They’ve Stopped Believing You Can Help Them.
Ever looked into a pair of eyes that had already left the room?
Not angry. Not sad. Just gone.
I saw them last month. 21 employees in a room. 19 weren’t really there. That’s what burnout looks like. Not loud. Not messy.
Patterned. Predictable. Programmed.
You hear it in phrases like:
“Sure, whatever works for you.”
“I’m good. Just tired.”
“Let’s just get this done.”
But the subtext, the internal representation, sounds more like:”I’ve stopped believing any of these
efforts lead anywhere.”
And once that belief sets in, no amount of wellness apps, inspirational speeches, or surprise days off can fix the things. Because the unconscious doesn’t respond to more input; it responds to more meaning. So when I’m called in, I skip the pep talk. I start with a single question.
To a single person. The most checked-out in the room:
“When was the exact moment you stopped believing your effort could change anything here?”
That one question does two things:
It interrupts the pattern and It puts words to a memory their body stored but their mouth never
did. Because the brain is a pattern-matching machine.
Always scanning:
“Is this worth trying?”
“Does my effort = impact?”
Burnout happens when that link breaks. When the loop between action and effect dissolves. And once that connection is severed, no amount of goodness can restore it. You don’t treat burnout with perks. You restore it with belief. And through NLP you can re-anchor the nervous system to a new pattern:
Something like this:
Your effort does matter. Your voice does get heard. Your presence does shift outcomes.
That’s when people return. That’s when the lights come back on behind the eyes. So if you’ve seen that hollow stare across the table, don’t ignore it. You still have time. But not infinite time.
Let’s talk.
