Burnout -Are You Running on Empty?
As South Africans push toward year-end targets, many are running on fumes – and neuroscience shows that your brain (and likely those around you too) is paying the price.
According to mental fitness and neuroscience coach, broadcaster, and endurance athlete Liezel van der Westhuizen, year-end overload is no longer just an HR issue; it’s a national performance risk.
“By November, I usually see executives and sales teams hitting the same wall I’ve hit at kilometre 38 of a marathon,” says van der Westhuizen. “Decision fatigue sets in, empathy drops, and performance spirals – not from lack of skill, but from mental depletion.”
Liezel, the towering talent known as “The Giraffe” – particularly for her philosophy of standing tall and seeing further – says that simple daily resets can dramatically reduce burnout symptoms, and her high-performing clients around the world are among the proof. Her Overload Signals checklist – part of a End-of-Year Mental Fitness Audit everyone should really take up to balance themselves out – helps individuals and teams spot the warning signs early:
Burnout Symptoms:
- Decision fatigue (even small choices like your outfit pick feel hard)
- Multitasking more, but completing less
- Irritability, forgetfulness, or zoning out during meetings (not good for relationship managing)
- Caffeine-powered instead of purpose-powered days
- Skipped rest days or emotional check-ins for more than two weeks
Her neuroscience-based recommendation is a “micro-reset”:
“Step away for 90 seconds, breathe deeply, and stretch. Your nervous system resets faster than you think, so maybe take a lunge & breath on the way to the bathroom. Those 90 seconds can prevent 9 hours of poor focus”.
Van der Westhuizen draws parallels between her own Ironman endurance experience and her expertise in leadership stamina. She is teaching organisations how to finish the financial year strong without burning out their people – her own giraffe team being diligently cared for during work, and even sent on beach days to get morale and motivation up.
“In endurance sport, you plan your pace, your recovery, and your mental rhythm. In business, most people just sprint until they crash. That’s not resilience – that’s survival. Now it’s time to thrive and do so sustainably!”
As founder of The Giraffe Brand Academy, Liezel coaches leaders and sales teams across Africa to apply neuroscience, Positive Intelligence (PQ), and endurance principles to workplace performance. Her success is as much about those high-performance individuals as it is the trickle-down positivity shift of the people in their orbit, too.
This burnout and neuroscience coach encourages workplaces to conduct a quick Mental Fitness Audit before year-end:
- Identify overload signals.
- Manage saboteur triggers.
- Close the energy and rest gaps.
- Reset before setting new targets.
“If you want a strong start in January, protect your brain in November,” says van der Westhuizen.
About Liezel van der Westhuizen
Liezel van der Westhuizen is a burnout coach, certified neuroscience and mental fitness coach, executive business mentor, and endurance athlete. A familiar voice on KFM 94.5, CapeTalk, and Talk Radio 702, she’s also the second woman in the world to host Idols and the first female commentator at both the Ironman and Comrades Marathon finish lines. Through her coaching business she helps leaders, teams, and sales teams build resilience, confidence, and performance without burnout.
