This isn’t what you thought your life would look like. On the outside, it looks like you have everything. You graduated with high honors and pursued your dream of becoming a doctor, lawyer, entrepreneur, or CEO. You’re a powerhouse and have the career you always dreamed of, the salary to match, but something feels off. Work-life balance is a pipe dream that seems impossible, and you’re in a constant state of burnout. A nap doesn’t solve the fatigue you constantly feel, and your calendar is always full and overbooked. You stay late, take extra shifts, and are known to be the reliable one that your colleagues turn to. On the one hand, you’ve made it. But on the other hand, this isn’t what you thought it would be.

A woman sitting on a couch with a newspaper advertising graduate school. This image represents a high-achieving woman pursing law school or medical school but feeling anxious and burned out.

What We Are Told About Success….. Is A Lie

Growing up, you defined success as earning good grades, gaining admission to a competitive and well-recognized university, and graduating with honors. You received praise from your professors, supervisors, and attendings for your work ethic, dependability. And this worked to an extent—it got you to where you want to be. But now, it’s not as fulfilling as what you thought it would be.

It Wasn’t Supposed To Be This Way

You think to yourself, if you could just be better at time management or be more efficient, it would solve the burnout you are experiencing. You would be more present with your family, your partner would finally stop telling you that you are irritable, and you would actually know how to relax. You worked so hard to get to this point, and yet, this isn’t what you signed up for. The long workdays, dealing with toxic work environments, and feeling guilty for taking time off - you thought you had left all that behind in graduate school, only to find yourself in a similar environment.

A woman sitting on a bench looking at the mountains. This image represents an anxious woman in Austin, Texas who feels unfulfilled in her career and burned out. Dr. Molly Moore is a psychologist and anxiety therapist in Austin, Texas who can help.

Redefining Success

If you are like most of my high-achieving clients, your worth has been tied to your achievements. Getting into a competitive graduate program, making partner at your law firm, getting a desirable salary, and matching at your top residency choice. And while that success feels great in the moment, placing your worth on your achievements puts you on the fast track to burnout and an autoimmune disorder.

By working with an anxiety and burnout therapist, I help my clients redefine what success means to them. This is usually hard at first, as most of my clients define success based on their outward achievements. But success can look like not answering emails after hours, so you can spend time with your kids. Or making sure you are saving money for that vacation to Europe you have always dreamed of. Success can also look like setting boundaries in your relationships and getting clear and honest about what really matters to you.

Living A Life In Alignment With Your Values

Real success can be defined as living a life in alignment with your values. Values are the guiding principles for our behaviors, attitudes, and choices. Growing up, your family likely had shared values. And it isn’t uncommon for those values to shift and change as you mature and develop your own sense of identity.

Some examples of values include faith, relationships and community, social justice, adventure, health, fitness, quality time, travel, trust, communication, etc. For most of my high-achieving clients, living a life in alignment with their value system likely went out the door while they pursued their career goals. Eating junk food, consuming ungodly amounts of caffeine during residency, and staying up late to prepare for their upcoming court case. At some point, it’s going to take a toll. Getting clear on your values and taking inventory on how your life is currently aligned or misaligned with your value system is the first step towards finding lasting fulfillment.

Final Thoughts

Redefining success can be hard for my high-achieving clients who are so used to their self-worth being tied to their accomplishments. But usually, a part of them knows deep down that it isn’t about the job title, six-figure salary, or promotions. They have all of that, but something still feels off. It doesn’t feel enough. You deserve to rest in your accomplishments and develop self-worth that isn’t fleeting and dependent on your boss’s mood that day.

Let Go of The Pressure to do More with Therapy for High-Achieving Women in Austin and throughout the state of TX!

You deserve a life where you are thriving, instead of living in survival mode and afraid that one mistake will unravel everything. If you are a high-achieving woman in Austin, Texas and want to redefine what success looks like for you, I can help.

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Other Services Offered by Dr. Molly Moore of Moore Psychotherapy

Are you a high-achieving woman who struggles with anxiety, impostor syndrome, and burnout? I’m Dr. Molly Moore, a licensed psychologist in Austin, TX who specializes in working with high-achieving women just like you. In addition to helping clients ditch anxiety with Therapy for Anxiety, I also help women overcome self-doubt and feeling like a fraud with Therapy for Imposter Syndrome. Therapy for Burnout is for women who are exhausted—emotionally and physically—to find relief and be productive without sacrificing their needs. In my practice, I provide Online Therapy in Texas. To learn more about me and the work I do, check out my About Me page and my blog.

Redefining Success for Anxious High-Achieving Women in Austin, Texas