If you’re in the business of encouraging the encouragers – whether through mentorship, coaching, or simply showing up day after day for everyone else you’ve probably faced this quiet ache too:
Who encourages me?
There’s a moment in every high achiever’s journey when the leadership weight starts to press a little harder. Not because we’re doing something wrong but because we’ve been carrying so much for so long. The pressure to keep pouring out. To perform. To stay strong.
That, my friend, is high achiever stress. And when we ignore it, burnout starts whispering in the background.
This week on the podcast, I sat down with Mitch Matthews – host of Dream Think Do and Encouraging the Encouragers – and his words hit something deep in me. Mitch doesn’t speak in fluff or surface-level slogans. He brings that rare blend of science, soul, and real-life application that actually recalibrates the nervous system and the heart.
He reminded me that true, authentic leadership isn’t about pretending you’re okay – it’s about knowing what to do when you’re not.
🎧 Listen to the full episode below.
Here are a few takeaways I think you’ll want to hold tight, especially if you’re leading from a place of purpose, but feeling the cost of it in your peace:
Teach From the Journey, Not the Mountaintop
If you’ve ever felt like your authority depends on having it all figured out, let this be your release valve.
Your people don’t need a perfectly polished version of you. They need the real you. The one who’s walked through the valley and is still learning.
Teach from the journey. From the questions. From the in-process places. That’s where trust is built. That’s where authentic leadership lives.
Interrupt the Stress Loop
For so many founders, high achiever stress becomes a default state. We normalize the tension. But Mitch broke it down in a way that made so much sense:
Your brain is wired to scan for threats. Your amygdala is like a loyal (but dramatic) bodyguard – always on alert. Pair that with your basal ganglia (hello, habit loops), and you’ve got a recipe for chronic anxiety and eventual burnout.
But there’s a way out. Ask yourself:
“Is this real or imagined?”
That one pause activates the part of your brain that leads instead of reacts. It moves you from survival mode to solution mode.
And Mitch’s writing coach? She calls her amygdala “Nigel.” So when the spiral starts, she says, “Thank you, Nigel – I’ve got it from here.”
Tools like this don’t just help – they retrain your default response. And that’s how we lead differently.
You Can’t Build a Legacy From a Mask
Mitch told the story of buying a flashy red Mercedes in his early entrepreneur days not because he loved it, but because he thought that’s what “successful” looked like.
Guess what? It leaked oil.
And it leaked the truth: performance-driven leadership eventually breaks down.
You can’t build a legacy from a place of pretending. If you’re leading from a version of yourself you think the world wants to see, your soul will keep asking, “But what about me?”
Ditch the mask. Real success – the kind that satisfies your soul – only comes from alignment.
Encouragement Isn’t a Perk – It’s a Calling
Mitch didn’t stumble into his mission. God gave it to him. After hitting a wall, He led Mitch to the mountains and handed him a new assignment: encourage the encouragers.
This wasn’t about content strategy. It was a holy reset.
If you’ve been called to lead, you’ve also been called to rest. To recalibrate. To receive.
God isn’t asking you to keep proving yourself. He’s inviting you to walk with Him while you lead. He doesn’t want you to burn out for your calling, He wants to build you for it.
Ready to Be Poured Into?
You don’t have to white-knuckle your way to success.
You don’t have to wear a mask.
You don’t have to live at the edge of burnout.
Listen to this episode. Not just because it’s packed with insight, but because it will feel like a breath of fresh air in a world that keeps asking more of you.
And if you want to invite God deeper into your business, Mitch’s free resource, 11 Prayers for Leaders, is a beautiful place to start. I printed it. Highlighted it. Prayed through it.
Because we need leaders who are well. Leaders who lead from overflow, not obligation.
If you’re in the business of encouraging the encouragers, you deserve to be encouraged too.
Let’s keep building, but let’s do it from the inside out.
