614: (Solo) Running on Fumes? Reset Your Mindset Before The Year Ends

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’re dragging yourself toward the end of the year feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and mentally drained, you’re not alone. This is one of the toughest stretches for founders — you’re still running the business while everyone else is winding down, and the pressure can quietly compound into burnout. In this episode, I share the exact reset strategies I use whenever I feel my energy dipping or my mindset slipping. These are the practical things that help me slow down, recalibrate, and get back to operating from clarity instead of exhaustion — especially during the chaotic final months of the year. Here’s what you’ll take away: • How to recognise the early signs of founder burnout before they hit hard • The practical reset routine I use: float tanks, steps, saunas, journaling, grounding, and more • Why taking weekends off, booking holidays, and creating downtime actually improves your performance • How to say no more often without guilt (and why doing less is often the answer) • Why founders can’t build great things when they’re running on fumes — and how to avoid it If you’re tired, discouraged, or feeling the weight of the year, this episode will help you reset your mind, rebuild your energy, and enter the new year from a grounded, healthy place — not burnout. This is a brand new solo series I’m testing, and I’d love your feedback. Email me directly at [email protected] — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam, I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omniscend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders. We've been recommending OmnisCent to Founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling the seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results.
0:24.0	Did you know on average, Omnysend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment.
0:32.6	And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code Founder 50.
0:39.3	Just head to Omnisend.com forward slash founder without the E to get started.
0:45.1	All right. Now let's jump back into the show.
0:48.7	Hey Founder fam, Nathan here and we're back for another Founder to Found founder episode. You guys are loving these episodes.
0:56.0	And if you have any suggestions, shoot me a DM, would love to hear from you if you have
0:59.6	any questions, something you'd like me to tackle. What I want to tackle today is something
1:03.6	that's been in my mind. You're not imagining it. The tank is low. Your energy shot.
1:08.7	You're doing the best to hit your goals, but everything right now just
1:11.9	feels hard, it's sluggish. You know alone, it feels like a grind. If you're a founder crawling at the end of the year on fumes, you're working hard, you've got so many competing priorities, it just feels like nothing is working. It feels like you're looking at the end of the year and you're like, oh my God, what have I achieved? What have I accomplished? I'm feeling burnt out and I get it. We're at the tail end of the year. I know firsthand how exhausting it can feel to keep pushing, especially if your business isn't hitting targets that you'd hope for. You're running on adrenaline. You don't have much else. I've been there. There's this unspoken pressure that founders carry, you know, when everyone's planning parties, putting up Christmas trees and you have to keep showing up, you don't get a holiday, right? Or if you do, it's not much because you've got orders coming in. You've still got stuff to do. You've still got to look after your stuff. You've still got to make sales is coming through. You've still got payroll.
2:01.6	You've still got costs, all these different things.
2:03.8	And take it from me who has been there before.
2:06.6	This is not sustainable.
2:07.9	So in this episode, I want to talk about how to personally reset your mindset, how I've
2:12.1	done it during seasons like this.
2:14.0	These are actual tools and strategies and mental shifts that I've used to really
2:19.3	recalibrate, stay on top of my game because I've experienced burnout and it's tough.
2:25.0	Hear the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through
2:30.7	entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
2:38.5	So one of the biggest lies that we tell ourselves as founders is as long as I hit this target
2:46.0	or everything's going to be amazing when this happens. I'm feeling run down, but I've got this just a little bit more,
	...

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