The Cost of Holding On

Steve was the guy everyone could count on—the one who never dropped the ball, who always showed up early, held it together under pressure, and quietly carried more than his share. By the time he started MindBody Foundations, he was already running on fumes, stretched thin between a high-stakes leadership role at one of the biggest companies in the world, raising two kids, managing a tense home life, and keeping up the image of someone who had it all under control.

But under the surface, something was fraying. The cracks were showing up in subtle ways: burnout masked as productivity, unspoken resentment at home, the creeping sense that no matter how much he did, it was never enough. The voice in his head—the one that said “keep pushing, prove your worth”—was louder than ever. And it was taking a toll. On his health. On his marriage. On his ability to feel present in his own life.

In our work together, Steve began to see the pattern: he’d spent years saying yes to everything and everyone but himself. Slowly, through journaling, mindfulness, and honest conversations, he started saying no—to the constant back-to-back meetings, to being the emotional dumping ground for everyone at work, to trying to be the perfect dad, husband, and executive all at once. He began experimenting with setting boundaries, noticing how hard that felt at first, and learning to sit with the discomfort rather than bulldoze through it. He even began telling the truth about what he needed, even when it upset the delicate peace at home. As he said during our final session, “It’s not like I’m all healed. But I can see the loop I was stuck in. And now I have choices I didn’t think I had before.”