The Highly Effective Man

Burned Out But Still Grinding? Here’s How to Rebuild Unshakable Energy

• JP Bolwahnn

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Are you showing up, grinding hard, but secretly running on empty?

In this episode, I unpack the real reason why high-performing men burn out… and how to rebuild the energy, clarity, and drive you thought you lost.

You’ll learn:

  • Why burnout isn’t about doing too much — it’s about recovering too little
  • The daily systems that fuel unshakable energy
  • How to dominate your mornings and power down with purpose
  • What men in the Highly Effective Man community are doing to get their edge back

If you’re tired of pushing through fatigue and want to feel dangerous again — physically, mentally, and spiritually — this one’s for you.

🎯 DM me “ENERGY” on Instagram (@thehighlyeffectiveman) or go to the Highly Effective Man Inner Circle to join the movement.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast, hosted by former Navy SEAL turned life and fitness coach. I'm your host, jp Bolwan. This podcast is your resource for unlocking the healthiest, most productive and highly effective man within you. Let's go. What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Highly Effective man podcast. I'm JP Bolwan, navy SEAL, veteran firefighter, high-performance coach and the founder of the Highly Effective man System.

Speaker 1:

So this podcast is for men who want more. Not more noise but more clarity, not more grind but more power. And if you feel like you're constantly tired, running on fumes and still forcing yourself to push through, then today's episode is for you. Okay, we're going to talk about hidden burnout and I talk to a lot of high performing men business owners, fathers, operators. These are guys that get stuff done, but here's what something that you're never going to hear them say out loud. They're not going to say I'm tired man, I'm doing all the right things, but I feel drained. My tank's always low and I don't know why. Does that sound familiar? Maybe you're training, you're working, you're leading, but your energy is just gone. You wake up groggy. You have mood swings. Maybe you're short with your family and your workouts just kind of feel heavy or not exciting. Your mind feels dull. Look, that's not weakness, that's burnout.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about why high performers burn out. And here's what most men get wrong. They think that burnout comes from doing too much, but actually it comes from recovering too little and living out of alignment. You know, my weightlifting coach used to say there's no such thing as overtraining, there's only under recovery. And that applies to not only weightlifting but also in life. If you're not giving yourself time to recover, to regroup, you're bound to burn out.

Speaker 1:

And here's the real reasons why high performing men burn out. Number one maybe you've trained yourself to ignore the signals. I know I have right. The SEAL teams taught me to push through anything pain, fatigue, exhaustion, what's that right? But after the teams, I didn't need that 24-7. I needed to learn how to listen, how to listen to my body, how to listen to you. Know how I am mentally energy wise. And then I needed to adjust. But, like a lot of men, I confused numbness with mental toughness, right, and eventually I paid the price.

Speaker 1:

Number two your body's in fight or flight mode all day long. You know you're waking up and diving straight into chaos. Right, there's no morning routine, just caffeine and cortisol. Let's go, baby, 100 miles an hour. Give me some coffee? Right, you finish your day and you don't power down and instead it's like it's more stimulation. You know, with the scrolling email, netflix, just more noise, right, you never shift into recovery mode, so your system just never resets.

Speaker 1:

And number three, you're lacking rituals that actually create energy. You don't get energy from taking time off or taking a weekend off, or pre-workout drink, right, you got to build it daily and you do that through getting good sleep, maybe practicing breath work, eating the right foods right, getting good nutrition in getting some movement, in whether it be weightlifting or cardio, making sure that your environment supports, you know, having energy and then creating boundaries, you know, so people aren't stealing your time. Burnout is what happens when you skip that stuff over and over again. Right, and you say it's because of discipline. But let me be real. Discipline is not about pushing harder. Discipline is about building systems that make you more effective every day.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to share with you how I rebuilt my energy, you know, because there was a time when I was doing everything right. Okay, On the outside I'm still training hard, still working, still showing up, but inside I was fried. You know I was snapping at my wife, my friends, my kids falling asleep with my phone in my hand. You know I was dragging myself through workouts that used to excite me, so I stopped trying to just grind through it, okay, and I rebuilt my energy, and I did it with a system. So let me walk you through what actually worked for me. Right, the unshakable energy system.

Speaker 1:

Number one morning dominance. You know my mornings are sacred. Now, right, I get up early, before the chaos, before my wife and my kids wake up. I don't look at my phone right away. I brush my teeth, I weigh myself, shower coffee, 10 minutes of journaling, whether it be gratitude or brain dump. Make sure I drink some water, get some light stretching in before any work, you know, and all of this helps to create mental clarity before the chaos of the day starts. Right, your morning routine will determine your momentum for the day period.

Speaker 1:

Number two you got to have daily energy checkpoints and every man needs a system to check in on his energy throughout the day. At certain parts of the day, you need to ask yourself did I eat the right fuel today, you know? Was I eating the right foods? Did I take two to three minutes to relax or maybe breathe? Did I move with intensity at least once today? And a real powerful question to keep handy and always ask yourself is how do I want to show up right now in this situation? Right, whether it be at work, coming home, you know, and if you track it, you're going to see patterns.

Speaker 1:

And when you manage your energy, productivity takes care of itself. And number three you got to power down with purpose. You know, personally, I call this my power down ritual. You know most guys, they just collapse into the evening, right, but the highly effective man, he finishes day with intent, right, turning screens off. Maybe it's doing some journaling, whether it be gratitude or a review of the day like what went right today, what went wrong, what can I do better. And, most importantly, maybe it's taking time to pinpoint the most important task for the next day and then you can lay out tomorrow's plan with that task as a priority and then prep your environment for success, whether it be just getting your clothes ready for that early morning workout. You know, don't give yourself an option to. You know, stay in bed. If you don't control the end of your day, you'll never own the start of the next one, number four you got to have an environment that fuels you.

Speaker 1:

Energy it's not just internal, it's also environmental. What's around you Ask yourself who am I around? What kind of content am I consuming? Is my home fueling peace or chaos? You know, I tell guys all the time that energy is contagious. Right, we all know guys that are either energy suckers or energy givers. Right, when somebody walks into the room and they're an energy sucker, everybody's just like damn, he's here. Right, but if somebody is an energy giver man, the room lights up, people are excited and you want to be like that, you want to be an energy giver. You want to walk into a room and say, hey guys, I'm here, let's get some stuff done. You want to guard your energy, like your life depends on it, because it literally does.

Speaker 1:

Now, what the community is doing, and inside the Highly Effective man inner circle, is we've got men running this system right now. They're tracking streaks, whether it be with nutrition, morning routines, evening power down rituals. They're reclaiming their mornings, they're reporting better sleep, better moods, more presence with their families. You know, one guy told me, like JP, I used to rely on energy drinks all the time and I haven't had one in about three weeks. Now. That's what happens when you stop grinding, trying to push through, and you start building a system. So here's what you got to do this next week.

Speaker 1:

Number one take an audit right. Audit your energy Rate yourself from one to 10 in these five areas. Number one sleep, nutrition, movement, your environment and your recovery rituals. Number two lock in one energy ritual each morning and each night. Just start, simple, right. Try to get one thing going day after day so that you can build some momentum. And number three dude, get around men who don't accept burnout as normal. Surround yourself with people who are getting after it. That's the difference between drifting and dominating.

Speaker 1:

So if this hit home and you're ready to stop running on fumes, it's time to rebuild your energy the highly effective man way. You can DM me energy on Instagram at the highly effective man, or you can head over to my website, higherlevelcoachingco, and let's dial in your system. Let's get you back to being unshakable. You know you're not built to burn out, you're built to lead. So thanks for tuning in to the highly effective, effective man podcast.

Speaker 1:

Share this with a brother who's been grinding but looks like they're tired and just barely getting by. Leave a review. And remember you don't fix burnout by resting. You fix it by rebuilding the system that fuels you. Sharpen the blade, lead yourself first and I'll see you on the next episode. Let's go. Thank you for listening to the Highly Effective man podcast. If you enjoyed or learned something on this episode, do me a favor and share this with somebody who you think needs to hear it. And one last thing if you want to work with me as your coach to help you get fit, be more productive and, in general, just be the most effective version of yourself, head over to my site, higherlevelcoachingco once again, that's higherlevelcoachingco and schedule a call with me there. Thank you again, let's go.