If you’re like many other high-achievers, you probably know the feeling: the constant drive to do more, be more, and prove yourself. You might look accomplished and put together on the outside, but on the inside, it feels like anxiety or exhaustion runs the show.

You’re definitely not the only one. Many of the amazing individuals I’ve supported over the years, who are talented, smart, and deeply motivated, were also running on empty. They describe feeling like they’re on a treadmill that never stops. There’s always another project to finish, another goal to hit, another way to be “better.” Or, this feeling that you can’t stop, because then everything will fall apart.

At first, it might feel like normal stress. But over time, anxiety becomes a constant background noise in daily life. It shows up as restlessness, racing thoughts, irritability, sleepless nights, or physical tension in your body. Sometimes it’s tight shoulders or headaches. Other times, it’s that ongoing low-level dread that you’re somehow falling behind or something is going to go wrong.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not broken. You’ve just been living in a culture that pushes for people to overextend themselves and tells you that rest is laziness. The good news is that you can learn to reconnect with yourself and build a life that feels more sustainable and balanced.

Why High-Achievers Are So Prone to Anxiety

The traits that make you successful, such as discipline, focus, ambition, and persistence, are the same ones that can contribute to burnout, especially when you’re in an environment that equates worth with productivity. We live in an age of hyper-productivity. Being “booked and busy,” or “on the grind,” is viewed as a badge of honor. For many people, slowing down feels uncomfortable, and they don’t feel like they deserve to rest.

Here are a few patterns I often see driving anxiety in high-achievers:

• Perfectionism. You set the bar sky-high, and anything less feels like falling short.
• Tying self-worth to achievement. Your identity is built on results and success. Making mistakes can feel like personal failures.
• Saying yes to everything. You don’t want to let other people down.
• Living in a body on overdrive. This may look like a tense neck or shoulders, shallow breathing, a racing heart, or being hypervigilant.

Even when your life looks “fine” to other people, you might feel internally depleted or on edge, like you’re constantly trying to catch up with yourself.

How Anxiety Actually Shows Up for High-Achievers

Anxiety doesn’t always mean panic attacks. For high-achievers, it often hides in plain sight. It might look like:

• Overthinking or racing thoughts
• Tightness in your chest, jaw, or shoulders
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Irritability or impatience with loved ones
• Feeling guilty when you’re not being productive
• Struggling to feel joy or satisfaction, even when things go well

It’s an exhausting cycle: the harder you try to control everything, the more anxious you feel. And the more anxious you feel, the harder you push yourself.

Anxiety Impacts Your Body

One of the most important things I help clients notice is that anxiety isn’t just mental; it’s physical. Your body holds onto stress long before your brain catches up.

Maybe you’ve noticed that your shoulders are always tense or your stomach feels like it’s in knots. Or, you feel worn down and have brain fog. Those sensations are often your body’s way of saying, “I’m overwhelmed and something needs to change.”

A small somatic (body-based) check-in can go a long way. Try this: pause for a few seconds, unclench your jaw, and notice your breath. Feel your feet on the ground. Slowly scan your body for sensations and pay attention to the feelings in your body. You don’t have to fix anything, just notice. Practicing this exercise helps you slow down and begin to listen to your body and what it’s trying to tell you.

Practical Ways to Ease Anxiety and Prevent Burnout

Below you’ll find some simple practices to implement into your daily life that I recommend to my high-achieving clients. These won’t solve anxiety, but they can help you build more balance and find some relief.

1. Protect Your Time and Energy

Start small. Maybe it’s closing your laptop by 7 p.m. or committing to not responding to emails at night. This could also look like keeping one weekend morning free. Setting boundaries doesn’t make you less ambitious, but they do help make your ambition sustainable.

2. Take Mindful Pauses

Even one minute of stillness can help calm your nervous system. Try a breathing break between meetings or a quick stretch before answering your next email. It’s less about “doing mindfulness” and more about remembering you have a body that needs intentional care. Try pausing for a moment and asking yourself, “What does my body need in this moment?”

3. Loosen the Grip of Perfectionism

Try to notice when you find yourself in the all-or-nothing mindset. You can also pick out a task for the week that you’ll commit to completing just good enough, instead of perfect.

4. Move and Breathe

Whether it’s yoga, a walk, a few deep exhales, or stretching when you wake up, give your body permission to move and release the stress it’s holding. Structured somatic routines, like progressive muscle relaxation, can teach your body that it doesn’t have to stay in fight-or-flight mode.

5. Redefine Success

What would it mean to measure your worth not by output, but by alignment with your values? Therapy can help you explore the difference between what you truly want and what you’ve been taught to want.

6. Practice Self-Compassion

High-achievers often talk to themselves in ways they’d never talk to others. Try softening your inner voice. You don’t have to earn rest or understanding. You’re allowed to be human.

How Therapy Helps High-Achievers

Therapy is a space to pause, breathe, and explore why you feel the way you do. It’s not about “fixing” you. It’s about helping you understand your patterns and giving you the tools to move differently.

In therapy for high-achievers, we might work on:

• Understanding what fuels your anxiety and perfectionism
• Exploring how you relate to pressure, control, and vulnerability
• Reconnecting with your body
• Building practical routines that support calm and focus
• Learning how to experience satisfaction, not just success

At Tate Psychotherapy in NYC, I’ll help you make sense of what’s happening beneath the surface, so you can move through life with more clarity, steadiness, and self-trust.

When To Reach Out for Help With Anxiety or Burnout

You don’t have to wait for burnout to hit before getting help. It might be time to reach out if:

• Anxiety or stress is interfering with work or relationships
• You can’t seem to relax, or feel the need to stay busy
• You feel stuck in a cycle of overworking and self-criticism
• Physical symptoms of stress are getting louder
• You’ve lost touch with what actually brings you joy
• You feel disconnected from yourself

Reaching out for support isn’t a weakness; it’s a form of strength. It’s a way to get out of survival mode and start living more intentionally.

Find Anxiety Support for High Achievers in NYC

I’ve seen so many brilliant, capable people carry anxiety quietly, believing they have to manage it on their own. My goal is to create a space where you can lay some of that down, so that you can feel seen and understood.

In our work together, we’ll look at how anxiety shows up in your body, mind, and relationships. We’ll use both insight and practical tools to help you feel grounded, capable, at ease, and more like yourself again.

I believe that you don’t have to choose between success and well-being. You deserve both.

If you’re ready to start untangling the anxiety that comes with being a high-achiever, schedule a free consultation.

Reference

Shafran, R., Egan, S., & Wade, T. (2019). Overcoming perfectionism: A self-help guide using scientifically supported cognitive behavioural techniques (2nd Ed.). London: Robinson Publishing.