The day I burnt out. Right before a resilience keynote.

My very first keynote was for the Canadian Red Cross. It was World Mental Health Day, and I had 30 minutes to speak (virtually) to 400 staff members about burnout.

I was pumped. And honestly? A little panicked.

I mean… the Red Cross? These are people who deal with disasters and trauma on a daily basis. Who was I to talk to them about stress and resilience at work? Yes, I’d had my share of pressure, long days, emotional loads....but nothing close to war zones or crisis response!

That little voice of doubt crept in: "You're not qualified for this."

To make it worse, I was running on fumes. I’d just flown 14 hours home from Australia, landed in Canada jetlagged and foggy, my furnace broke that morning, my family needed me, and I had a mountain of to-dos waiting.

The final straw came later that evening, in the car, on the way to pick up my son from Taekwondo. I was spiraling. Overthinking. Stressed. Burnt out! Oh the irony.....I was about to give a keynote on burnout, while burning out myself.

So I pulled over. And began to use my own tools.

I had rehearsed that talk a dozen times. I knew the message inside and out. But what I really needed in that moment was to practice what I preach. I reached into my toolkit for my #1 go-to from every resilience training session I’ve led: the physiological sigh.

The fastest tool I know to regain calm

If you’ve ever cried hard and then taken a big double inhale with a long exhale…That’s it. That’s the physiological sigh.

It’s a built-in human stress reliever. Simple. Powerful. Science-backed. Discussed since the 1930s.

Stress and anxiety mess with our breathing. They generate shallow, rapid inhales that trap CO₂ and trick our bodies into panic mode. The physiological sigh resets that.

Here’s how it works:

1. Inhale deeply through your nose

2. Take a second, sharper inhale

3. Exhale slowly (with a sigh) through your mouth

   (Repeat that 1-3 times)

Within 90 seconds, I felt back in control. Clear-headed. Steady. I picked up my son, got some sleep....and then absolutely crushed the keynote the next day.

Why this matters for everyday resilience at work

This technique isn’t just for keynote jitters. It’s for:

• High-stakes meetings

• Overflowing inboxes

• Frustrating moments with colleagues

• That tiny space between reaction and response

One breath done right can be the difference between snapping and showing up strong.

In the work I do around resilience at work, I often say: Resilience isn’t about powering through. It’s about knowing when to pause.

That pause might only last 15 seconds. But it can reset your nervous system, clear your mind, and help you lead from your best self.

It’s one of the first tools I teach in any resilience session I run. Because it’s free, fast, and instantly usable, even on the side of the road, mid-burnout.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed, try this: Take a breath.

Whatever is coming...bring it on!

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