When Meaning Fades, Everything Else Follows

Meaning

This week, I came across a statistic that hit me hard:

👉 1 in 4 workers in Quebec shows signs of burnout.

And among the most affected, nearly half are seriously considering quitting their jobs.

That’s huge. And it says a lot.

Because burnout doesn’t always come from having too much on our plate. Sometimes, it comes from an inner void. The kind you feel when meaning is missing. When what you do each day no longer reflects who you are.

Two Moments. Two Wake-Up Calls.

I remember a very specific morning.

Parked outside my workplace, hands on the steering wheel, engine off. Everything was ready for another full day: packed agenda, responsibilities lined up, coffee within reach.

But I wasn’t fully there.

Physically, yes. I was awake and present. But mentally? It was foggy. I just didn’t feel like going in.

Not because I hated my job. But because I didn’t feel myself in it anymore. I had lost myself in the rhythm, the pressure, the constant urge to do it all for everyone. I had forgotten myself in the equation.

It wasn’t a lack of passion. It wasn’t about doubting my abilities. It was a deep fatigue, a tiredness of self, from always giving, without pausing to reconnect with what I really wanted.

Then there was another moment, a different kind of misalignment.

I held a job for a while that, on paper, looked perfectly fine. But inside, I was counting the hours. I wasn’t building anything meaningful, I was buying time. And every day, a small part of me went dormant. I had the skills, yes. But not the spark. Not my color. Not my DNA.

Meaning Isn’t a Luxury

These two experiences marked me in very different ways.

One showed me that you can burn out even doing something you love…if you forget to listen to yourself.

The other taught me that you can operate just fine in a job…and still feel completely empty if you’re not where you’re meant to be.

The common thread? A lack of meaning. Or more precisely, a lack of deep alignment between what you’re living and who you are.

What I’ve Learned

In my coaching work, I see this every week.

When someone starts to reconnect with what lights them up…When they dare to rethink their values, their needs, their priorities…

Something shifts.

Not an instant transformation. But a gentle awakening, a coming home.

And that, more often than not, is the first step toward a true (r)evolution.

What About You?

Do you feel like your professional life still aligns with what matters most to you?

If your answer is fuzzy…Maybe there’s a gap between what you’re doing and what you truly want. And that’s not a weakness.

It’s a wake-up call.

Need help finding your center again?

That’s exactly what we explore through my CANVAS approach, so your energy, your balance, and your sense of meaning can finally walk in step.

Because when your day-to-day feels aligned…Everything changes.