When "Pushing Through" Destroys You: A Silicon Valley CEO’s Story - Nancy Deyo

Whathappens when the exact traits that made you successful—relentless discipline,high performance, and pushing past limits—end up destroying your physicalhealth and leaving you bedridden for a decade?NancyDeyo is a former Silicon Valley CEO,Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow, and author of the forthcomingmemoir Perilous Ascent. When her high-profile tech startupfailed, she sought redemption by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, resulting in acatastrophic spine injury. For 15 years, Nancy navigated medical gaslighting,chronic pain, misdiagnosis, and opioid dependence. Refusing to disappear, shere-entered the world on her own terms—attending graduate school lying on anarmy cot and relearning what true resilience actually means.In this episode of FailCraft, Nancy joins Ezekiel to share her candidstory of survival. She breaks down the myth of "pushing through,"exposes gender bias in chronic pain treatment, and discusses how to practicepacing and radical acceptance when your old life is gone.Inthis episode of FailCraft, you’ll discover:·        The Kilimanjaro Collapse: Waking up at 16,000 feet unable to move and realizing"pushing harder" failed.·        The Mayo Clinic Breaking Point: Why forced physical detox programs caused a totalcollapse and forced a complete reset.·        Medical Gaslighting & Gender Bias: How women in severe pain are often dismissed withanti-anxiety meds instead of proper care.·        The Reality of Opioid Dependence: Navigating physical dependence and the grueling realityof withdrawal.·        Attending Grad School on an Army Cot: Re-entering the world and redefining self-worth beyondphysical limits.·        Mastering the Skill of Pacing: Learning to stop before hitting the wall instead ofpushing to the point of a crash.·        Radical Acceptance vs. Giving Up: Finding a "third way forward" and accepting a"new normal" without labeling bad days as failures.ConnectWith Nancy Deyo:·        Substack Publication: Subscribe to Life Inside Pain for free at nancydeyo.substack.comfor bi-monthly insights on rebuilding life when effort stops working.·        Social Channels: Connect with Nancy on LinkedIn and Instagram @nancydeyo.·        Memoir:Perilous Ascent (Forthcoming)Supportthe Show:·        Fuel the FailCraftMission: https://iferia.nestuge.com/supportme·        Subscribe, leave areview, and share this episode with someone navigating chronic pain, illness,or burnout!Wantto Be a Guest on FailCraft?·        Connect with Ezekielon PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/failcraft00:00 Introduction:Nancy Deyo & The Danger of Perfectionism02:34 The KilimanjaroInjury & Mayo Clinic Detox Crisis06:24 MedicalGaslighting: Gender Bias in Chronic Pain Diagnosis09:12 OpioidDependence: The Physical Cycle and Withdrawal Reality11:34 Re-entering theWorld: Graduate School on an Army Cot13:36 The Disciplineof Pacing: Stopping Before You Crash15:14 RadicalAcceptance: Finding a Third Way Forward16:45 Listening toLimits & Perilous Ascent Memoir Overview19:25 Connect withNancy Deyo on Substack & Social MediaChapters: