There's a type of burnout nobody talks about.
It's not the kind where you collapse. Not the kind where you can't get out of bed. Not the dramatic, obvious kind that forces you to stop.
It's called shadow burnout. And it might be the most dangerous kind.
Shadow burnout is when you're still hitting your targets. Still shipping features. Still answering emails and showing up to meetings and doing all the things a founder is supposed to do.
But inside? You're running on fumes. You feel hollow. The wins don't feel like wins anymore. You're successful on paper and exhausted in reality.
This is dangerous because it's invisible. No one intervenes. No one tells you to rest. You look fine, so everyone assumes you are fine.
But you know the truth.
If this sounds familiar, I want you to hear something: Productivity is not the same as health. Hitting metrics doesn't mean you're okay.
The founders who last aren't the ones who push hardest. They're the ones who notice when they're breaking — even when everything around them looks like it's working.
Pay attention to the shadow. It's trying to tell you something.
This is Founder FM. Take care of yourself.