In this episode, we explore how we've been taught to treat our souls like companies that need constant optimization and productivity. This mindset leads to "overfunctioning" - taking on excessive responsibility and deriving our worth from productivity. I share why this approach contradicts our natural human rhythms, the toll it takes on our wellbeing, and a simple experiment to help you find peace beyond productivity.

Many of us have internalized corporate thinking into our personal lives. We apply business concepts like "productivity hacks," "quarterly goals," and "optimization" to our sleep, relationships, and personal growth. This mentality emerged from 20th century management theories designed to maximize manufacturing output by treating workers as interchangeable parts of a machine.

What's fascinating is how we've become our own harsh managers, pushing ourselves to perform without regard for our human needs and natural rhythms. In psychology, this is called "overfunctioning" - taking on excessive responsibility, doing more than your fair share, and deriving your worth from productivity and problem-solving.

The overfunctioner constantly scans for what needs fixing, optimizing, or managing - exactly like a manager might do for their company. But here's the problem: you're not a company. You're a living, breathing human being.

In what natural system does anything healthy experience exponential growth? The forest cycles through seasons of vibrant growth and necessary decay. The female body moves through monthly rhythms of build-up and release. The tides rise and retreat daily. Each phase serves a purpose, and no phase is more "important" than another - each is essential to the whole.

Here's an unsettling thought for those who idealize constant growth - cancer is one of the few phenomena in nature that grows exponentially without boundaries. It doesn't listen to the body's natural rhythms. It overtakes, consumes, and destroys.

While companies chase exponential curves, our lives actually move in spirals. We revisit old territories with new understanding. We cycle through periods of expansion and contraction, integration and release. Our wisdom accumulates not through constant acceleration but through rhythmic engagement with our inner and outer worlds.

Unlike companies, a rich human experience isn't efficient. The experiences that deeply satisfy us - learning, wisdom, love, friendship, trust - are laborious, circuitous, time-consuming, and there are no shortcuts.

For just one day, pause occasionally and ask yourself: "Am I looking after myself as I would a living, sentient being, or am I driving myself to perform, optimize, and 'go' at all costs like a machine?"

Notice when you're pushing through fatigue instead of resting. Notice when you're treating emotions as inconvenient disruptions to productivity. Notice what you're measuring as your day's worth.

This simple act of zooming out can create a profound shift in awareness. It helps you catch those moments when you're slipping into overfunctioning mode - when you're treating your human life like a company to be managed rather than a journey to be experienced.

When you notice it happening, try something radical: Choose the response that honors your humanity. Maybe that's taking a break when you're tired instead of reaching for more coffee. Maybe it's letting yourself feel disappointed instead of immediately problem-solving. Maybe it's celebrating the connections you made today rather than just the tasks you completed.

"Cancer is one of the rare phenomena in nature that grows exponentially without boundaries. While companies might chase exponential curves, our lives actually move in spirals."

This powerful comparison invites us to question our cultural fixation on constant growth and productivity. When we treat ourselves like machines, we go against our natural rhythms and cycles, ultimately leading to depletion rather than peace.

The path to peace isn't through perfect optimization. It's through remembering that you are not a machine or a company - you're a human being with natural cycles of energy, creativity, and rest.

Overfunctioning isn't sustainable because it goes against our very nature. It's not a matter of willpower but a reality of trying to force an industrialized model of productivity onto beings that weren't designed for it.

Self-love is protecting your humanity in a world that often treats it as an inconvenience. It's remembering that your worth isn't tied to your output. It's honoring the full spectrum of your experience - the productive days and the slower ones, the insights and the questions, the growth and the necessary decay.

Ready to transform your relationship with self-love? Learn about the path from burnout to clarity designed specifically for professionals navigating sustainable success at mybreathingmind.com.

My Breathing Mind Podcast is created for professionals navigating stress, burnout, and the journey back to peace and purpose. All episodes are written and produced by Ruth Kao Barr, burnout specialist, leadership & wellbeing coach.