In a particularly difficult leadership season, I had two panic attacks within just a few weeks, and I knew I was in trouble. Desperate for a quick fix, I asked my mentor what I could do to ease the anxiety. She looked me 
straight in the eye and said,
“You’ve got a Popeye arm.”
I tilted my head in confusion. What did my proportionate biceps have to do with panic attacks?!
She continued with blunt compassion:
“April, you get more done by lunch than most people can accomplish in two days. You can achieve anything you set your mind to. That’s your Popeye Arm. But your other arm—rest and recovery—is much weaker. You’re headed toward burnout. If you don’t develop your renewal muscle, you’re in danger.”
There was no quick fix, but she was right. Up to that moment, I believed leadership was all about vision, strategy, teamwork, and goal achievement.
But that conversation shifted the trajectory of my life and leadership. I’ve been training differently ever since.
I’ve learned this truth: The secret to sustainable success is your ability to experience strategic renewal.
Is Stress Bad?
If you’re like most leaders, you feel significant stress regularly (daily?) both personally and professionally. But stress itself isn’t the enemy. When processed well, stress produces growth.
What most of us don’t realize is this:
Your body has only two options when it comes to stress—it will either metabolize through your body or metastasize within it.
Too many leaders never learn to metabolize stress, so it builds up and spills over into every part of life—physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, and spiritually.
The most efficient way to process stress?
Move your body with an elevated heart rate for 20–60 minutes daily.
It’s the fastest, most effective way to turn toxic stress into growth-fueling energy.
The Energy Solution
This final part of our 6-part Wholeness Framework might be the closest thing to a magic formula:
When you increase your energy,
you decrease your burnout.
Why? Because time is finite. But energy is expansive.
Your burnout potential is directly correlated to your energy capacity.
Yes, managing your time matters. But managing your energy is what makes your success sustainable.
To help visualize this, explore the Energy-Stress Matrix below. First, rate your current energy level—high or low. Then, do the same with your current stress level. Locate where the two intersect in the quadrant—and discover where you’re leading from.
Where Are You Leading From?
🟩 Thriving (High Energy, Low Stress)
You’re grounded, growing, and expanding. This is sustainable leadership.
🟥 Burnout (High Energy, High Stress)
You’re performing—but from pressure, not purpose. You’re exhausted, and it’s costing your wholeness.
🟦 Stuck (Low Energy, Low Stress)
You’re not challenged—but not energized either. You’re settling, even though you know you’re made for more.
🟨 Surviving (Low Energy, High Stress)
You’re operating from obligation, not overflow. You’re barely keeping up, and your resilience is wearing thin.
Your Next Right Step
No matter where you land in the matrix, you can increase your energy and reduce what’s draining you.
👉🏽 Download our FREE Energy Expanders Guide for a simple 3-step process.
It will help you name the people, practices, and environments that fuel your leadership, and guide you to make one energizing shift.
My Favorite Five Resources
As a highly ambitious, recovering workaholic, these practices and tools have helped me more than I can say:
- Energy Expanders Exercise: Helps me recalibrate how I spend and steward my energy.
- Out of Office: Disconnecting from work daily and weekly is required for both my sanity and sustainability.
- Beauty Walks: Getting in nature and elevating my heart rate for 20 minutes helps me metabolize stress faster than anything else.
- Read Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle: Essential neuroscience and practical tools for breaking the stress loop.
- Meditate on Matthew 11:28–30: As a Jesus follower, this passage helps me continually reorient my relationship to rest and recovery.
Your Next Step
Now that you have more clarity on what renewal looks like, download our Renewal Guide: Overview & Pro Tips for specific next steps aligned with your goals that you can implement today.
If you want a full review of how you’re doing holistically in your life and leadership, take our proprietary 120-question Wholeness Assessment take it here: www.ezerandco.com/wholeness-assessment. It’s practical, holistic and will give you actionable steps to help you grow and reach your fullest potential.