How To Use Your Clifton Strengths to Beat Burnout
Before the pandemic, I taught yoga and led teacher trainings at a local studio. My days were clearly divided: time for classes and workshops, and time with my family.
Then, almost overnight, everything changed. The studio closed, my kids were suddenly home, and I was trying to homeschool, pivot my business, and hold it all together.
At first, I saw it as an opportunity to integrate work and family—maybe even reach more people. But what unfolded wasn’t graceful integration. It was a slow-motion burnout.
I quickly launched an online coaching business and turned my basement into a makeshift office, with desks in my kids' rooms and Zoom links everywhere. Every day blurred together. One moment I was a teacher, the next a mom, then a coach—on repeat, all day long.
Despite my best intentions, it was chaotic. The tech issues. The interruptions. The weight of trying to do everything.
The tipping point came one afternoon after a coaching session that had been interrupted—again—by my daughter needing help logging in for class. I shut down my computer and caught my reflection in the screen. I looked exhausted. Pale, with dark circles under my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d moved my body for pleasure, had a conversation with my husband, or read a book just for myself.
That moment made it clear: I was completely burnt out.
It wasn’t the first time I’d felt that way—but it was the most intense. And it pushed me to re-evaluate how I was using (and misusing) my energy.
Understanding Burnout
Burnout isn’t just stress. It’s what happens when stress becomes chronic and unmanaged. It leads to emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion—and makes it hard to feel a sense of accomplishment or connection to your work.
According to Gallup, nearly a quarter of employees feel burned out very often or always, with another 44% feeling it sometimes.
Burnout drains motivation, disrupts focus, and can leave you feeling resentful, hopeless, or checked out.
Many people try to beat burnout by chasing better “balance.” But balance isn’t always the solution. In their book Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World, Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall suggest that emotional connection—not balance—is what actually fuels resilience. People stay engaged when their work matters to them, when they feel seen and supported, and when they get to use their strengths every day. That’s what prevents burnout far more effectively than simply reducing hours or stress.
Using Your CliftonStrengths to Navigate Burnout
CliftonStrengths® identifies your top talent themes—the natural ways you think, feel, and behave when you're at your best.
Using your strengths intentionally can help you:
Increase daily engagement
Build resilience
Protect your energy
Recover from (or prevent) burnout
Gallup research also shows that knowing your dominant talent domain can point to the types of coping strategies that may be most helpful for you.
Practical Steps to Beat Burnout Using Your Strengths
1. Identify What’s Causing It
Gallup has identified five key causes of burnout:
Unfair treatment at work
Unmanageable workload
Lack of support
Unclear communication
Unreasonable time pressure
But your strengths can also contribute. Are you overusing a dominant strength to the point of fatigue? Or constantly relying on talents that don’t come naturally to you?
Take time to assess both external demands and internal pressure. Burnout is often a result of both.
2. Develop Strengths-Aligned Coping Strategies
Some stress is unavoidable—and even healthy. The goal isn’t to eliminate all stress, but to build better strategies to manage it.
Gallup recommends the following approaches based on the talent domain you lead with:
Executing: Reflect on what is working, and focus on small wins. Structure helps.
Influencing: Move your body. Physical activity helps discharge stress. Reflect on strategies that worked for you in the past.
Relationship Building: Lean on connection. Meditation, prayer, or yoga can help ground you. So can talking it through with someone you trust.
Strategic Thinking: Reframe your challenge. Zoom out and see the bigger picture. And be sure to intentionally make time for friends and family outside of work.
3. Get Support and Build a Buffer
Lack of support is one of the root causes of burnout—and also one of the most overlooked.
Here’s how to build it back in:
Connect with people who share similar strengths—you can trade strategies or validate each other’s experiences.
Collaborate with teammates who are strong where you’re not—delegate or co-create in ways that preserve your energy.
Let others know what burnout looks like in you, so they can help you notice the signs early.
Work with a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach to identify your patterns, create personalized coping strategies, and set boundaries that support your well-being.
What Burnout Taught Me
Burnout taught me that self-care isn’t a luxury—it’s a leadership skill.
It reminded me that strengths don’t just help us perform better—they help us stay aligned and sustain our impact. And it showed me how much more resilient I am when I’m honoring my own wiring, rather than fighting against it.
If you’re feeling stretched too thin, disconnected from what you do best, or just tired in your bones—you’re not alone. And you don’t have to stay there.
Ready to Lead and Work from a More Sustainable Place?
Burnout doesn’t mean you’re broken. It’s often a sign that something’s out of alignment.
If you’re ready to explore how your strengths can help you prevent or recover from burnout—for yourself or your team—I’d love to help.
👉 Click here to book a free 30-minute discovery call
Let’s talk about what’s working, what’s not, and how to make space for energy, clarity, and sustainable impact.
