The 10-Minute Reset for When You’re Burned Out, Lost, and Tired of Performing Your Life

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that doesn’t go away with sleep.

It’s the kind that shows up when you’ve been carrying too much for too long. When you’re functioning, but you’re not feeling and when your life looks “fine” from the outside, but on the inside you keep thinking:

Who am I again?

Where did I go?

How do I come back?

That’s why Episode 2 of Quick Before You Forget with actor and creator DJ Pieper hit different for me. Well, that, and I can count on multiple hands the number of times he said or referenced something that felt like it was my angels talking to my heart.

Yes, we talk about music, mindset, and movement. Yes, we laugh about skateboards and chaos and the wildness of being alive.

But what DJ gave us (without even trying to “teach”) was something so many of us are desperate for right now:

A simple way to come home to ourselves.

Not a 12-step reinvention plan. Not a glow-up checklist or a the new trendy T-shirt that costs $150. Not another thing to monetize, optimize, or “do perfectly.”

Just a reset. A return. A reminder.

And it all comes down to one practice DJ shared that I can’t stop thinking about:

The Lies vs. Truths Reset

When you’re burned out, your brain gets loud.

It narrates your life like a courtroom drama no one can turn away from:

• You’re behind.

• You missed your shot.

• Everyone else knows what they’re doing.

• You should be further along.

• You’re not enough.

• You’re failing.

And the hardest part? Those thoughts can feel like facts when you’re tired.

DJ said something in our conversation that felt like someone turning on the lights of my head, but also my heart:

He keeps a journal where he writes down the lies he’s hearing or telling himself…and then he flips the page and writes the truths.

That’s it.

And it’s powerful because it doesn’t shame you for having the thoughts. It doesn’t pretend life isn’t heavy. It doesn’t demand that you “just be positive.”

It simply asks:

What am I believing right now… and is it actually true?

Burnout doesn’t just drain your energy. It distorts your perspective.

This practice puts your perspective back in your hands, which reminds me of that quote from Trent Shelton that lives rent free in my mind:

Your perspective can be either your power or your prison. You choose. What will you be choosing after this exercise?

Why this works (especially when you feel lost)

When you’re overwhelmed, your nervous system is on high alert. You’re scanning for danger of all kinds from social or financial danger to emotional or future danger.

So you live in “next”:

• next deadline

• next goal

• next email

• next problem

• next version of you

And you forget how to be here.

DJ’s whole story is a masterclass in coming back to the present through:

• music that grounds him (a song that brings him back to bonfires, friends, and simpler moments)

• movement that reconnects him to “kid DJ” (skateboarding, BMX, hockey—play)

• nature that quiets the noise (walks, flowers, “smell the roses” energy)

• presence that creates connection (talking to strangers, noticing needs, stepping into life instead of scrolling past it)

But the Lies vs. Truths reset is the hinge. It’s the moment you stop letting the loudest thought win. Because some thoughts aren’t guidance. They’re grief. They’re fear. They’re old wounds trying to drive.

Try it right now: The 10-Minute Lies vs. Truths Reset

You don’t need the perfect journal and pen combo, though I do think you may just need my sparkly poof pens I found on Amazon. You don’t need candles or a “morning routine.”

You need ten minutes and some honesty.

Step 1: Write the Lies

Don’t filter. Don’t edit. Just dump what’s been looping.

Examples from my own brain:

• “I’m a bad mom because....”

• “I should have it figured out by now.”

• “I’m not doing enough.”

• “I’m wasting my potential.”

• “I’m too late.”

• “No one really sees me.”

• “I’ll never feel like myself again.”

  
  

Let it be messy.

Step 2: Flip the page. Write the Truths

Now answer the lies like you’re talking to someone you love.

Examples:

• “I’m allowed to be in process.”

• “I’m allowed to rebuild slowly.”

• “I have survived things that should have crushed me.”

• “My value isn’t measured by productivity.”

• “I’m not behind, I’m healing.”

• “I am loved.”

• “I’m still here. That matters.”

  
  

Step 3: Choose ONE truth to live today

Not 10 truths. One.

Write it on a sticky note. Make it your lock screen. Say it out loud in your car. Because burnout isn’t healed by grand declarations. It’s healed by small returns back to what feels good.

The line I want you to borrow when the world feels chaotic

In the episode, I asked DJ what he’d say if he had a megaphone in today’s chaotic world.

His answer was simple, calm, and honestly… medicine:

“You are loved.”

Sometimes we just need a reminder that we’re not alone inside our own heads.

So if you’re reading this and you’re tired, if you’ve been carrying too much, if you’re trying to become who you’re meant to be while you can’t even remember who you are, here’s your megaphone moment:

You are loved.

And you don’t have to earn your way back to yourself.

Listen to the episode

If this blog post met you where you are, the full conversation will too.

In this episode of Quick Before You Forget, DJ and I talk about:

• how to stay grounded when life feels chaotic

• how music can bring you back to yourself

• the role of movement and play in healing burnout

• presence, connection, and the “next download”

• and the journaling practice that helps you separate fear from truth

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And if you’ve been here since the beginning (or if this is your first time stumbling into my little corner of the internet): thank you.

If you listen and it resonates, the biggest way to support the show is to download, follow, and leave a quick review. It helps more people find this space.

Because you deserve reminders. You deserve tools. You deserve to come home to yourself.

Quick… before you forget.