Recently, I had one of those A-ha moments—the kind that makes you pause in your tracks and question something that’s been running silently in the background of your life.

I realized that almost everything I do has a purpose. A goal. An outcome.

Even when I think I’m doing something for me—like going to the gym or walking the dog—it’s often tied to a broader objective. Health. Productivity. Routine. Performance.

And while those are noble pursuits, I found myself asking: When was the last time I did something just for the joy of it?

15 years ago, I created my Executive Coaching firm, Potential Unlimited, upon the philosophy that we need to look at developing leaders in the same way that we would develop any sort of initiative within our business.

We need to lay out all the parts, see how they are working together, and then create a strategic plan with timelines to achieve the goal. This is exactly what I do in my Executive Coaching. If someone comes to me wanting to improve their Executive Presence, we don’t just dive right into some tips and tools around Executive Presence, and then they are good to go. For the good or bad, people are way more complicated than that!

I have never seen stress levels, and I will call them burnout levels as high as they are right now.