How a Good Intention Turned Into Burnout
Why my 2025 motto backfired
Every December, I set a yearly motto. It’s a phrase I want to embody in the year ahead and use as a compass with decision making big and small. For 2025, I chose “All in” as my motto. As I wrote in my post last year about it, “All In” meant:
“…committing deeply to a few areas of my life, and not spreading myself too thin. I want to see what can result from deeper focus.”
Oh, what a beautiful intention! Instead, I did just the opposite. I tried to be “All In” on all aspects of my professional life—my artist/author brand, pitching a new graphic novel, promoting Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel, and coaching and mentoring comic creators. As a result, I started to experience burnout, and felt unfocused and spread way too thin.
As burnout creeped in, I kept thinking back to the worst time in my life, when I was in high school. Then, I felt the compulsion to excel at everything I did. I had to be the president of every club I was part of, captain of all my sport teams, as well as achieve very high grades and SAT scores. This resulted in misery, anxiety, and burnout. But it also got me into Harvard.1
In college, I resolved to learn from my mistakes, and instead only focus on three different aspects of my life: my school work, rowing lightweight crew, and having close friendships. I eventually let go of parts of school that I didn’t enjoy like Calculus and French, and focused instead on art and animation, which I loved. As a result, I was happier than I’d ever been in life.
Where I got lost along the way in 2025 was a bit similar to high school. Then, I was obsessed with getting into a prestigious college and felt like my whole life depended on it. This year, I became fixated on doing everything I could to ensure a strong book launch for Tuck Everlasting, afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep making graphic novels if it didn’t do well.2
Both times, these ideas were coming from a fearful place and a scarcity mindset, where it’s hard to think strategically.
This year, as part of “all in,” I let myself be pulled in many directions and not necessarily in areas of my strengths. For example, when I looked back at my year’s time tracking, I spent over a third of my time on promotion and marketing. While I love connecting with people, this was just too much for someone who really just likes making art alone in my studio. And I didn’t allow myself enough fun or space to recover from so much switching between different focuses.
In retrospect, “All In” was a horrible motto selection for a perfectionist. For “All In” to work as a motto for me, it should have been “All In” on one thing that I truly enjoyed, not all in on everything as it snowballed into. But, on the upside, I did get a whole lot done, which allows me more breathing room as I reset for 2026.
Stay tuned next week for my motto for 2026 which is much less intense and in line with what I actually need to bring to my life!
Let me know in the comments: What are the life lessons you have to keep learning again and again?
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Leif love
Leif had to ride in the front seat of our car recently when we had our snow tires taking up the back seat. He was not a fan of the front seat, but I enjoyed the snuggles.
Take care and keep creating!
—Katharine
While I enjoyed my experience at Harvard, I want to note that I don’t think it’s worth depression, anxiety, and burnout to get there.
This fear entirely came from me, not something my publisher or agent told me.
My problem with being self employed is that I now have an idiot for a boss. What does that guy know about my needs? All best in restoring balance in 2026! If you figure out how please inform the rest of us.
My ‘motto’ in the last 2 years was ‘To Listen’
And I’m still learning it.
I’m learning to listen to my own whispers, that show me the way to my true self, to my own rhythm inside out, because it is that’s so linked to my art and my creativity. I have learnt tho that listening deeply not just to myself but to my surroundings and others can create an incredibly nurtured space where my creativity and all kind of ‘work’ flow easily and effortlessly.
Listening, deep listening creates care and understanding as well as awareness. Not an easy task. First year I failed, second year I learnt a lot but still room for improvement.