Your Job Isn’t Toxic, Your Patterns Might Be

🎶 “Bag lady, you gon’ hurt your back… dragging all them bags like that.”   Erykah Badu

When I first heard those lyrics, I thought she was talking about relationships. But lately? I’ve realized she could’ve been talking to every high-achieving woman in corporate.

You leave the toxic job. Take the better offer. New boss, new team, new pay bump. And still,  you’re overworked, overwhelmed, over-it.

Why? Because the bags came with you.

Burnout isn’t always about where you work. Sometimes it’s about how you’ve learned to work. You adapted to chaos by over-delivering, people-pleasing, never pausing. Those survival habits become so familiar, they follow you from one role to the next,  until your body says no more.

If you’re tired, it might not be the job,  it might be the weight.

📌 “Sometimes we don’t leave our burnout habits,  we pack them and take them with us.”

Try this:

✅ Unpack your burnout baggage. 

Ask: What am I still carrying that’s no longer required here? Constant availability? Fear of disappointing others? The need to prove my worth?

✅ Drop one pattern. 

Try this self-trust script: “It’s safe to work differently now. I can succeed without self-abandoning.”

You don’t have to keep dragging the same old bags into every new opportunity. Let some of it go. Make room for ease. Make space for joy.

You’re still that girl,  just with fewer bags.

✨ Want to break the burnout cycle for good? 

Join my upcoming Masterclass and bring your pen too.