Read this before you do anything else.
You finished the Burnout Check with a high score. The next step isn't another framework. It's this page.
A Five-Alarm or Smouldering result means your system has been running past empty for a while.
Not a rough month — a pattern.If you're like most leaders who land here, your first instinct is to treat this like any other problem: push through, add a system, read another book.
That instinct is the thing to watch. The drive that built the depletion can't be the tool that fixes it. This one starts outside of coaching — and mostly outside of you trying harder.
If it's urgent, start here.
If you're in crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself — call or text 988 (US and Canada) or 116 123 (UK). Free, and answered around the clock. Anywhere else in the world: findahelpline.com lists support lines by country.
What works.
Talk to a professional. Burnout often overlaps with — or masks — clinical depression, and you can't always tell the difference from inside it. A licensed therapist can. In the US, the Psychology Today directory filters by specialty, location, and insurance.
See your doctor. Exhaustion has physical causes too. Blood work and a basic checkup rule them out — a concrete first step that makes everything else clearer.
Check your EAP. If your company offers an Employee Assistance Program, it includes free therapy sessions. EAPs are run by outside providers — your company sees usage numbers, not names.
When you're ready to map it
The Oxygen Mask is the deep diagnostic behind the check you just took — 40 questions, a 10-part report, and a year of access so you can retake it and see whether what you're changing is working. It won't replace anything above. What it will do is show you where the depletion is structural — which patterns are driving it, and which ones will rebuild it if they don't change.
It's $39, and it will still be here in a month. Outside help first. The map can wait.
You're not damaged. You ran a high-performance system past empty for longer than it was built to go. Getting back is different work than getting ahead — and it's not work you have to do alone.
— Don Eash