For a lot of dyslexic adults over 30, "keepin' it real" meant taking the job, grinding it out, and proving you could hang in systems you were allergic to.

You didn't fake it.

You straight up forced it…

Which actually worked… for a while.

The twist you didn’t see coming?

You can be smart, capable, even praised for your work and still feel like something's quietly dying inside.

Work feels pointless.

You show up. Do the job. People even praise your work. 

But somewhere along the way, the lights dimmed.

You lost your way. 

I've always needed something beyond clocking in and out. 

A project, purpose or distraction…

Something to light me up.

Outlets like the gym, hoops, pottery, improv, music are how I stayed sane, especially back when I had jobs I couldn’t stand.

Today, as a happily self-employed contractor juggling class action work and creative dyslexia business separately, I get challenged in different ways daily - keeping me on my p’s & q’s.

WHAT IS BROWNOUT?

Brownout is being highly functional on the surface while feeling disengaged and unfulfilled underneath at work.

Unlike burnout where you collapse completely, Brownout means the lights are still on, but no one’s home. 

You're detached, on autopilot and going through the motions while your soul’s checked out.

• You're already dreading Monday by Sunday afternoon

• You sit in meetings nodding along while secretly planning your escape

• You complete assignments on time but feel absolutely nothing when they're done

You're living half a life, getting a third of the satisfaction, with a quarter of the energy you once had.

DON’T HATE THE PLAYER,
HATE THE GAME  

It’s not your fault.

Maybe you took the job where they didn’t ask too many questions about your unconventional background. You convinced yourself you'd grow to love it. Or at least tolerate it.

Perhaps this was supposed to be temporary, but you got comfortable and the years slipped by.

Or like my experience drifting for 12 years after college, you took what was readily-available because you didn’t know who or what you were supposed to be.

Be grateful for the work - keep your head up - hold position.

ALL OR SOMETHING 

Remember when we were kids?

Despite all the toys we threw tantrums to get, somehow we'd still find ourselves bored.

All we needed was to look around, use a touch of imagination, and create an entire universe. 

But it felt easier to announce: "I'm bored!"

The psychology is the same as adults. "I'm stuck!"

We can’t reverse every wrong decision we think we've made in a matter of , days, weeksa or even months… expecting all the side narratives and consequences to magically align into a new dimension called Easy Street..

But luckily - Brownout is a warning.

Whereas its Cousin Burnout, that’s the Code Red.

GET OUT OF BROWN-TOWN

ROUTE 1: Evolve the Work 

Brownout is your internal system saying: "We've outgrown this arrangement."

Time for change. 

But change means different, not drastic.

• A millimeter shift of a tractor plowing a field changes the entire crop.
  The smallest adjustment in direction transforms your whole harvest.
  

• Renewing why you work where you do could start with going to the company website and reading the mission statement.
  Maybe you forgot why this place exists beyond your paycheck
  

• Feeling better about work could mean a change of shift, hours, workstations, cubicles, or floors.
  Sometimes the work stays the same but the environment shifts everything
  

• Change could be staying after hours, coming in an hour early, or skipping lunch to learn manuals and procedures that make you a candidate for promotion or raise.
  Small investments in your growth instead of burning it all down 

ROUTE 2: Evolve Yourself 

Find something outside work that lights you up. But be specific about it.

• Sign up for the class, sports league, coaching, dance troop, meetup or music lessons

• Join that community or church group you've been putting off

• Start the side project that's been living in your head
  
  

• Build something that reminds you of who you are beyond your job title

• Learn something that challenges your brain differently

• Create something with your hands
  
  

• Schedule it like you would a meeting

• Protect that time like you protect work time

• Let it feed the parts of you that work leaves hungry

OFF THE HOOK  

You fall into a hole but you don’t fall out - you climb out.

So what if the old version of you keepin’ it real meant you got it wrong? 

You took the wrong job, said the wrong thing or made the wrong decision.

That doesn’t make you any less of a person.

How long do you punish yourself or hold hope hostage?

How long til you let yourself off the hook?

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