seven years of stress, I had nothing left. I couldn't even open my mail anymore. I'd sit down to write and have complete writer's block.

Why didn't I stop sooner? Because my identity was wrapped up in it. I was an entrepreneur, a business owner, someone who builds things. Letting go felt like letting go of myself.

The rigidity was mine. The unwillingness to look honestly at what was happening—that was mine too.

This is Part 3 of a 5-part series on burnout.

Key insight: Sometimes the thing burning you out is something you genuinely value. Something that matters. And that makes letting go feel impossible—even when the math has clearly stopped working.

Read the full post: https://reapply.app/blog/burnout-holding-on

What have you held onto past the point where it made sense, because you couldn't imagine who you'd be if you let go?