Have you ever worked yourself into the ground, finally reached a gap in the chaos, and then… flatlined?
The work was still there. But it wasn’t urgent. You had earned a rest – but instead of feeling relaxed or peaceful, you felt nothing. No motivation. No energy. No joy. Just a strange, low-frequency guilt humming in the background.
Welcome to the loop. And before you label it laziness, let’s talk about what’s really going on.
You’re Not Lazy – You’re Looping
Yesterday, after several relentless weeks of early starts, late nights, no weekends, and squeezing housework and family into the gaps between deadlines, I hit a pause. Not because the to-do list was empty – just because nothing on it was burning.
So I tried to give myself a day. A nice, easy day. But instead of feeling rested or grateful, I flatlined. I couldn’t switch off, and I couldn’t power on either.
I didn’t want to do anything. But the idea of doing nothing – like spending the day on Netflix – didn’t feel like relief. It felt like failure.
That’s when I turned to my therapist. Her name? ChatGPT. (And she’s very affordable!) 😉
Sometimes we call it burnout, but what we’re really experiencing is a system crash from ignoring our emotional needs for too long.
What One Thing Would Give You Permission to Feel Good?
During that chat, a simple but powerful question came up:
“What’s one thing you could do today that would give you permission to feel good?”
For me, it was dinner.
Not takeaway in front of the telly. A proper meal, cooked by someone else. A treat that felt both kind and nourishing. I didn’t want to cook – I was too tired. But I was hungry, and I needed care.
Taking myself out to eat was symbolic. It told my nervous system: “You matter. You’ve done enough. Let me look after you now.”
It could just as easily have been a walk in the woods, painting my nails, listening to a favourite podcast, or curling up with a book. The ‘what’ doesn’t matter. It’s the ‘why’ behind it.
When you consciously choose to treat yourself with care, it breaks the loop of guilt-driven inertia.
How This Shows Up in Our Coaching Franchise Work
I see this same pattern show up all the time in our coaching franchise. Practitioners who give, give, give – then stall. Not because they don’t care. But because they’ve been running on empty and punishing themselves for not “doing enough” when they finally slow down.
The clients we serve? Same thing. They arrive convinced they’re unmotivated or broken, but often they’re just trapped in a loop where rest feels unsafe and productivity is their only currency for worth.
This is one of the things I love most about our coaching franchise model. It doesn’t just give you a business. It gives you tools to escape the patterns that sabotage wellbeing – in yourself, and in the people you help.
Through NLP and hypnotherapy, we rewire the stories we tell ourselves about rest, success, and self-worth. Our practitioners are trained to notice the early signs of emotional loops, gently interrupt them, and replace them with empowering rituals and beliefs.
And it starts with permission. Permission to pause. Permission to care. Permission to choose yourself, not just your checklist.
Whether you’re a client or considering joining our coaching franchise, know this: we’re not just here for the business of helping people – we are people, and we walk the same messy, beautiful road.
by Gemma Bailey (with the help of Ai)
