Ep. 46: I'm a Recovering High Performer — Here's What It Actually Cost Me (Part 1)

What's the real cost of being the person who always has their shit together? Laura gets uncomfortably honest about the identity that was quietly wrecking her — and why "high performer" might be the label you need to put down.Welcome to Season 2. And Laura is kicking it off by calling herself out. In this solo episode, she unpacks what it actually means to identify as a high performer — not the resume version, but the version with the stomach pains, the premature gray hair at 24, the clenched jaw, and the 16-hour days she was never compensated for. She breaks down why the high performer identity isn't a badge of honor. It's a trap where your self-worth gets tied directly to your output, and the finish line never stops moving.Laura introduces what she calls the "I've got this mask" — the armor that keeps you performing okayness even when you're drowning. She walks through the moment at work when she was a functional lead for three separate workstreams with no real team support, asking for help while simultaneously being so masked that no one truly believed she needed it. She traces exactly how that mask followed her home and shares one of the most vulnerable moments in this episode: the night she lost her cousin unexpectedly and, instead of calling anyone, curled up alone on the floor in a linen onesie in the dark because asking for support felt like a burden she wasn't allowed to have.This is Part 1 of a two-part series, and Laura closes with a simple but powerful invitation: just notice. Notice where the mask goes on.Notice where you start to feel like an island.No fixing required — just awareness. "My worth was determined on how well I performed, not how well I was feeling."— Laura DionisioIf this episode felt like it was written about you — it wasn't an accident. You're probably ready to move out of the high performer identity and into whatever comes next.👉 Book a free 20-min clarity call: [https://leadintactwithlaura.as.me/free-clarity-call]👉 Heart-Aligned Career Transition Starter: [https://www.leadintact.com/freebies/heart-aligned-career]