You Are Not Alone

Some days feel like a pressure cooker and not just at work. The deadlines, the compliance, the culture work that never ends... then you get home, and you're straight into more. A partner who's tired too. Teenagers who need your attention but barely give you eye contact. A parent who's slowing down and needs more support. A mate you haven't replied to in weeks.

And still, you show up. Because that's who you are. The one others lean on. The steady voice. The strong back.

But let's be real. Sometimes that weight catches up. Sometimes it's not the critical incident or safety report that undoes you. It's the missed dinner. The kid who pulls away. The voice in your head that says, “You're keeping everyone safe… except yourself.”

I know that voice. I've flown complex operations with full control of the aircraft, only to come home and feel completely off my flight path. I've led teams through pressure but lost my patience the second I walked through the front door. I've felt the shame of being exhausted in the moments that should matter most. And I know what it's like to question if you're giving your family your best or just what's left.

You're not broken. You're not failing. You're human. And you're absolutely not alone in this.

And here's the part we rarely talk about: when you're the reliable one, the one who stays steady, no one checks if you're slipping. You can be surrounded by people and still feel like you're carrying it all solo. That quiet weight builds over time. It's not always burnout that breaks people. Sometimes it's just the slow erosion of never feeling like you can exhale.

This isn't about finding balance. Balance doesn't exist when the job you do asks for your head, your heart, and your presence around the clock.

This is about leading intentionally, even through the mess. Checking your load. Knowing that strong doesn't mean silent. And remembering that you're part of a crew, even if no one says it out loud.

Real leadership isn't about holding it all together. It's about knowing when to check in before something breaks. At work. At home. In you.

If you feel the strain today, don't push it down. Reach out. Breathe. Reset your heading. You're not the only one navigating this flight path.

Love to hear your thoughts.