How the Peace Index Can Address Burnout Before It Takes You Out
A Five-Point Early Warning System that can Save Your Mental Health and Your Leadership You don’t wake up one
A Five-Point Early Warning System that can Save Your Mental Health and Your Leadership
You don’t wake up one morning and suddenly burn out.
It creeps in quietly, subtly-a slow burn until exhaustion feels normal, connection fades, and you start questioning why you’re even doing what you’re doing.
I’ve lived this story twice-once as a founder at EOTE COFFEE, and again as founder and executive at Willow Springs Boys Ranch. Different industries, same pattern. The drive to execute a vision for something I was passionate about created the environment for a perfect storm. I was so focused on the mission that I forgot to monitor the missionary.
Sound familiar?
The Entrepreneur’s Deadly Pride
Entrepreneurs often pride themselves on grit. We outlast, outwork, and keep going when others stop-as if sheer endurance were the ultimate badge of honor. We promise ourselves we’ll rest later.
But “later” rarely comes.
And without realizing it, the same drive that fuels our success can push us right to the edge of collapse.
The good news: you can build a firewall against burnout before it takes you out.
It’s called the Peace Index.
Why We Miss the Warning Signs (Every. Single. Time.)
Most leaders are trained to track results, not their own mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
If the metrics look good-sales, revenue, team output-we assume we’re fine. But burnout doesn’t show up in spreadsheets. It shows up in the quiet spaces: sleepless nights, snapping at your spouse, isolation, or that numb feeling that nothing is satisfying anymore.
Take Jack, a CEO of a local firm in OKC. His Slack status was always green. His team thought he was unstoppable. But he hadn’t taken a real weekend off in months. He was not emotionally present for his family, and not because he didn’t want to be. When I asked him to rate his overall life satisfaction, he stared at me blankly. “I honestly don’t remember the last time I felt… satisfied.”
High performers are especially vulnerable because they normalize stress. They assume it’s just part of the grind. They don’t recognize the cost until the crash happens.
That’s why self-awareness isn’t a luxury; it’s not a survival skill. It’s a regular rhythm.
What the Peace Index Is (And Why It Works When Everything Else Doesn’t)
The Peace Index is a simple but powerful tool to measure your personal well-being in five key areas:
Purpose: Am I living and working with meaning? Not just “Am I successful?”, but “Does what I do get me up in the mornings?”
People: Are my relationships healthy and supportive? Are they life giving? Am I life giving? Your network isn’t just professional-it impacts your mental health.
Place: Does my place provide rest and recharge? Are there places in my home that give me peace? Environment, culture, location-the spaces that either energize or drain you.
Provision: Are my resources stable enough to meet my financial needs for the life I have—not my wants. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but financial chaos kills peace.
Personal Health: Am I caring for my physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being? You can’t give away what you don’t possess.
The Peace Index Assessment
Rate yourself 1-100 in each area. Be brutally honest.
| Area | Your Score | Key Question |
| Purpose | ___/100 | Does my work align with what matters most to me? |
| People | ___/100 | Do I have relationships that are truly healthy and supportive? |
| Place | ___/100 | Does my home environment help me thrive? |
| Provision | ___/100 | Am I earning enough to take care of my financial needs? |
| Personal Health | ___/100 | Am I taking care of my body, mind, and soul? |
Your Peace Index Score: ___/100 (Add the 5 Categories and Divide by 5)
What Your Score Means:
- 80-100: You’re thriving and multiplying health. Keep it up!
- 60-79: You’re functional but vulnerable. Pay attention!
- 40-59: Warning zone. Course correction needed now!
- Below 40: Red alert! You’re in burnout territory!
How to Use the Peace Index Proactively (The Real Game-Changer)
1. Check In Regularly
Once a week, monthly, quarterly-mark it in your calendar like any other crucial meeting. Rate yourself in each area. Track the trends.
“What gets measured gets managed. Even your inner life.”
I’ve created a spreadsheet called The Peace Index Tracker. Want a copy? Message me. I’m happy to send the template.
2. Spot Your Weakest Link
Don’t get overwhelmed by everything-Pick One. Start with your lowest score. That’s usually where burnout begins to catch fire.
3. Take One Small, Intentional Action
If Purpose is low:
- Revisit your “why” statement
- Have a conversation with a mentor about alignment
- Identify which parts of your work energize vs. drain you
If People is challenging:
- Schedule regular time with trusted friends
- Join or create a peer group or cohort of fellow leaders
- Invest in professional coaching or therapy
If Place feels draining:
- Redesign your workspace—even small changes matter
- Evaluate the spaces in your home—decor, paint, lighting
- Consider if location or size of your home meets your current needs
If Provision is stressful:
- Get clear on your real financial needs vs. wants
- What is your budget? Do you have one? Is it realistic? What are you spending?
- Seek wise financial counsel
If Personal Health is struggling:
- Commit to one keystone habit: sleep, exercise, nutrition, mental, emotional, spiritual health
- Schedule regular health checkups
- Set boundaries around work hours
- Ask someone you trust to hold you accountable
This isn’t about fixing everything overnight. James Clear describes these things as Atomic Habits. Where can you “trade up” and do 1% better each day? Using the Peace Index, it’s about making early course corrections before you’re forced into it.
Why the Peace Index Works (When Willpower Doesn’t)
The Peace Index succeeds because it:
Turns vague stress into clear data. Instead of “I feel overwhelmed,” you get “My People score is 30 and my Personal Health is 25.” Now you know where to focus.
Reveals root issues. That constant fatigue might not be about working too hard-it might be misaligned purpose or toxic relationships.
Empowers action before crisis. A low score gives you permission to adjust rather than react when everything breaks.
Creates accountability. When you track it monthly, you can’t ignore the downward trends. You can also celebrate when you see scores trending in the right direction.
The Hidden Cost of Living in the Red Zone
Many leaders unknowingly live in the “red-zone” which means that they are not experiencing peace at home or at work. We need Peace from 9 to 5. We need Peace from 5 to 9, as well. They’re functional but fragile-one setback away from collapse. It is easy to get caught in this dangerous cycle and feel like there is no way out.
I’ve seen brilliant leaders lose everything (me included) because they ignored the warning signs:
- The startup founder who built a unicorn but lost his family
- The executive who achieved every career goal but ended up in rehab
- The entrepreneur who created jobs for hundreds but couldn’t get out of bed
Over time, this silent deficit erodes relationships, health, peace and the clarity you need to lead well.
Your people feel it too. When you lead from depletion, everyone around you absorbs that energy. You are creating an unintended unsustainable culture. When you lead from peace, you bring stability, hope, and clear thinking to every situation. Is your leadership multiplying, merely adding, subtracting, or dividing your team and organization?
Don’t Wait for Burnout to Decide for You
Here’s what I know after coaching leaders for over a decade: Your peace affects your leadership more than your productivity does.
Burnout doesn’t just steal your energy-it steals your judgment, creativity, and ability to connect with others. The decisions you make from exhaustion rarely serve you well.
But here’s what most people don’t realize: Peace isn’t the absence of challenge. It’s the presence of alignment and self-awareness.
You can handle enormous challenge when your Purpose, People, Place, Provision, and Personal Health are strong. You can navigate crises, make tough calls, and lead through uncertainty—all while maintaining your center. Your center can be marked by peace.
The question isn’t whether you’ll face stress. The question is whether you’ll face it from a place of strength or depletion.
I’m grateful to Jeremie Kubicek, co-founder of GiANT Worldwide for teaching me the Peace Index. Jeremie doesn’t just teach it, he lives it. For me, it came at a time when I was already in the midst of burnout, anxiety, and collapse. The tool has been detrimental to my recovery and new regular rhythms. Knowing the value of this tool makes it even more powerful when you begin to use it preemptively. Just like functional health. Use the Peace Index as a vitamin and not an antibiotic.
Your Next Steps (Don’t Just Read This. Do This!)
Right now, before you move to the next thing on your to-do list:
- Take the Peace Index assessment above. Write down your scores.
- Identify your lowest area. That’s where burnout will hit first.
- Choose ONE action from the list that you can do this week.
- Calendar your next Peace Index check-in for 7 days from today.
- Share this framework with someone you trust. Accountability matters.
The Bottom Line
Burnout doesn’t have to take you out. But ignoring the warning signs might.
Your leadership, your relationships, your legacy-they all depend on your ability to sustain yourself for the long haul.
The Peace Index isn’t just a tool. It’s your early warning system for the life you actually want to live.
Because the best leaders don’t just endure-they thrive.
References
Clear, James. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery, 2018. https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Kubicek, Jeremie. The Peace Index: A Five-Part Framework to Conquer Chaos and Find Fulfillment. Wiley, 2022. https://thepeaceindexbook.com/
