What's in your backpack?

Imagine you’re wearing a backpack. Now imagine that, as you move through each day, you tuck little “souvenirs” from your experiences into it.

Some days, the souvenirs are small, like a pebble—maybe it’s a slightly frustrating meeting, a poor sleep, or a skipped meal or workout.

Other days, it’s a rock—a deadline that moved up, a sick child at home, an unexpected bill, or an argument with someone you love.

One pebble? You barely notice.

A rock? It weighs on you but you’re strong. You power through.

That’s because your body is built to adapt to challenges—a process called allostasis. It kicks in when you need to rise to the occasion, sending signals to ramp up your heart rate, blood pressure, and hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. This gives you the energy and focus to meet demands and stay alert when it matters most.

Allostasis is what allows you to push through hard things. And when stress is short-lived, this response helps you grow stronger and become more resilient.

But what happens when those pebbles and rocks just keep getting shoved in, and you never get the chance to dump any of them out?

You crumble under the weight of all the big and small souvenirs that you carry, day after day

That’s because when stress is constant—and recovery is rare—your system never gets to turn off. That’s when you shift from allostasis to what’s called allostatic load: the cumulative burden of all the stress you carry over time.

It’s like your stress response gets stuck in the “on” position. Instead of helping you rise to the occasion, it becomes your new baseline—wired, tired, and overloaded.

And that’s when the backpack metaphor really hits home. Day after day, without rest or release, the load starts to crush you.

You might think this is just caused by major life events. But it’s not. Allostatic load is also about the day-in, day-out low-level, pebble-like stress that wears you down, especially when you don’t have space to pause, breathe, or recover.

Over time, high allostatic load can lead to:

• Chronic fatigue and burnout

• Weakened immune function

• Brain fog and memory issues

• Hormonal imbalances

• Poor sleep

• Increased risk of chronic disease

Does this sound familiar?

If so, until this moment, you might not have realized how heavy your backpack has gotten or the long-term implications for your physical and mental health. You just know you’re tired. Or scattered. Or short-tempered. Or not feeling like yourself anymore. It’s become your sense of what’s “normal.” But it shouldn’t be.

I get that it’s hard to take a step back and admit that the burden has become too great, because that feels like failure. Instead, I want you to know that how you feel isn’t about failure—it’s about a backpack that is simply too full.

The solution isn’t to get stronger. It’s to get lighter.

And that starts with becoming aware of what you’re carrying and slowly removing one thing at a time.

This isn’t about dropping everything and moving to a tropical island (although tempting, right?).

Instead, it’s about small, intentional choices that reduce your daily stress burden, like:

• Saying “no” to one thing that doesn’t serve you

• Asking for help before you hit your breaking point

• Creating space for recovery—without guilt

• Reframing how you think about success and worth

• Letting go of the need to do it all, all the time—and perfectly

None of this is easy. But it’s possible. And it’s worth it. All you need to do is just pause and ask yourself: What’s one rock or pebble I can take out of my backpack today? Your future self will thank you.

And if you need a bit of help, I’d love to invite you to explore my course, Mindset Strategies to Burnout-Proof Your Life: The High Performer’s Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Excellence, where I teach you how to:

• Understand your personal allostatic load

• Recognize the signs of chronic stress and burnout

• Build healthier mindset patterns that support recovery, not just resilience

• Use tools like identity shifts, the sphere of control, and self-compassion to reduce your stress burden and reclaim your energy

It’s designed for you, because I know you’re someone who wants to keep showing up—but in a way that doesn’t cost you your health, joy, or sanity.