Crystal's Notes 7th February

In partnership with

Start using AI the way top finance teams do.

The AI for Business & Finance Certificate Program from Columbia Business School Exec Ed and Wall Street Prep draws on real-world examples inspired by how firms like BlackRock, Citi, and Morgan Stanley approach AI enablement for their teams.

You’ll go beyond theory to understand what’s being implemented, why it works, and how to apply it in your own role.

• Join LIVE office hours with Columbia Business School faculty

• Earn a certificate from a top business school

• Get lifetime access to program materials, meet-ups, and networking opportunities

Save $300 with code SAVE300 + $200 with early enrollment by Feb. 17.

Enroll Today

____________________________________________________

I've stood on stage receiving awards and felt completely empty inside.

I've also had periods where I was doing less work than I do now, yet felt exhausted and burnt out all the time.

For years, I couldn't make sense of it. How could I feel so depleted when I was "succeeding?” How could rest not restore me?

It took me some time to figure this out, but it wasn't the workload, nor a lack of gratitude toward my recognitions, either.

It was that I was misaligned with myself.

One of my teachers once told me: burnout is a form of homesickness. You are longing to come home to yourself.

Home is not a geographical location. It's a sense of something deep within you, a comfort and ease with yourself. The ability to tap into your vast resources within.

When we lose connection to that home, we start searching for it elsewhere. We think we need a new job, to move countries, or even to find a special person. But no amount of achievements, accolades, or external validation will fill you up if you don't have that sense of home within.

And conversely, when you have found home in yourself, nothing can truly burn you out.

You may still be extremely tired at the end of the day, but it's a good kind of tired. And when you wake up the next morning, your battery is fully charged again.

I think back to times when I was doing a job I didn't believe in, or wearing the yoke of others' expectations begrudgingly. During those times, I could've been doing less than I am now, but I always felt like I was running on fumes. It was a burden on my soul when I felt that I had to do something rather than it being what I had chosen to do.

When we live from a sense of agency, choice, and empowerment, and we're truly listening and calibrating all the time, it becomes almost impossible to get burned out.

That's the foundation we build in Deep Human Confidence. Not just confidence to perform, but the kind of inner clarity and self-trust that allows you to come home to yourself, so you can lead and live from a place that feels real.

You can find all the details here.

Much love,

Crystal

(Image courtesy of Tatler)