COACH'S CORNER
Practical Tips To Burnout-Proof Your Year
By Jennifer Gray, LPC, LMHC, EMDR
With 2025 just weeks old, financial advisors have a crucial opportunity to prevent burnout and set themselves up for a balanced and intentional year. With changing technologies, global conflicts and politics, and our society’s ever-growing discomfort with money and wealth, it makes sense why burnout has become increasingly common in the industry. Yet, almost every time I work with a financial advisor in my practice, the theme echoes: There must be something precisely wrong with me because all my colleagues are happy and thriving. So why am I so drained and overwhelmed?
While the idea that financial advisors are living their best life has some truth to it, the conversation around mental health, burnout experiences, and work-life harmony is lacking. Resources available to advisors tend to focus on new technology, more efficient practices, client financial psychology, regulations, higher revenue goals, and investment education—the next thing you need to focus on to be a better advisor. And that is important! But it won’t be as impactful and valuable if you are too tired to put anything into practice or too scattered in your schedule to see what might be creating the inefficiency to begin with.
So, let’s make this new year successful in a different way by prioritizing well-being alongside professional goals. Here are practical strategies to avoid burnout in 2025 and create a more balanced, fulfilling career.
Start by Getting to the Source
Naturally, an article in this insightful magazine can’t possibly explain all the potential reasons why you are burnt out, stressed, and performing mediocrely. Still, I can help you identify some good places to start uncovering the source of your chronic overwhelm.
- Perfectionism and People-Pleasing. Having high expectations and an eye for detail are part of what has made you so successful. Knowing what people want and extending yourself to fit that has helped you get to where you are today. But when perfectionism and people-pleasing take over, they can keep you locked in a cycle of unrelenting pressure, where success feels like an ever-moving target. The truth is, you don’t have to strive for perfection to be successful, and you also don’t have to completely abandon the skills and qualities that make you who you are to achieve work-life balance.
- Professional and Personal Boundaries. I don’t mean the specific relational way you engage with clients. When I say boundaries, I mean the line between what is right for you and what is not, what you have availability for and what you genuinely don’t. Always being connected to the market and client needs means a blurred line between your professional and personal needs. If you are always “on” and available to everyone, you are leaving yourself little to no time to recharge in ways that are actually restful. If you don’t get this genuine self-care, you can’t show up for anyone fully, including your clients. Boundaries = Happy Advisors = Productive and Successful.
- Imposter Syndrome (aka Professional Self-Doubt). If you often doubt your abilities, recoil when people remark on your success, minimize your personality with clients and colleagues, or fear you’ll be exposed as a fraud despite your accomplishments, you might be experiencing imposter syndrome. Although this phenomenon can happen in personal roles, it is most common professionally, especially in high-performing careers like financial advising. Imposter syndrome can quickly drain your energy and confidence, making simple tasks more taxing and stressful. It is often a quiet internal struggle but can be amplified when networking and attending conferences. Imagine how much worse you might feel hearing your colleague has reached their $2 million revenue goal (and it’s only halfway through the year) or the financial advisor who started the same year you did is now on a speaking tour. The pressure to live up to idealized images of what an advisor and professional “should be” can be crushing.
Unique Burnout Potential for Advisor Entrepreneurs
Advisors who own a solo or group firm or have control of their own book face similar and different potential for burnout. On top of what the typical advisor might be going through, advisor entrepreneurs must juggle the multiple tasks involved in being a business owner (and even more when they are also an employer). Advisor entrepreneurs can struggle with financial stability due to limiting factors, while others can never seem to get above a particular revenue goal. These pressures can lead to longer working hours, less personal balance, unhealthy stress levels, and burnout.
Practical Solutions for Managing Stress and Avoiding Burnout in 2025
Long-term, sustainable success as a financial advisor isn’t just about managing your clients’ wealth so they can reach their life goals—it’s also about having a career that gives you the potential to care for your own well-being profoundly. The following are a few practical solutions so you don’t miss out on the opportunity for a more balanced and fulfilling life, personally and professionally, in the new year (and beyond).
- Boundaries in Practice. The importance of boundaries is obvious but the firm practice of it can be tricky. As you head into this year, get really clear on your office hours, both client and non-client. Designate specific days or times you are available for meetings, when you will do admin tasks like emails and paperwork, and when you will work on projects that require higher-level thinking. You are setting healthy expectations for yourself, enhancing productivity and focus, and reducing the constant pressure to be responding and available. Bonus Tip: If you drastically change your availability, give clients and colleagues a heads-up. It may be uncomfortable to share this boundary with others but most people will be grateful for the direct clarity and healthy communication (and those who get upset may not be the right fit for you in the long run).
- Reframe Your Entrepreneurial Mindset. For those advisors in their own business or with their own book, take a quick pause and ask yourself if you are still operating on the 9 a.m.–-5 p.m., Monday–Friday, corporate mindset. If your answer is anything but a resounding “Definitely Not!” ask yourself why you became an entrepreneur in the first place. Was it for freedom and flexibility? Fun and balance? Control over your time and lifestyle? Being who you uniquely are in your business? Now, ask yourself if your business model for 2025, day-to-day, aligns with that reason and purpose. Some of my clients recognize that limiting beliefs, like imposter syndrome and perfectionism, also keep them stuck in traditional work standards they grew up in and are socially celebrated. It is your business: redefine success on your terms!
- Invest in a Support Network. Financial advisors are often good at engaging with groups of colleagues, masterminds, and other support networks. While these are necessary and useful, the depth of vulnerability and honest sharing of struggles is often minimal (or nonexistent). It makes sense—your profession likes discussing and analyzing numbers and data. Our society needs that. But when financial advisors don’t have access to spaces that truly highlight the universal experience of the profession, they are essentially restricting their overall effectiveness. It can be a lonely place out there! Early in the new year, consider setting up recurring meetings with a support network for ongoing emotional and professional support on a deeper level. Sharing with other colleagues about the burnout present actually aids in stress management, builds resilience and the ability to empathize, and increases connection and creativity. And when these safe spaces aren’t available or you can’t seem to get out of burnout, you can always engage with a therapist who specializes in working with high-performing financial advisors and entrepreneurs.
Make 2025 Your Most Balanced Year Yet
As the new year begins, take the time to reflect on your 2024. What worked? What didn’t? When you set clear boundaries, challenge perfectionism, and prioritize genuine self-care, you can enjoy a more balanced, fulfilling career—and avoid the burnout trap. With a proactive mindset, some planning, and a few practical changes, 2025 can be the year you finally achieve the work-life harmony you’ve been dreaming of.
Jennifer Gray, multistate licensed mental health therapist and EMDR clinician, helps financial advisors develop fulfilling businesses and profound work-life balance. With expertise in business and behavior, she deeply understands the entrepreneurial struggle with self-doubt, burnout, perfectionism, and overwhelm. Learn more at www.jennifergraycounseling.com.
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