MBA2649 How I Beat Burnout & Get Excited Again

Summary

Summary of "MBA2649 How I Beat Burnout & Get Excited Again" - The $100 MBA Show

Release Date: July 11, 2025
Host: Omar Zenhom

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Introduction

In episode MBA2649 titled "How I Beat Burnout & Get Excited Again," Omar Zenhom delves deep into the pervasive issue of burnout among entrepreneurs and business professionals. Drawing from his extensive 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience, Omar offers actionable strategies to not only overcome burnout but also reignite passion and enthusiasm for one’s business endeavors.

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Understanding Burnout

Dispelling Common Misconceptions

Omar begins by challenging the widely held belief that burnout stems solely from overworking. He clarifies that "Burnout isn't the result of doing too much. It's a big misconception" (01:51), emphasizing that the real culprits are lack of purpose, insufficient support, and inadequate rest.

Types of Burnout

Omar identifies three distinct types of burnout, each requiring a unique approach:

1. Overwork Burnout

   • Description: Characterized by excessive tasks and insufficient rest, leading to depleted energy levels and diminished enjoyment.
   • Solution: Omar advises "cutting the tasks on your plate" by delegating or automating responsibilities. He notes, "if everything depends on you, your business can't grow anyway" (03:26), highlighting the importance of scalability through delegation.

2. Creative Burnout

   • Description: Arises from prolonged periods of output without fresh inspirational input, resulting in a decline in creativity and enthusiasm.
   • Solution: To combat this, Omar suggests "enriching yourself with good stuff" such as reading new books, experiencing art, or engaging with diverse creators. He shares his personal remedy: "I would go to my local art museum and see a Rembrandt or see a Picasso, and all of a sudden I'm just lost in that painting and I'm inspired to create something great" (05:07).

3. Identity Burnout

   • Description: The most profound form, where individuals question their relationship with their business, leading to a loss of identity and motivation.
   • Solution: Omar emphasizes the need for "realignment" rather than a complete pivot. He advises revisiting and possibly updating one’s "why", ensuring that the business goals align with current personal motivations. As he puts it, "You might need to find a new mission, right? A new goal, a new why" (05:57).

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Strategies to Overcome Burnout

1. Rebuild Your Calendar Around Joy

Omar introduces a technique inspired by Ali Abdaal's book Feel Good Productivity. He recommends:

• Identifying Energizing Tasks: Evaluate weekly schedules to determine which activities "give me energy" and which "drain me" (09:18).
• Prioritizing Enjoyable Work: Aim to "spend 80% of your time doing things that only you can do and that you enjoy" (09:40). For those who can't immediately achieve this, Omar suggests a gradual shift towards delegating or automating less enjoyable tasks.

2. Change the Scene

Altering one's environment can significantly impact creativity and motivation. Omar shares practical ways to "change your environment to get new inspiration":

• Physical Space Alterations: Moving to a coworking space, as he did with Fish Burners in Sydney, can provide a fresh perspective and break the monotony of a home office.
• Simple Changes: Even minor adjustments, like "changing where you have lunch" or reorganizing the office layout, can infuse new energy.
• Short Trips: For those unable to travel extensively, Omar suggests working from a neighboring city for a weekend to gain new insights and inspiration (06:02).

3. Get a Quick Win

Achieving small, tangible successes can boost morale and combat feelings of stagnation. Omar advises:

• Setting Short-Term Goals: Create "a small, short challenge for yourself with a clear win" (07:20). Examples include launching a new lead magnet within 48 hours or sending personalized emails to warm leads.
• Purposeful Completion: The act of "completing a task" provides a sense of accomplishment, which is vital for sustaining motivation (08:17).

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Personal Story: Overcoming Identity Burnout

Omar shares a candid account of his own experience with identity burnout. After selling his software company, Webinar Ninja, to Proprofs, he found himself "starting over" and questioning his professional identity (17:00). To navigate this phase, Omar:

• Rebuilt the $100 MBA Brand: He "redesigned the program from scratch", updated messaging, and refreshed the branding to align with his renewed vision.
• Focused on Passion Projects: By committing to the $100 MBA Show as his "masterpiece", Omar rekindled his passion, stating, "I felt like I want to work on something special like the 100 MBA again" (17:30).
• Emphasized Reconnection: He underscores the importance of "reconnecting with your business", advocating for adjustments rather than abandoning one’s entrepreneurial journey (17:50).

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Conclusion: Embracing Burnout as a Signal

Omar concludes by reframing burnout not as a personal failing but as a "signal" indicating that one’s current work methods are unsustainable. He encourages listeners to:

• Adjust and Reconnect: Instead of suffering silently, take proactive steps to "readjust the direction slightly to feel alive again" (16:50).
• Spread Positivity: Highlighting that renewed excitement not only benefits the individual but also inspires the team and customers, leading to improved business results.
• Seek Continuous Growth: Through his experiences and strategies, Omar advocates for a balanced, purpose-driven approach to entrepreneurship that prioritizes well-being alongside business success.

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Final Thoughts and Resources

Omar thanks his listeners for their dedication and invites them to "join my Three Things newsletter" for deeper insights and actionable tips. By subscribing, entrepreneurs can receive weekly content designed to enhance mindset, encourage action, and promote continuous learning.

For more resources and to subscribe, visit 100mba.net.

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Notable Quotes:

• On Burnout Misconception:
  "Burnout isn't the result of doing too much. It's a big misconception." — Omar Zenhom (01:51)

• On Creative Burnout Remedy:
  "I would go to my local art museum and see a Rembrandt or see a Picasso, and all of a sudden I'm just lost in that painting and I'm inspired to create something great." — Omar Zenhom (05:07)

• On Updating Your 'Why':
  "You might need to find a new mission, right? A new goal, a new why." — Omar Zenhom (05:57)

• On Quick Wins:
  "Wins kill burnout. I'm telling you, sometimes you just need to win." — Omar Zenhom (07:20)

• On Reconnecting with Business:
  "Adjust, reconnect, and give yourself the gift of rediscovering your passion, your spark." — Omar Zenhom (17:50)

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This episode serves as an invaluable guide for entrepreneurs grappling with burnout, offering both theoretical insights and practical solutions to foster resilience and sustained enthusiasm in their business journeys.

Transcript

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[Omar Zenhom]

The Black Friday in July event from Dell Technologies is here with great offers on trusted technology. You'll also discover huge deals on new AI ready laptops like the Dell 14 plus featuring Intel Core Ultra processors starting at $699.99. Save on top accessories plus enjoy fast free shipping and other benefits. Upgrade today by visiting Dell.com deals Burnout doesn't just feel bad, it makes your business worse. You stop showing up with energy, your creativity dies. You stop seeing possibilities and only see problems. So how do you beat burnout? And more importantly, how do you reignite your excitement for the thing you once couldn't shut up about? That's what we're talking about today. Whether you're quietly burnt out or just not feeling it lately, this one is for you.

[Co-host]

You're.

[Omar Zenhom]

You're gonna love this episode. Welcome Back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host Omar Zenholm where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. Let's start with this. Burnout isn't the result of doing too much.

[Co-host]

All right?

[Omar Zenhom]

It's a big misconception. A lot of people think that I'm burnt out because I'm just doing too much work. It's actually the result of doing too much without purpose, without support or rest.

[Co-host]

Right?

[Omar Zenhom]

I've been there. And think about it. There are times in your life when you couldn't do enough work. Like you were so hungry you would work, you know, long hours and you were so excited you couldn't wait to get up in the morning and get at it again. So doing too much or doing a lot is not really like the recipe for burnout. It's really doing a lot without purpose, support or rest. When I was building Webinar Ninja, my software company, there was a time when I was working 14 hour days. I'm not joking. It was crazy, right? We were growing, our customers were happy, revenue was really strong. But personally, I was wrecked. I wasn't lazy. I don't even know how to be Lazy, but I, I was more disconnected. Disconnection is the real killer. When you no longer emotionally are attached to what you're doing, what you're building, what you're creating, it becomes mechanical, really, and eventually you start to feel miserable. There are three types of burnout that I believe are quite distinct. And we need to identify what kind of burnout you're going through so that we can solve it. Number one, the overwork burnout. This one's obvious. This is when you have too many tasks and not enough rest, right? This is when you're working a lot, you're not really loving every moment, and your energy levels are just in the basement because you're just not resting enough.

[Co-host]

Right?

[Omar Zenhom]

The solution, in my opinion, is you need to start cutting the tasks on your plate. You need to start delegating those tasks or even automate them with some tools. And this is actually a good wake up call because if everything depends on you, your business can't grow anyway. You're going to hit a plateau. So this is actually a blessing in disguise. The second type of burnout is creative burnout. This one is actually quite subtle. I've been very attuned to it recently, actually. It's when you've been outputting for too long without any kind of inspirational input. So you might know somebody like that, runs a podcast for the last 10 years to help people grow their business and publishes three episodes a week, right? Yours truly. So I'm very, very attuned to this type of burnout. I actually catch it before it happens. So what's the solution here? When you're creatively burnt out, this is when you don't have enough actual content or inspiration that you're putting into your brain. This doesn't mean you have to stop doing what you're doing. It just means you need to start enriching yourself with some good stuff. What kind of good stuff? Like reading new books, watching inspiring interviews, traveling, going to see the world, even locally, right? Traveling locally, going to the art museum and taking a look at some paintings. I can't tell you how many times I have felt a little bit of creative burnout. I would go to my local art museum and see a Rembrandt or see a Picasso, and all of a sudden I'm just lost in that painting and I'm inspired to create something great. Another good one is just surround yourself with interesting creators and not just business people.

[Co-host]

Okay?

[Omar Zenhom]

You can surround yourself with musicians, with actors, with people that are expressing themselves in different ways. Third type of burnout identity burnout. This is the deepest one of all the burnouts. It's when you start asking yourself, is this even what I want anymore? It doesn't mean your business is bad. It means your relationship with your business has changed. This one requires a realignment, so to speak, not a full pivot. And we're going to talk about that next. So how do we do that? How do we reignite that excitement again in our business? First thing, return to your why. But you might need to update it. Your original motivation for starting your business might not excite you anymore.

[Co-host]

Okay?

[Omar Zenhom]

And that's okay. It's fine. Don't beat yourself up for it. You've grown, you've changed.

[Co-host]

Okay?

[Omar Zenhom]

Maybe you started to make $5,000 a month, and you've done that now.

[Co-host]

What? Right?

[Omar Zenhom]

I definitely remember when I started my entrepreneurial career. That was kind of my big dream. I'm going to make $5,000 a month. That'd be incredible. To be able to make what's kind of equivalent to my salary at the time, running my own business, doing my own thing. But once you hit that level, what's your motivation? What's getting you excited? Okay, you have to update your motivation. You got to update your why. You got to update the reason why you're doing the work. Okay, so now I want to work four days a week, for example. That. That could be your next why. I want to work four days a week, have three day weekends every single weekend, but still have the business grow. Maybe for you, what will get you motivated is impact. Maybe like, all right, I have 200 customers. That's incredible. But I want to impact more people. A thousand people. That's my goal. If I can hit a thousand people, I can really feel like I'm making an impact. Or maybe you're like, I want to build a business that's a weld oil machine. A business that runs without me, that I could just step away, go on holiday for three months, and the thing still runs and grows and makes me money. The point I'm making here is that you might need to find a new mission, right? A new goal, a new why. Your favorite neighborhood spots run on Square. Square can help you turn your business idea into a huge success.

[Co-host]

You.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yes, even that brilliant idea for Ugly Lamp Market. The shop specializing in gloriously hideous lamps. Square isn't just a point of sale for local businesses anymore. What began as a little white card reader is now a behind the scenes powerhouse, helping you manage finances, schedule your team, and cover cash flow gaps when they Come up with Square. You can keep things at Ugly Lamp market running smoothly even when somebody tries to return a lava lamp shaped like a flamingo because it's too refined.

[Co-host]

And.

[Omar Zenhom]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Odoo]

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[Omar Zenhom]

It's simply a better experience than a hodgepodge of programs trying to fit together.

[Odoo]

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[Omar Zenhom]

That'S o d o o.com number two. Rebuild your calendar around joy. I learned this little tip from Ali Abdaal in his book Feel Good Productivity. That's what it's called. Look at your week. Okay. Look at your week on the calendar. Ask yourself what tasks give me energy? And then also ask what tests drain me?

[Co-host]

Right?

[Omar Zenhom]

For me, recording this podcast gives me life. It gives me a chance to feel like I'm helping other people and that really makes me feel good. But long winded meetings? No thanks. I really don't like long meetings. So I actually have one scheduled meeting with my team every single week. That's 30 minutes short. And I know that once I do it, I'm done for the week. You should try to set a goal for yourself. To spend 80% of your time doing things that only you can do and that you enjoy. And if you don't do this intentionally, burnout will creep its head in, right? It will bite you in the rear end and it will just come up without you noticing. Now, I know you might be saying, Omar, 80% of doing things I enjoy, what about all the other stuff I have to do and I have to sludge through? Well, that might be a goal for you. Now, that might be something that you got to work towards that, like, only 20% of the stuff that you do are things that you kind of don't really love. And if it's more than 20% right now, work towards that. Earn more money, make more sales, grow your business so that you can delegate. You can hire people to do the stuff that you don't enjoy. Or obviously you can use tools, automation, or you might make some hard decisions. Just cut those things out if they're not really helping your bottom line. Number three, change the scene. Literally. Okay? This is a huge hack that has helped me through some tough times of burnout. This one is super simple. Your environment matters. It matters to a degree that is shocking in my opinion. You know why I love traveling so much is because it allows me to change my environment and get new inspiration, new environments, force new perspectives and new perspectives, get you new ideas, get you creative, get you infusing that creativity into your work, and it shakes you out of your autopilot. Now, if you can't travel right now, that's totally fine. I couldn't travel at a period of my entrepreneurial career. And what I did is something that is not radical. I just moved into a co working space. Okay. I joined a startup kind of coworking space here in Sydney called Fish Burners and I got myself a desk. Nicole and I sat together with two desks and it just got me out of my home office. It changed the environment. Just try this for a week. Even going to a coworking space, you might be inspired. You might realize, oh, wow, I don't have the same problems that other businesses are talking about around me. I'm pretty good at a few things that other people are pretty weak at. You get some perspective. You sort of realize things are actually not that bad. If you don't want to go to coworking space, no problem. Got another idea that I did that was incredible. Great idea, which is just change where you have lunch. Okay? So I used to always just have lunch at home. I changed it up. I started to just go and have lunch outside, go to our restaurant, or I just had the lunch I normally have at home, put it in a bag and walk to the park and ate it at the park. Just change your environment. You might be inspired just by the nature that's around. You don't want to do any of those things or you can't rearrange your office, change it up, move the desk that's here over there. You know, change your lighting, change what's on the walls. You know, reconfigure things so it feels like you're a new space. Want to feel adventurous but really can't travel overseas? No worries. Do a working weekend in a new city, right? And a neighboring city to you that maybe driving distance. Or you could take the train or the bus and just work over the weekend in a new place. And with new restaurants and new places to have lunch and new places for you to get inspiration, little things actually make a big effect. Number four, Hope you're still with me because this one is game changing. Just get a quick win, okay? Burnout often comes from stagnation. You're not seeing results. Sometimes you just need a W under your belt, right? Just to feel like you're getting some sort of momentum. So create a small, short challenge for yourself with a clear win. Like, this is a win for me, for example. Maybe you say to yourself, I'm going to create and launch a new lead magnet in the next 48 hours. Put it out in the world. I'm going to get some new leads with a new lead magnet. Maybe you're going to say to yourself, I'm going to send 10 personalized emails to some warm leads that I have right now, making them an offer. Notice that I'm not making this super complicated. I'm saying I'm going to send 10 personalized emails and I'm going to, you know, shoot for seven replies and three sales. No, the goal is the win is if I complete this task. 10 personalized emails to warm leads with an offer, right? Another example, I'm going to record five YouTube shorts this week. If I record these shorts and I put them out there, it's a win. And wins kill burnout. I'm telling you, sometimes you just need to win. So we talked about a lot today. I did mention identity burnout, and I want to go a little deeper into that. So I'm going to share a story from my own life, my own personal experience. I built a software company called Webinar Ninja for 10 years, built it to 30,000 users, sold it to Proprofs. We got acquired recently, last year, and I had to start over, right? I had this kind of identity burnout, right? I was a webinar guy for a very long time, and now I'm not. I have nothing to do with the company anymore because it got acquired. So I had to ask myself, what would I have to do if I had to start over? And in a way, I am starting over. And that's how I decided to rebuild the hundred dollar MPA. Now, the podcast has been going on for over 10 years, but I wanted to re infuse the $100 MBA brand. I want to bring it back to life. I felt like it needed more attention now that it has my full attention. And I reimagined what it could be, what I wanted it to be. So we redesigned the program from scratch, rebuilt the whole membership area from zero. We just created it from the ground up. We updated the messaging, the branding. We got experts at design to work with us. We refocused our newsletter. We shot every video all over, updating the content and making sure it's timeless. I got back to teaching live, even did some webinars. And I just decided, okay, I'm going to make this my masterpiece now. This is going to be my focus now. This is going to be my motivation. Suddenly I felt motivated. I felt like I want to work on something special like the 100 MBA again. Sometimes you're going to feel a little stuck. It's not about quitting, it's about reconnecting with your business. You know, sometimes you're going to feel a little stuck, right? And it's fine. It just means you need to readjust the direction slightly to feel alive again. So if you're burnt out, please don't see it as weakness, okay? See it as a signal, as a warning, right? A signal that you're currently working in a way that's not serving you. You need a reboot, right? It's not your entire life here, right? But at the same time, it's a significant part of your life and you should be enjoying what you're doing. Don't suffer silently, all right? Adjust, reconnect, and give yourself the gift of rediscovering your passion, your spark. Because when you're excited again, your team feels it, your customers feel it, and the results follow. At least that's been my experience. Thanks so much for being a listener, a subscriber of the Hundred Dollar MBA Show. It means a ton to us that you're part of this community. The fact that you're listening to this podcast out at the end of the podcast, you made it this far it means you're a doer. It means that you are an action taker. And I have something for you. If you want to continue to learn from me and you want to go a little bit deeper, you may want to join my three Things newsletter. It's called Three Things because I share three things with you every single week. It's absolutely free. Let me tell you what it's all about. The first thing I share with you out of those three things is something to think about to change your mindset, to improve your mindset as a professional, as an entrepreneur, as a builder. The second thing I give you every week is something to do so you're getting better every single week by taking action. And number three, Something to learn so that you're skilling up and becoming something new every single week. Just go to 100mba.net and sign up for any of our free guides and you'll get our newsletter automatically. Thanks for hanging out with me. I'll see you in the next episode. Take what does possibility mean to you?

[Guest]

Um, that's a hard question.

[Omar Zenhom]

Something that you can strive for, that I'm able to do anything I set my mind to.

[Guest]

You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself. Stuff that you could achieve, I feel, etc.

[Omar Zenhom]

Anything is possible when you're more confident. Shoes are a huge part of that. They are the most important part of my style.

[Guest]

You can like, express yourself in the right shoes.

[Omar Zenhom]

Anything is possible.

[Whole Foods Market]

Dsw Countless shoes at bragworthy prices. Imagine the possibilities.